Unleash the power of cross-functional teams! With diverse knowledge collaborating towards a common goal, accelerate innovation, problem solving and product development.
Improve coordination, strengthen innovation and increase development speed with a cross-functional team made up of the top 1% of technology talent.
Increase efficiency with cross-functional teams
One of the main reasons why companies adopt different technological solutions is to achieve greater efficiency in their processes. Or at least that's the goal. In real life, it is not uncommon for business leaders to begin encountering silos and “technology islands” as a result of poor integration and implementation practices.
If you find that your company's technology implementations are primarily focused on your own sectors and are struggling to maintain coherence with company-wide goals, then cross-functional teams may be just what you need. In this article, we'll take a look at the role of cross-functional teams in technology and software development and how they can foster cohesion across your organization while optimizing efforts to achieve goals faster and with less waste.
What is a cross-functional team?
A cross-functional team is exactly what it sounds like: a group of diverse people with varying expertise whose goal is to perform specialized tasks that add coordinated value. In technology, these teams are often hired using the Delivery Team methodology and assigned to a single client or project.
The cross-functional team will define milestones, completion dates, feedback cycles, and everything else necessary to ensure a smooth workflow throughout the project lifecycle. For them, it's about ensuring the success of the project and allocating enough time and resources to ensure all objectives are achieved.
Agile methodologies at the center of everything
As you might expect, the best cross-functional teams are powered by agile methodologies. Most of the time, the CF team will have a Scrum Master to ensure compliance with communication and workflow protocols, as well as the prioritization of tasks, meetings and deadlines.
In this way, the work of a Multifunctional Team can be divided into a race in which all team members can put their knowledge and skills into practice and evaluate their progress through burndown charts . In short, working with a CF team is the ideal way to introduce new project-based working techniques into your company and begin to embrace the value of agile methodologies.
The structure of a cross-functional team in technology
Unsurprisingly, a CF team in technology looks very different when compared to a standard cross-functional team. The reasoning behind this is simple: software technology evolves so quickly and has generated so many specializations that the need for CF teams focused on this area was just a matter of time.
That said, let's take a look at the general structure of a cross-functional team in the technology solutions industry:
#1 Product Manager
This is the person you will have the most contact with. The product manager is responsible for identifying the needs of the project and ensuring that the team has everything they need to meet their goals. In other words, this person “articulates” the definition of success and leads the Cross-Functional Team until their vision becomes reality.
#2 Scrum Master
As you can imagine, the Scrum Master is responsible for the team's Scrum effectiveness. They do this by following the process outlined in the Scrum Guide and helping each team member through servant leadership. In other words, the Scrum Master will ensure that everyone understands the theory and practice of Scrum and that the process is always applied completely.
#3 Technical Lead
The technical lead is responsible for all decisions related to a project's software, hardware, and infrastructure requirements. They develop software solutions, review code, and approve unit tests that accurately reflect application performance. Tech Leads are senior software engineers with 8+ years of experience.
#4 UX/UI Leader
The User Experience (UX) / User Interface (UI) lead is the person who will deliver everything related to the software application design and experience. They will work closely with stakeholders and customers to paint a clear picture of what they want the solution to look like and work with their team to make it happen.
#5 Delivery Manager
The Delivery Manager is the person responsible for all high-level customer communication to facilitate workflow coordination between the technical side and product functionality in real-life scenarios. They are the point of contact for any tasks or issues the customer requests from the technical team and will ultimately ensure satisfactory delivery of the software solution.
What are the benefits of cross-functional teams?
At one time or another, most business leaders have asked themselves: Do I need a cross-functional team? Why would I need a cross-functional team? What are the benefits of hiring a cross-functional team?
Improved Coordination
The fact that the name starts with “Cross” should be a big giveaway of this benefit. Regardless of size or industry, most companies reach a point where ensuring coordination between their teams at the software level simply starts to get out of control. Here's a common case: Your marketing division uses a CRM system to store and process various data from its operations, but the output from that CRM system cannot be easily processed by the software used by the sales department.
Scenarios like this create information silos that slow down business processes at all levels. In this case, the role of a Multifunctional Team would be to define the best tech stack for your company and implement software solutions that guarantee adequate coordination between different systems and departments.
Stronger innovation
Working with a cross-functional team is practically a direct path to product and service innovation. With the help of a CF team, your company can easily identify workflow and communication silos and begin working on the strategies and actions that will promote efficiency and cohesion across the organization. The approach of a team like this is strongly oriented towards problem solving and paves the way for innovative and comprehensive solutions that can be implemented in the short and long term.
In addition to process innovation, cross-functional teams also promote product innovation, bringing together diverse teams of people with different experiences and specialties. The group naturally creates a “forum” where learning and ideas travel much faster than in traditional corporate media.
Faster cycles
Getting software integration working at the right time can have a tremendous impact on your operations. Think about one of your company's simple tasks that you think takes too long for what it is (and make no mistake, there's always one). Working with a cross-functional team can allow you to solve this “complexity” and inefficiency much faster than your in-house team and solve it now so you don't have to worry about it ever again.
This is a scalable approach that simply benefits large-scale projects – and one that you will definitely want to consider for your next project. Working with a cross-functional team will allow you to continually attack priorities and adjust the project based on feedback and findings revealed during testing.
Source: BairesDev
