How do you learn from cross-functional projects?

I agree, but would also add that understanding the of the people in the cross-functional team, and to whom you want to communicate your progress will allow you o correctly use the ‘right language’ in order to most effective send the message you want to convey across all.

From my perspective, another important topics have to be taking in account which effect and needs to be aligned to have a clear understanding and have healthy communication: - the cultural differences of participants, - what are the priorities for each function/department and its effects on overall of project objectives, - how these departments/functions are used to communicate within their department, with which terminology and how they need to adapt their communication when they are working with other functions/departments ( data team may explain their job giving examples from sql models, but someone from business have different language , or interest) One of the pillar of cross-functional projects also have a crystal-clear scope.

1-Plan well; there are many frameworks that help you achieve a cohesive planning approach. Make a mix of recipe of those frameworks according yo your cross-functional project. 2- stakeholders, RASIC, RASCI, whichever helps you define as much clear responsibilities+ aspirations , ;as much as possible. 3- use agile, CBAP and other frameworks to help navigate and maneuver through the progress. 4- documentation as much graphical as possible and keeping it updated and ensuring disseminating it per policy. In a nutshell- projects fail because of mis/mal communication.

Based on what have I seen the success of a cross-functional collaboration primarily depends on -How much the project participants perceive the project as their own -How the project leader values every single member’s contribution - To what extent the corporate culture supports cross-functional work Apart from these I agree with the AI

Ask questions, network with diverse colleagues, take initiative , contribute to your unique skills and knowledge to the team. Learn from their expertise, identify effective communication and problem-solving techniques and challenge yourself with new tasks . Network with team members from different departments and learn about their roles, responsibilities and challenges. Build strong relationships based on mutual respect and trust. These experiences can significantly enhance skills, knowledge base and overall career development.

I would proceed with caution with regard to etching your own expectations in stone. Be sure to keep an open mind. With cross functional groups, a lot of the time you don’t know what you don’t know.

First and foremost, you should be nominated or selected for a cross function team, normally by your immediate supervisor and agreed upon by his/her peers. This is inter-discipline work coming together for a corporate “common good” project, so at minimum, it should be known that you are a solid performer in YOUR area of company. Once selected, the learning is thru the sharing. Conversation has to be free flowing and respectful, but also focused on the common goal. Everyone is expected to participate, put their ideas out there, and feel free to use examples of their reasoning based on their work history. That’s the number one thing you bring to this party…your past.

It's critical to define Roles & Responsibilities for the project at the beginning. This helps develop a RACI, and supports holding team members accountable. Your team members come to the table with their job titles, representing various functional areas. However, job titles and project roles don't usually align. Example: A Finance Manager's project role may be to help ensure project compliance with the company's financial policies/SOPs; provide input and approvals for budget; provide input and approvals to modifications of existing finance related workflows. Listening to and learning from all team members, throughout the project, helps everyone become better employees, and could benefit personal experiences, skills and value.

"It takes a village".. When working on a cross-functional project it's important to establish up front how each person on the team is key to contributing to the success of the project. Setting those expectations up front is essential to have engagement by each member.

In my experience, keep it organized, simple, and transparent the actual goals you want to achieve together. Most folks come with their own perspective and the leader needs to patiently guide everyone towards the end goal. You have to listen and understand what is important to each participant and why. If you team is global, you also need to consider cultural / local differences and challenges - do not discount them. Listen. Do a simple design thinking session capturing thoughts and then read out and as a group after explanation, be mature and just vote on the priorities. There's nothing more rewarding that putting in the work and gaining agreement with the team. This will take several intense sessions where all need to participate.

It is of utmost importance to ensure that the perspectives of all pertinent stakeholders are not only heard but also effectively captured in the initial stages. Achieving early consensus among stakeholders will serve to prevent unwarranted and expensive deliberations during later phases. Employing tools such as a stakeholder register and a power influence matrix can significantly facilitate the accomplishment of this objective.

Frequent pulse-checks on what is working or what may be a challenge are essential. By actively listening and interacting respectfully, even when you disagree with a specific path or idea, trust and rapport are built. This allows new ideas to be heard that we haven’t thought of yet, resulting in more in-depth discussion, which leads to a more complete and effective solution.

Two forms of feedback mechanisms can assist you and the project you’re shepherding. 1- setting up 1:1 with functional team leads to identify gaps and share insight. 2- formal team feedback session at the completion of each milestone so the team feels heard.

An excellent way to collect feedback from past experiences and valuable input for a new project is a formal risk assessment. Do one with your team, and one with the customer. Document what didn't go great in similar past projects, list everyone's thoughts on what could go sideways this time. Then come up with risk avoidance or mitigation measures. Review and update throughout the project. A nice byproduct from the exercise is that no one will later say that they 'saw this coming'. After the risk assessment, everyone is truly 'in it together'.

this also increases the scope of learning and people with different skills are pulled in together helping other teams to look at the projects from their perspective and thus widening the understanding of costs involved, hardware, certifications etc. and how these impact the project on a larger scale.

