effective cross functional teams

10 May

What to do when a cross-functional team gets cross

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth

Cross functional teams can be fabulous – a way to productively collaborate across a business or even across businesses. However they are not always a happy team in motion. For various reasons a cross functional team can derail – conflict, confusion and crisis can result.

So what do you do if the team isn’t working so well? No perfect answer, however it must be addressed.

Call it

Someone has to identify that there is an issue. It must be raised with the group – not in small sub groups, not behind other team members’ backs. Call it in the team environment.

Explain that you think there might be an issue stopping the team from working effectively
Identify the major issue – do not make it personal – make it behaviour based and without laying blame
Outline how you see the consequence of the issue – e.g. what is it preventing the team from doing?
Ask the group what they think (not everyone has to agree there is an issue; everyone must respect others’ views)

Be solutions oriented

Once the group have acknowledged there is an issue – focus on looking for a solution. Unless it is a complicated issue, you may not even need to identify the exact cause – it could just be, for example, ‘ we have issues making decisions’.

Brainstorm – how could we make this better?
Prioritise – what are the three main actions we should take from this brainstorm list (have the team vote if there is not agreement on the priorities for action)
Action plan – what will we do by when? how will we hold ourselves accountable to this? when should we regroup to see how things are going?

Regroup and assess

It’s a good idea to check in again – whether a week or a month later – to see how things are tracking.

Ask the group if the actions agreed were implemented
Discuss whether these actions have addressed the issue
If there are still issues, decide how to move forward – sometimes this might require external facilitation to assess the problem further, to decide on team norms or to help the group understand principles of effective teamwork; other times it might just involve re-looking at the possible actions together

Happy teaming!

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

08 Mar

Why create a cross functional team?

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller

Cross-functional teams seem to be very popular at the moment. If you are new to the concept, you might be wondering ‘Why do I want to create a cross-functional team?’ A few reasons for you to ponder below.

Input and Ideas

When working on a project, you might find that it would be beneficial to gather others’ insights. Sure, you might have your own ideas, however a collective ‘think-tank’ is bound to expand thinking. If your project is about finding new ways, improving processes or coming up with new ideas, then it makes sense to gather a diverse group from which to seek ideas. Invite people who you know will have a different perspective, invite people from departments that are different to yours, invite people who may have a vested interest in the project outcomes. Whilst you don’t want the group to be too large (depending on the situation, generally no more than 8 – 10) you do want to have some diverse opinions from which innovation or inspiration is likely to come.

Politics and Policy

Some projects are going to have significant impact on others in your department or organisation. There may also be impacts on external customers or stakeholders. Especially when the project will lead to change, it is important to seek input from those who the change will affect. Allowing people to have their say or provide their ideas will go a long way towards effective change management – they and their team will feel ‘heard’ and you may also prevent problems you hadn’t anticipated. Even if the changes are not ones that people agree with, giving them a say in the process often helps to alleviate issues later. A cross-functional team is a relatively easy way to start to deal with the politics of a project.

Many projects also may be limited by, or involve change to policy . It’s very important to involve the policy makers / holders / governors during the process. Whether they are part of the cross-functional team from the beginning, or whether they are brought in at the relevant stages, their involvement could save serious headaches later!

Involve and Invigorate

As humans, we are innately designed to participate in a community. Whether an extrovert or introvert, we all generally have a need to feel involved. A cross-functional team is a great way to harness this need and to invigorate action and acceptance. Invite those who are passionate about your project to contribute and act as advocates within the wider organisation. Invite those who may be skeptical and have them involved in understanding the issues and solving problems – turning a skeptic into an advocate is a huge win and often results from cross-functional discussion.

These are just a few reasons why creating a cross-functional team can be a productive and positive influence on your project. While we can overdo meetings and involving others, if we do things the right way, the benefits can be wide-spread.

Happy teaming!

