Creating the next big thing takes a whole lot of skills, perspectives, and know-how.
For many companies, the secret sauce is strong cross-functional teamwork and relationships. Turabit is right there in the mix, depending on these teams to build products that deliver real value to customers.
What’s the deal with this ‘Cross-Functional Teamwork’ thing, anyway?
The term “cross-functional” is fancy talk for a team made up of folks with different skills. At Turabit, our product teams are like a good party mix – designers, programmers, and product managers all working together. Sometimes, you’ll hear the term when different parts of a business join forces on a big project, like launching a new product.
Regardless of the project big or small, a program or product manager is like the bandleader, making sure everyone’s in sync and hitting their cues.
But what about when there’s no big gig to prep for and no leader to follow? Teams usually drift back into their own bubbles, with random Slack pings, emails, coffee chats, and the occasional company-wide meetings for every little update or discussion.
But guess what? You can totally work cross-functionally every day.
For an organization to really nail it, every team needs to think cross-functional all the time, not just for the headline projects. This requires a solid framework for how teams interact – we’ve learned the hard way just how crucial that is.
Why cross-functional teamwork is the real MVP for us?
At Turabit, on the operational level we are all about crafting help docs, videos and messaging to educate our customers. That meant teaming up with just about every crew here -from product pros to support heroes to sales aces.
Our game plan leaned heavily on intel from other squads, and how well it played out hung on those teams sharing and rocking our content – good cross-functional teamwork is the name of the game.
Here’s why mastering everyday cross-functional moves is key:
When cross-functional teamwork falters, cue the mix-ups, varied takes, and hit-or-miss outcomes. So, how do you make every day cross-functional teamwork click?
The three Cs of cross-functional teamwork
Juggling multiple teams at once can really push you to the brink. At Turabit, we needed a game plan to steer us through those crazy busy times when cross-functional activity is off the charts. Picture dozens of moving parts that need to snap together in no time flat.
To handle these high-stress periods, we cooked up a simple framework to give us a clear view of what’s going on and help us scale our teamwork with other squads. Pretty quickly, we saw that these principles weren’t just for the wild times – they could make all cross-functional work smoother.
Here’s the scoop on our framework, which boils cross-functional teamwork down to three key activities:
These moves are key to rocking cross-functional teamwork. Sure, communication, collaboration, and coordination overlap a bit, but thinking about them this way brings some much-needed clarity. It’ll help you get a grip on your processes and level up your game with other squads.
Raising the bar on your cross-functional teamwork
Once you’ve got this down, you’ll see how much you’re collaborating, who you’re hanging with the most, and what kinds of work you’re doing together.
You’ll also start seeing connections & gaps in how you roll with other teams, making it easier to spot where to tweak your processes.
As you brainstorm, sort your ideas into communication, collaboration, and coordination to get a clear picture of their impact.
You’ll probably come up with a ton of ideas, so trim down the list to the best ones. Be realistic – have each team member pick one or two big ideas and a couple of quick wins.
Elevate Your Cross-Functional Teamwork: Easy, Fun, and Impactful
Why Bother with Idea Sessions?
Once you run a solid ideas session, you’ll see that boosting your cross-functional teamwork is a piece of cake. The benefits? They’ll be ten times worth the effort you put in.
Imagine your team stepping back from the day-to-day grind, getting a bird’s-eye view of how things are running, and coming up with fresh ways to work that can uplift the whole organization, both now and in the future.
Need a Kickstart? Here’s a Game Plan:
Shake things up and break some rules!
Getting Cross-functional teamwork to really click is like cruising down a two-way street. You got’ta give to get. You can’t control what every team does, but starting with your own crew and finding fresh ways to Communicate, Collab, and Coordinate can smooth things out for everyone. It’s a win-win. Plus, you’ll amp up your team’s game across the board at the company.
You got’ta stay sharp on how your teamwork flows – don’t just stick to the old playbook. Shake things up, try new angles, and challenge the norm. Who knows? You might stumble onto killer ways to get teams jiving better. Nail down those slick cross-functional moves, and watch other teams jump on your vibe.