How to Build a Cross-Functional Team

What is a cross-functional team?

We typically think about teams as groups of people who have similar jobs – the marketing team, the IT department, the sales division. A cross-functional team, however, brings together people with different kinds of expertise or from different departments in your organization.

A cross-functional team may have members from different seniority levels. It might also have special decision-making power. For example, the team presents its plan on a project directly to the CEO instead of running it through the usual approval process.

Cross-functional teams get a lot of buzz today, but they're not new. They've been successfully used in industries from insurance to auto manufacturing to technology.

What are the challenges of cross-functional teams?

All that said, it might surprise you to learn that about 75% of cross-functional teams are dysfunctional. So what's going wrong with these teams?

Sometimes a cross-functional team is tasked with a fuzzy or ill-defined mission. The team may not be given (or may fail to quickly decide) key parameters, such as how long they have to achieve their goal and how much they can spend. With no clear goal and no path to get there, a team gets stuck spinning its wheels.

Another big reason that cross-functional teams get off track is that members have competing priorities or obligations. They focus on looking after their own interests or their department's interests instead of the team goal.

That's not the only personnel issue that can derail cross-functional teams. When a team includes members with at different levels, power dynamics can get tricky.  

And then there's the simple fact that cross-functional teams are extra work for members who are also part of a departmental team. That creates stress, pressure and frustration, especially if some on the team are falling short.

But even if a team is working efficiently and professionally, it can end up being ineffective if it lacks the authority to take action and gets hung up waiting on approvals or decisions from organization leaders.

Who should be on your cross-functional team?

When you know your team's goals, then you can figure out who should be on the team. Here are a few criteria to consider:

• What kinds of expertise do you need? Who are the people in your organization who could provide it?
• Besides their specific skills, team members should also have the personal qualities that will make them valuable contributors. Do they have past experience with cross-functional collaborations? Can they work independently and make recommendations or decisions?
• Don't forget about the more political practicalities. If your team is focused on launching a project or making a decision, who are the stakeholders? Each stakeholder group should be represented on your team.

Choosing a leader

Your cross-functional team doesn't have to have a leader, but it will work a whole lot better with one. So who should that person be?

The leader of a cross-functional team must be able to guide discussions, to delegate and  hold other members accountable. They need to be able to do this even if some team members rank above them in the corporate hierarchy. In other words, can they get people to do things even if they don't have the formal authority to tell them what to do? Can they use influence and persuasion to guide others?

Setting the ground rules for a cross-functional team

Once a leader is in place, one of the first things they should do is work with the rest of the team to establish ground rules about how things will get done. Again, this is something really valuable to do when a team is launching, but it’s never too late to do on an existing team.

First, get super clear about what's expected of everyone. Each member needs to do their share so that no one feels overburdened.

In addition to clear expectations on contributions, your team also needs a clear sense of how everyone is expected to behave. Team members must feel safe speaking up, even if they are disagreeing. Cross-functional teams are all about finding better solutions by bringing together diverse people. But you can't reach those solutions unless you can effectively navigate your differences.

Finally, everyone should be clear on how your team will make decisions. Does everyone weigh in on everything? When can the team leader act unilaterally?

Another fundamental step for building a successful cross-functional team is choosing the right communications tools. You will probably not see one another every day, so you'll be using these tools a lot. And if you have members across different locations, your communications tools will be the primary way you collaborate. Think creatively here. For example, instead of sending lots of emails, perhaps a shared blog would work well for your team.

Besides your communications channels, you might need other tools and resources. Consider questions like these:

• Does everyone on the team have the hardware and software they need to work together?
• Do you need physical or virtual space to store resources and materials for your work? Can everyone on the team access this space?
• If your team has in-person meetings, where will they happen?  

Meetings for cross-functional teams

Speaking of meetings, they can make or break cross-functional teams. You have so much to talk about and so little time when you're all together. How do you make every moment count?

The same guidelines that make regular team meetings more productive and less soul-sucking apply to cross-functional teams as well. It's especially important to have a clear agenda before each meeting and make sure that everyone can access it.

It's also vital to make sure that the action items you discuss during meetings actually get done. How will you make sure that everyone is on the same page about who's doing what? How will you handle tracking and follow-up?

Keep your cross-functional team on track

Whether you're helping build a new cross-functional team or tuning up an existing one, we hope you're coming away from this article with a new sense of clarity and momentum. Here are a few things you can do to keep that going:

• Regularly monitor your team's progress. This is where having those well-defined goals comes in. Are you meeting the milestones you set? Try using the team health monitor to get to the heart of the matter with the team health monitor Confluence templates to get started.
• Stay adaptable. If you're not meeting milestones, what should you do differently? You may also have to respond to other changes in your plans. For example, the CEO may change your deadline, or unexpected layoffs could claim some of your team members.
• Remember, you don't have to go it alone. Confluence has resources to help you handle the challenges of cross-functional teams, from goal-setting to meetings to decision-making.