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

01 Dec

Creating a high performance team – the building of trust

“The essence of trust is not in its bind, but in its bond” – Unknown

Perhaps one of the most fundamental factors for a successful cross functional team is the building of trust across the group. Many such teams are made up of people from varied roles, departments, and often cultures – it is no surprise that there will be different perspectives, working styles, goals and personalities, all of which can fuel the obvious question – “Who are you and what do you offer the team?”

In any team different styles and perspectives can create tensions and it is often exaggerated in cross functional teams where there are different reporting lines and core responsibilities at play. It is critical that the team leader encourages and allows time for exercises that build understanding and trust. The popular Forrester/Drexler Team Performance™ Indicator identifies mutual regard, forthrightness and reliability as being the keys to success for trust building; without these you may have caution, mistrust and facade.

So how do you build trust in a cross functional team? Below are some ideas for team leaders to consider.

Putting people at ease – At the first meeting, allow time up front for the group to chat in a relaxed environment. You might organise coffee half an hour before, meet in a coffee shop the day prior, have a casual dinner the night before. The environment should be as relaxed as possible and the team leader should introduce, mingle and facilitate a sense of inclusion. Whatever works for your situation, it is important that there is time to get to know each other outside of the meeting – small talk is a first step to feeling at ease with someone. Even if the team has worked together before, each project can benefit from this connection or reconnection before the work begins.
Understanding backgrounds – Even if everyone on the team knows each other, there is enormous benefit in introducing what team members individually bring to the table. Sometimes we might think we know someone at work, yet we have no awareness of the skills they have or the experience they bring. Such an introduction can be done by simply going around the group at the first meeting and having them describe their working background. If more structure is needed (so one person doesn’t take up all the time!) write 3 questions on the whiteboard for people to answer. For example: Who are you representing on this team? What past experience can you bring to the discussions? What expertise should we be calling on you for? You can have the discussions around the table, break into pairs and have the pairs introduce each other when you regroup, ask for the information before hand and conduct a ‘who am I quiz’ during the meeting…however you do it, make time for valuing individual backgrounds.
Developing team ‘norms’ – Right up front, it is ideal to agree as a team on certain operating principles. This can be done using an external facilitator (helps the team leader be part of the discussion) or the team leader can coordinate. Discuss what team norms are (e.g. how we operate, what’s important to us to make sure we are effective) and how they will be used (e.g. as our guiding principles that we will hold each other accountable to at each meeting). Show some heading prompts – meetings, problem solving, resolving tough issues, values, decision-making, communicating – and ask the team to think about what’s important to them when working in a group – either around these headings, or in other areas. A good question to ask is “What helps you contribute effectively and feel productive in a team?” Have each person write on post-it / sticky notes (one comment per sticky note) and put them on a whiteboard or flip chart. Group similar ideas and encourage discussion and expansion where required. Consolidate key points and capture for distribution – “We agree to… We will…” Common norms are: be on time for meetings, one person talking at a time, respond to emails within 48 hours, putting tough issues and disagreements on the table, be open and honest at all times, phones off in meetings! Because cross functional teams are diverse, the norms must reflect all views.
Addressing difficult issues before they happen – Some teams will be working on projects where it is likely discussions will get heated or differences of opinion will occur. Identifying what the issues might be even before they arise is a good way to encourage honesty, understanding and appropriate conversation. This doesn’t mean that you will avoid conflict or tough discussions, but by acknowledging that they might occur it helps people be prepared. It also shows that the leader understands the project. A team leader might highlight that there are likely to be differences of opinion and encourage team members to share openly and honestly while respecting others may not agree; you could ask the team how they propose handling difficult issues or decision-making when there is a disconnect.

These are a few ideas to help build trust within a cross functional team. These types of activities will need to occur throughout the time working together – creating and then sustaining trust. If trust can be built early on, you will start the project in a productive way – it’s definitely worth spending the time on trust building.

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

31 Oct

A quick and cheap team assessment!

“Gettin’ good players is easy. Gettin’ ’em to play together is the hard part. “ ~Casey Stengel

For those of us who lead or participate in any type of team, we all have moments of wondering if the team could somehow operate better. Sometimes we know how to improve it and sometimes we are not really sure what the issues are. To really assess a team’s performance, we should use a diagnostic tool. There are many of these on the market and in the ideal world you would use a diagnostic tool AND a facilitator to work through your team strengths and areas for development.