A cross-functional team resembles an orchestra, where each musician wields mastery over an instrument and may possess talent in others. Each instrument harmoniously contributes its vital notes, crafting a symphony of sounds that weaves into the enchanting tapestry we call music.

Cross functional projects can be a great learning opportunity. They allow us to develop our skills, learn new techniques, and gain exposure to different working styles and processes. Working with people from different departments provides us with a broader perspective, enabling us to gain an understanding of the bigger picture.

Learning — and teaching — outside your own expertise is critical to cross-functional success. No, others don’t have to become experts like you (and that’s okay), but making not just your work digestible, but craving that from others, builds respect and understanding. Think about it from not just knowing the “what” of the other teams, but soon learning the “why” and gradually the “how.”

Such an opportunity can be an immensely rewarding journey - when we are not perturbed by our preconceived weaknesses but by maintaining an open mindset to learn, and contribute.

An example would be my current role as a marketing manager where most of the time, I’m brought in as the “voice of the customer” in the meeting with internal stakeholders.

Like we teach our little ones "sharing is caring" the sharing of knowledge makes work easier as it lowers the dependency on a specific person or team. when people become more aware, they can take the first step toward solving certain issues without becoming dependent.

I relish the chance to get different perspectives that challenge my assumptions. For example, the types of questions my collaborators ask often reveal gaps in my mental models. Similarly, if their observations contradict my own, I'll gently adjust my viewpoint or develop new interpretive grids to apply going forward.

Effectively capturing, sharing, and acting upon the lessons learned throughout the project's lifecycle holds paramount significance. This proactive approach far outweighs the traditional post-mortem lessons learned sessions, which often result in creating documents that remain archived and rarely revisited.

Reflection is incredibly important as most learning and insights are typically gained in hindsight. I agree with this assessment. Also, celebrate a key milestone with the cross functional team!

This on a larger perspective, reflects in discussion and hence showcases larger experience and hence increases your ability to drive outcomes.

After certain large milestones and the completion of a project, I like to host retrospectives. This allows us to capture feedback on how the project went, what we learned, and where we could improve. From this we publish retro project insights that can be carried forward on new work.

Since all of this adds on, it also helps in delivering future projects faster and within a limited time. The captured feedback from past projects really helps.

Get interested in the people involved. I know I hate being treated like a part in a machine. So I try never to treat others like they're simple human box checkers. BIG thing: Stop using the word "We". Especially in cross functional groups. Especially especially in groups distributed across the country or around the world. "We" never finishes his action item. Saying "We" makes everyone think a thing is getting done. Then, when it invariably does NOT get done, the switchblade fingers of blame pop out. Note that I haven't used the word 'team' here either. Be jealous using it. It's been nearly ruined. It's only a team when there's been some storming, followed by some norming and performing.

Cross functional projects provide a great opportunity for significant professional growth because it allows you to acquire a unique and comprehensive perspective on a plethora of functional areas which help to prepare you for more executive leadership opportunities. A good place to start when leveraging cross functional projects is to unlearn perfection!! What that means is to be more open minded to the “process” which will help you focus more on the “progress” and less on perfection. Cross-functional projects opens the doors for new career paths and professional advancement. It is a wise investment in your career success.

For some projects, disagreements are inevitable. When disagreements arise, focusing on the shared goal can help reorient discussions and reduce personal friction. Active listening is key: team members should strive to understand differing perspectives before offering their own. It can also be beneficial to incorporate regular team-building activities or training sessions on conflict resolution to foster a positive and collaborative team culture. Lastly, if conflicts persist, involving a neutral third-party mediator can be an effective strategy to facilitate resolution.

Don’t restrict your teams to only contribute based on their area of expertise. The true value in cross functional team collaboration is getting ideas and input from others that you typically would not get from your usual subject matter experts.

In cross-functional projects, toxic behaviors can severely impede the learning process. The negative demeanor, resistance to cooperation, and disruptive conduct create an unhealthy dynamic. Collaboration and creativity suffer, hindering knowledge exchange. Combatting this requires transparent dialogues, well-defined expectations, and potential managerial intervention.

The entire cross functional team needs to be aware that it is normally the INTERFACES between the functions where challenges occur. Instill the awareness in your team that the complete solution doesn't only depend on their area/subsystem being in order. It also needs to interface well with all other parts of the solution.

Don't hesitate to include vendor and customer cross-functional team members, if appropriate. If the project serves the interest of the other businesses, by all means work together! It is a great way to build trust and increase efficiencies by reducing downtime waiting on approvals and feedback. Customer access is a big part of agile project management. This is a huge opportunity to deepen the relationships between businesses-these types of arrangements create a lot of stir. Boost communication by sending a progress report to higher ups. Just a quick word of caution, if you bring in members from other organizations directly into your team, you need a strong project manager committed to keeping things moving with focus.