How do you plan for cross-functional team collaboration?

What I find the most effective is to have a leader or a few champions to craft what we are solving, why it is a problem, what is the goal or vision, and the immediate scope of the project. Then the leader and the core group can take that initial vision statement and iterate on it when engaging with more cross functional teams.

Focus more on expected outcomes. In an iterative project led by data and testing, teams shouldn’t be afraid to pivot and change what the deliverables look like. Then communicating those changes to stakeholders is easier when everyone is laser-focused on the outcomes, not the deliverables.

It's a project team coming together to produce a successful outcome. It's not a stage for discipline A or discipline B to try and steal the show. A well-understood "project shared vision" should be crafted that draws on the strengths of each team and embodies the overall objective.

Goal, Goal, Goal... is the crucial issue that each team member should agree on and understand. The project manager must recognise each team member's role and expected outcomes, as well as act as the keeper to avoid confusion and disagreement. For example, everyone on the team is aware that the destination is "New York," not "New Jersey."

Put good thought into this well in advance. You cannot initiate a project and choose a tool without considering end-user feedback (use cases as a basis), training, and cost-to-implement in the decision to implement. If something you've used in the past worked well, that could be a time-saver, but make sure you understand why it worked well and whether or not the same environment exists in the new project.

In my experience this is very helpful. Getting stakeholders to manage projects and communication in a single-source-of-truth can be helpful to keep projects on track and improve overall visibility

Operating Rules that are agreed upon by the team up-front take out the ambiguity around things. Very useful. "This is how we are going to operate" Another example, no Friday meetings, cameras optional on remote calls, etc.

Infusing personality into virtual meetings can significantly boost rapport. For instance, I've noticed the unexpected magic in something as simple as themed meetings; donning a college/sports team shirt becomes more than just a fashion choice🏅 It's an invitation for team members to dive deeper into conversations with each other, moving past non-work related mundane chats about weather. Additionally, animated gifs, are a contemporary way to convey mood and tone, further accentuating the need for tools that provide nuance in digital communication. 💼 #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork

It is essential to have clarity around what each team member is responsible for and who their backup contact is if they are not available. The RACI matrix is a good tool to document this. You can add a fifth column to show who the backup or supporting person is. This also gives people the confidence to switch off when they are taking time off because their tasks/responsibilities can be covered by someone else. This document should be updated throughout the lifetime of the project whenever new work is identified. This helps to manage workload and promote more balanced distribution of responsibility. Finally the Consulted and Informed columns serve as a useful reference for cross-functional communication and other updates.

In the beginning stages of the team it is beneficial to do some ice breaker activities. I personally like to knon everyone's personality and working style to communicate with each other better such as Myers Briggs test.

An essential aspect of creating cross functional team collaboration is having the team help define the culture. As the lead, you can share ideas to get the conversation started vs. telling the team how they will operate. This step is hard for a program manager who by nature may want to direct execution and get the program jump started. However, in the long run, you will gain far more value and collaboration when the team knows from the start of the program their opinions have been requested, heard and,where possible, implemented.

What I will add is to be inclusive to try to engage a diverse and broad pool of cross functionals, if your project covers the end to end delivery. Sometimes, if the true intent is to move fast, small group works better. But if you aim to improve XFN collaborations and build a culture to scale, being inclusive will be a good approach.

It’s important that cross-functional projects don’t have a lot of “choke-point” leaders. In other words, just because each functional team may have it’s own leader, those leaders shouldn’t be communication bottlenecks. Make sure your plan for the project creates a structure and process which facilitates easy horizontal communication. An engineer from one team should be empowered to collaborate with an engineer on another functional team. All communication shouldn’t have to surface up through the leaders. If there’s alignment and transparency of work, leaders should not need to be the gatekeepers of collaboration.

Another key aspect of leading cross-functional collaboration is managing relationships with team members. Start with a stakeholder analysis by asking two questions: 1️⃣ How good is my relationship with this person? 2️⃣ How much does our relationship affect the project's success? Mapping these on a 2x2 matrix helps identify: 🔹 High-quality, high-impact people - these are your strong allies. Keep these relationships strong and use them to influence others. 🔹 Low-quality, high-impact people - these relationships need work. Focus on improving these relationships and turn these people into allies.

Effective planning for cross-functional team collaboration involves several critical aspects: Communication: Define clear communication channels and expectations. Alignment: Ensure shared understanding of project objectives and milestones. Resource Allocation: Plan for resource sharing or allocation. Knowledge Sharing: Facilitate expertise sharing among team members. Leadership Support: Gain leadership commitment to collaboration. Documentation: Maintain a centralized document repository. Celebrate Wins: Recognize and celebrate collaborative achievements. Consider these elements to create a holistic strategy for successful cross-functional collaboration, essential for project success.