ADO for product dev

Smartsheet for PM

Mural for brainstorming/ workshops

Cross collaboration communication can be improved by mutual understanding of RACI and working on the gaps to strengthen our Scouts

Including a regular cadence of collaborative, multidisciplinary CI review meetings

This will help ascertain the best methodology going forward, to limit the amount of wasted time changing mid project.

This will also enable a solution to be envisaged with greater clarity from the outset.

Healthcare Teams

Team collaboration in the healthcare industry is essential for ensuring patients receive top-quality, holistic care.

There are many ways, especially amid the popularity of telehealth (providing healthcare services without in-person appointments), that practitioners, office staff, and technical support staff may collaborate to keep things running smoothly.

For example, LA’s Office of Education, Care Health Plan, Department of Mental Health, and Hazel Health collaborated to bring mental telehealth services to K–12 students in LA County schools.

It’s easy to understand why staff in the healthcare and telehealth industry need to collaborate within their team and with others external to their company to accomplish tasks.

For example, to keep appointments flowing smoothly, practitioners must ensure their availability is accurately documented in their company’s scheduling software.

In the event of a scheduling error, a practitioner may have to work with both a member of the technical support team to resolve the issue and the front desk staff to avoid double bookings until the issue is resolved.

In other telehealth ventures, some workplace collaboration examples include:

• Ensuring that the marketing of the telehealth service is within legal guidelines. While a practitioner may have an idea for a telehealth startup, onboarding team members with back-end legal knowledge is essential.

• Billing and processing insurance. Using insurance for telehealth can be more complicated when compared to in-person patient visits. Practitioners will need to onboard a billing department familiar with the ins and outs of telehealth.

• Ensuring meeting tools are fully functional and working properly during patient appointments. In the event of a major screen lag or other problems during an appointment, a practitioner may have to work with tech support in real time.

Hybrid and Cross-Functional Teams

Since all employees don’t work from the same physical location, hybrid and cross-functional teams need to be adaptable and flexible to work together effectively.

Implementing cross-functional collaboration allows organizations to respond to external changes in a timely and flexible way.

The challenge, however, is establishing communication and effective knowledge exchange among team members.

Creating cross-functional teams is a great way to experience the benefits of collaboration.

Benefits of Cross-Functional Collaboration

When teams with different expertise combine their ideas in real-time, it’s more efficient and less clunky than piecing together the individual components of a project after the fact.

Improved employee engagement and workplace satisfaction

Company culture plays a large role in overall workplace satisfaction.

Cross-functional teams provide a massive opportunity to strengthen company culture by increasing the level of interaction between all departments, preventing individual teams from becoming “siloed.”

Increased productivity

As we mentioned, an employee’s underlying motivation isn’t always about impressing the boss.

Workers often care deeply about how they are perceived by their peers. For this reason, implementing cross-functional teams may provide an extra incentive for team members to put their best foot forward.

Encourages innovation and creativity

Cross-functional teams provide an added sense of security. When experts with different backgrounds come together in agreement regarding how to move forward with an assignment, it makes way for a sense of camaraderie to cushion potential blows.

For this reason, implementing cross-functional teams may reduce instances of finger-pointing in the event a risk creates negative consequences.

Knowing that there is less of a chance of being ousted for an idea gone wrong leaves people more comfortable with suggesting innovative solutions they may otherwise keep locked away.

Additionally, the more that various teams collaborate in real-time, the more people and unique perspectives there are to serve as the inspiration for new ideas.

Real-Life Examples of Cross-Functional Teamwork

Household brands like Apple and Netflix use cross-functional teams to drive innovation during product development. And the benefits of collaboration are hard to miss when you look at their success:

Apple

One principle that Apple stands by as a factor in its success is collaborative debate. For example, it took the collaboration of 40 specialists when working to develop their dual lens camera with “portrait mode.”

With so many hands on the drawing board, those in upper-level management sometimes act as tie-breakers to make the final decisions.

However, with the number of inevitable stalemates that arise, there isn’t always time for those in higher positions to use their authority in those moments, making collaborative skills an essential component of Apple’s overall success across all staff.

Netflix

According to Netflix, “A dream team is one in which all of your colleagues are extraordinary at what they do and highly effective working together.”

At Netflix, cross-functional teams work closely together while still retaining independence. The goals of the company are clearly defined, specific, and well-known to all employees. Team interactions are focused on overall strategy and objectives rather than specific tactics.

Check out this video to learn more about how Netflix implements collaboration:

With almost 32 billion in revenue in 2022, it’s clear to see that their prioritization of collaboration is paying off.

The Best Collaborative Skills for Employees

Recent survey data shows there is one thing Boomers and Millennials can actually agree on: the primary purpose of physical office space is team collaboration.

In order to collaborate and work together effectively, employees need certain skills and abilities. For example:

Attitude

• Purpose-driven and positive attitude

• Humble and resilient

• Open to change and evolution

• Accepting constructive criticism

• High emotional intelligence

Problem-Solving Abilities

• Conflict resolution skills

• Ability to solve problems under pressure

• Data management skills

Communication Skills

• Written and verbal communication skills