But what if you don’t have the time, money or inclination to engage a diagnostic tool and a facilitator? You could try running a ‘quick and cheap’ assessment yourself. While this may not give the rigor a more formal process can bring, it is a starting point and at the very least it will get the team talking.

Step 1: Draw and label

Divide a flip chart sheet into 4 segments (by drawing a line across the middle horizontally and an intersecting line down the middle vertically)

The 4 labels for each segment are:

Well
Not so well
Should
Shouldn’t

Step 2: Gather team input

Ask the team to write down their thoughts on post-it / sticky notes with one comment per post-it

what are we doing well as a team?
what are we doing not so well as a team?
what should we be doing?
what shouldn’t we be doing?

It’s up to you if you ask for input regarding the team as a bigger picture, or if you want to delve into the detail of team goals, operating principles or specific projects. Your terminology can also be adapted to suit e.g. instead of ‘doing’ you might say ‘achieving’ or ‘focussing on’.

Ask the team to put their comments onto the flip chart in the relevant segment.

Step 3: Discuss

Lead the team in a discussion about the comments, starting with what’s been done well and then what’s not being done so well. Then move on to the next two areas. Sometimes the ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’ reflect the first two and sometimes new ideas will arise – double-up is fine and extra points are fine – the whole purpose is to get the team talking about team dynamics and performance.

Summarise for the group what the main findings are; ask for expansion if necessary; ask for examples if required.

Step 4: Action plan

On a separate flip chart, ask the team to agree on their top 4 – 5 actions to improve team function. This might include starting things we should be doing, stopping things we shouldn’t be doing, continuing things we do well or improving things we don’t do so well.

Confirm agreement and decide when the team will next check-in about the actions agreed.

There you have it – a ‘quick and cheap’ team assessment! While it might not be perfect, it is simple and easy to conduct and often generates some great insights.

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

21 Jun

Cross-functional teams – roles and responsibilities

“O, Puchan, may we meet with a wise man who will guide us at once, saying: “Behold your way!” – Rig Veda

Have you ever sat on a cross-functional team and wondered “why am I here?” How long were you left wondering this – a few minutes then it all became clear? Or were you wondering for the entire project?

Not many of us love wasting time in our busy working days. So when we are involved with something like a cross-functional team, we want to know why we are there and what we are expected to contribute. Otherwise, wouldn’t we be better off working on something else? Yet it is a common issue for people working on cross-functional teams. This uncertainty can be exacerbated by managers who tell us we are involved, rather than asking or explaining the reasons.

If you are setting up or leading a cross-functional team, you will be a step ahead if you are able to provide participants with a clear understanding of their role and expected responsibilities right from the start. You are then more likely to have willing and effective team members ready for the first meeting.

Some tips to help you do this:

Choose representation carefully

Having the right representation on a cross-functional team is important. But don’t just think you need to choose ‘1 person from each department’. Challenge this commonly held belief. (NB: we are talking here about cross-functional project teams, not focus groups providing input) Ask yourself: “To achieve the project objectives, what representation is critical vs. nice to have?”; “Who is essential to the discussion and decision-making that will be required?” Too many people on a project team can be dangerous – a good number to work with is somewhere between 7 and 10, but this varies depending on the type of project. If you do believe you need a large group, consider having a ‘core team’ with major decision makers and a couple of sub-teams working on certain elements or piloting suggestions.

Choose roles, not people

When making decisions about representation on the team, it is tempting to consider the dynamics created by combining different personality styles within the one room. Although there will be cases when this is appropriate, generally a more successful approach is to consider job roles required first. In this way, it will be clearer to explain why someone has or hasn’t been asked to join the group. And, it will prevent your own assumptions and likes / dislikes from entering into a professional decision.

