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Cross-Teams Collaboration & 5 Tips To Improve It
What is a cross-team?
A cross-team is a group of people from different functional parts of an organization, who work together to achieve a common objective. These are groups consisting of a small number of people with complementary skills, who are mutually accountable and responsible to find joint solutions to common problems and execute group goals.
Ex: Improving customer relationships, faster resolution on tickets, developing new products, etc.
Why is cross-team collaboration important for growing a business?
With the advent of remote and hybrid work, the nature of work has become more- networked, devolved, mobile, team-based, and fluid. The focus here will be to make sure that work will not be more- complicated, confusing, or overwhelming. Hence the necessity for cross-teams to find better ways to communicate and collaborate with departments in the flow of their work.
Here are a few tips for making cross-team collaboration effective
- Don’t rely on email. To collaborate with the whole team, and to avoid misunderstandings between team members, it’s preferable to use tools that are built for group communication rather than emailing individuals. It’s also a way of keeping communication about specific collaborative tasks separate so they don’t get lost in a crowded inbox.
- Provide shared workspaces. An online space where teams can collaborate and share documents is essential. Whatever file sharing system you choose, make sure it integrates with your other tools so people aren’t wasting time and becoming frustrated with multiple sign-ins.
- Async audio/video. Async audio/video will give teams access to the non-verbal cues they rely on for more subtle meaning and is ideal for cutting down unnecessary meetings. It’ll make people feel more connected too – just the sight of their colleagues will help them feel they’re not losing touch.
- Make time for a chat. Water-cooler conversations are where some of the best ideas are born, so your tools need to give teams virtual space for it. Whether it’s setting up a dedicated chat channel, or just making time for idle conversation at the beginning and end of meetings, don’t feel you need to organise every interaction. Give room to let the conversation flow.
- Don’t make assumptions. Misunderstandings can happen more easily when people are working virtually. Keeping communication channels open so that team members can backtrack on conversations and ask questions whenever they need to.
Finishing up
Cross-teams are intricate. Consequently, collaboration among such team members also comes with varied challenges. But, with a concerted effort, you can make leaps when it comes to the level of productive collaboration. This allows you to enjoy all the benefits of coherent and high-performing cross-functional teams, such as innovativeness and lightning-speed solutioning.
appEQ.ai is a cross-team deep collaboration platform that powers your SaaS / Enterprise App. Write to us at sales@appeq.ai or visit us www.appeq.ai to know more.