We’ve heard of “cross-functional teams,” and most of us have been part of one. But too many people have a different challenge. They’re on cross-DYSfunctional teams.
One of the most common reasons for “Return to Office,” (RTO) policies is the fear that the team won’t work together as a unit if they are not physically together most of the time. As we have been saying for years in The Long-Distance Leader, and The Long-Distance Team, this can be difficult but far from impossible. Teams, leaders and engaged individuals can succeed in a dispersed environment. We do it all the time.
Coordinating communication, tasks and outputs on a team with a single leader and a defined function is relatively easy (or at least as simple as anything involving multiple humans can be.) But when your team involves members from several different teams or even business units, things can get messy.
The rationale for RTO is pretty convincing when you need to have access to people with different information, skills or even different goals. If needed, you can march over to the team’s offices, or corner someone for a quick hallway conversation. You literally overhear critical information and can investigate quickly.
But does physical proximity guarantee cross-functional team success? It’s a rhetorical question. We know that it doesn’t. But how can you enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of teams that don’t share time and space?
Here are some ideas to help teams with different managers or goals work better together:
Ensure the managers talk to each other. Especially with project teams, you may have someone nominally in charge of that team, but each team member has a “real boss,” of their own. This can mean conflicting priorities, or miscommunication about deadlines.
Have a Slack or Teams channel dedicated to that project or sub-team. Don’t worry about having “too many channels to keep track of” you can set alerts for each channel and know when something has been posted or a question asked. Team members should be able to stay in contact no matter where they are, and on multiple devices. It is so much easier than email threads, although a dedicated folder in Outlook or Gmail is a good plan too.
Invite representatives from other functions to your team meetings. This can be a great way to keep the lines of communication open. It’s also a chance for honest discussions like, “what are we doing that drives your team crazy?” and “what you can do to make our lives in (this department) easier.”
Deliver regular updates on the team to your manager. Keep your boss in the loop on what’s happening with your project or side-team during your regular one on ones. It’s amazing what resources they may have that you didn’t know about. It may also inspire them to cut you slack on competing deadlines or priorities.
Post cross-functional team updates for your other teammates and leaders. This might explain why you’re not as responsive as people expect or don’t seem to be focused on what they’re focused on. It will also help their awareness of what’s going on in the rest of the company. Isolation can be good for task completion but lousy for getting the big picture.
Get together for launch (and debrief) if possible. Your finance person doesn’t want to hear it, but investing in getting the team together at least once can show a return on investment.
With a little mindfulness, cross-functional teams can not only be, well, functional, but highly successful.
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