Be clear on responsibilities

When you are choosing roles to be on the team, consider what you expect them to be responsible for. Of course, as the team establishes itself, these responsibilities may change, but having an idea up front will help you communicate with the people involved and obtain mutual understanding from the start. Three questions to help you here: “What are the reasons that this role / person needs to be involved in the project?”; “What contributions might be reasonably expected of them during the project?” and “What would they potentially be responsible for as part of the project work?”

Communicate the key points

Once you have determined your team make-up and they have been informed / asked to be involved, ensure that you have effective communication channels from the beginning. Although not always possible, it is ideal to meet one-on-one with team members in person. If this is not feasible, then a phone conversation is the next preference. There are a number of items to cover with the team member to ‘get them on board’ – here is a suggested flow for the conversation:

Thank you for being involved in this project – your input will be very important to our success
You have been asked to be on this team because of <reasons for being chosen>
The objective of this project is to <cross-functional team’s reason for being>
It is likely that your responsibilities would be <expected responsibilities> and we will discuss this further as a group
Our time frame for the project is <timeframe and any relevant milestones initially known>
I would expect that your weekly / monthly time committment will be <time> which includes a regular meeting and follow-up work
What questions do you have for me before the project begins?
Thanks again for being involved. I look forward to working with you!

These tips may sound like common sense, however in a busy working day, it is often the little things that are rushed through or missed when cross-functional teams can feel like ‘something extra to do’. It is, though, the little things that will help you and the team you are leading to get off to a good start.

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

16 May

We’ve set up our cross-functional team – now what?

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” ~Henry Ford

So you understand the objectives and have chosen the members for your cross-functional team. Your first meeting is tomorrow. Now what? The next stage may seem like it should be ‘just get the job done’, but how do you do that effectively?

Your first meeting with the team will help set the scene for your ongoing work together. If you are the team leader, you should be able to answer these questions:

How will we build trust and mutual regard in the group?
What steps will we take to get the group from “why am I here?” to “how will we do it?”
What will we do if there is a disagreement or barrier to action?

If you are unable to answer these questions, you could use an external facilitator, seek support from a mentor or get advice from a project management expert. Or, you may find the following tips help you get started.

Prepare for the meeting

Make sure you have thought about how you would like the meeting to run. (Please note – this does not mean that the meeting will run this way, but having a plan certainly helps!) If you are prepared, you raise your own credibility with the group and should get off to a better start as a team overall. To plan the first meeting, consider:

What should we achieve at this meeting?
What roles will each of us play?
What process will we follow to achieve our meeting objectives? (NB: here ‘meeting objectives’ are distinct from ‘project objectives’)
What are some important interpersonal / housekeeping points?

This 4-step planning will help you map out some important considerations, as well as giving you a great structure to open the meeting. For example: “Thanks to all for coming today. As you know, this group is to work on <Project X>. To start us off, our objective for today’s meeting is to <ensure we all have a clear idea about the project and to map out our team charter>. Each of you has been invited to be involved because <you are integral to the project and as such, we hope you will freely contribute your thoughts today>. We’ll start with <an introduction from our sponsor>, then we’ll <introduce ourselves and provide others with an idea of any relevant experience>. We’ll finish the meeting by <discussing what’s important to us when operating in this type of team>. So we can be focussed today <it would be great if we can agree to turn off all mobiles and laptops before we begin.>”

Be clear on team purpose

In any team, people want to know why they are there (the purpose of the group and their role in it) and who they will be working with. Discussing these areas at the first meeting is recommended.

Establishing a clear understanding of the project objectives is vital for the success of the work. Many people in cross-functional teams are short on time and love to solve problems quickly – being action oriented is often why they keep getting asked to work in teams! Whilst getting things done is important, sometimes team members jump to action before they truly understand what they are actually acting on. Many hours can be wasted working on a solution before the problem or objective has been defined – often leading to more work later when the action is off the mark.

To get your team off to a great start, define the purpose of the team. This does not have to be the actual detailed goals – it can be a broad objective that is worked through as the group proceeds. For example, the purpose might be to ‘improve the operational efficiency of the customer services department’ and working out the more detailed goals (e.g.‘to measure ROI of the current ordering process in the next two months’) may happen at a subsequent meeting .

Help the team build trust

As mentioned, people on the team also want to know who they are working with. Inherently, people form their initial opinions on the project partially based on who is associated with it. If they have trust with those involved, they generally feel more positive about its likely success than if they are suspicious or uncertain about anyone on the team.

Early on in the first meeting, you should give people the opportunity to introduce themselves and interact with others. There are many ways to do this. A very simple way to start this is to ask each person to tell the group their name, current role, relevant experience they have for the project and their favourite holiday destination. Facilitate the discussion by prompting where they offer little information (e.g. “John, I believe that you also worked on a similar project at your last company” or “Sally, what do you like about Spain as a holiday destination?”). After the introductions, organise a short coffee break and allow time for people to mingle – you’ll find they will generally relax and find connections based on the introductions.

There is more that can be done to sustain trust in the group over time, but highlighting experience and connecting personally is a first step.

Encourage the team to determine operating principles

Another area to explore up front is expectations of each other, which contributes to a team charter or operating principles. For each group this will look very different, but starting with the question “What’s important to ensure we work effectively together?” should get the ball rolling. Encourage the group to be open with each other to ensure expectations are clear from the beginning. If there is hesitation, you can always ask people to write their thoughts on sticky notes and then gather them up, group into similar concepts, and discuss.

Likely areas that will be covered in this session include:

Decision making processes
Handling disagreements
General courtesy e.g. punctuality, listening, limiting distractions such as mobile phones
Meeting logistics e.g. frequency, minute taking

With your operating principles in hand, you will be ready to begin the process of discussing the detailed goals and steps to achieving your objectives. It may seem like a lot of time to spend getting to this point, however it will help you have an effective transition to the ‘meaty’ parts of the project. And it needn’t take a long time if facilitated well.

Kicking off a cross-functional team requires planning, purpose and participation. It’s not always easy, but with the right approach you will be on your way to creating a successful cross-functional team.

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!

27 Apr

Creating an effective cross-functional team – the initial considerations.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” ~Henry Ford

Most businesses – small and large – use cross-functional teams at some point. Whether or not they actually call it a cross-functional team is irrelevant – if there is a group of people from different parts of the business working on a project, process review or planning – it’s a cross-functional team. Cross-functional teams have many advantages over a single department focus – sharing of ideas across the company, gaining valuable input from stakeholders, compiling a strong business case for change – just to name a few.

Whether the cross-functional team is undertaking a one-off meeting or involved in a year-long committment, it’s important that we maximise the resources (people and time) assigned. So how do we get the most out of these often diverse teams?

There are many factors to be considered to help ensure and effective cross-functional team: ranging from budget to office politics to communication skills. At the very basic level, there are some core elements to address in the initial stages of creating a cross- functional group. These elements may be handled differently depending on the business and the scope of work, however they should all be considered.

These core elements can be divided into three areas:

What
Who
How

The above order is deliberate. Deciding the ‘what’ helps determine the ‘who’, which in turn will help shape the’ how’.

What

SMART objectives (specific-measurable-realistic-timebound): what is the team to achieve?
Business impact: how might the team’s objectives help the business? are there any predetermined risks in either not achieving or achieving the objectives?

Who

Relevant representation: what roles / people are essential to be involved to achieve the objectives? what roles / people might be required for occasional input beyond the essential membership?
Team leader: who will lead the team and what will be their responsibilities? (having a leader is actually quite important!)
Team sponsor: is an executive management sponsor required and if so, what will be their responsibilities?

How

Operating guidelines: what are the different team members’ roles and responsibilities; (and once formed) what is fundamental to ensure we are working well together? )
Milestones: to achieve the objectives, what are the key steps involved?

Beyond these initial key elements, there are other factors that should be considered to sustain an effective cross-functional team -these will be discussed in a later post. In the initial set up of such teams, if the WHAT, the WHO and the HOW are at least covered, then you will be off to a good start in maximising your team’s efforts.

engagingPOTENTIAL: training, team development, coaching

Specialising in working with managers to develop extraordinary teams!