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| Recent Entries Promoting a new culture of cross-functional collaborationTo a performance-based training model |
Case Studies Archives Promoting a new culture of cross-functional collaboration A medium-sized technical and marketing communication department was in the process of introducing a Content Management System. One of the requirements to maximize the benefits of a CMS is that content be produced in a more consistent, structured way. Another characteristic of a CMS is that content is content, there is no distinction between illustrations, graphics, or text - it’s all content, to be used, and re-used, in a variety of media - print, web, service and installation guides, advertising copy, etc. As preparations for the introduction were underway, the adoption of the underlying work principles of dynamic collaboration between different types of content producers was faltering. People who had worked in silos, creating technical illustrations to accompany technical texts, or vice versa, without actually communicating with each other, were being asked to work in tandem with engineers and other subject matter experts. It wasn’t so much that nobody wanted to, it was that nobody quite knew how, or could see the benefit. Even without active opposition, it was proving to be an uphill battle to encourage people from different disciplines to comment on and contribute to each other’s work. We developed a series of workshops for the team, with initial emphasis on communication styles and personal team role preferences. We used Belbin’s Team Role theory to facilitate a growing understanding of self and other - with an aim to increasing the appreciation of individual team role strengths. We followed with a full-day workshop on Work Styles, centred around Collaboration vs. Competition. Armed with new tools and techniques to tackle operational issues, the cross-functional teams went back to work. We monitored the work groups for two weeks, giving feedback and coaching where needed, and responding to requests for support. To wrap up, we conducted another full-day workshop, on creative problem-solving techniques and critical thinking, adding to the employees’ toolbox for friction-free teamwork.
The initial scepticism evaporated rapidly, and as individual team members began to find the confidence and courage to speak up in matters outside their direct discipline, the group was pleasantly surprised to be able to tap into so much unexpected creativity. Throughout the 6-week program, we tracked key indicators such as ‘time-to-review’, ‘prevention of errors’ and ‘number of review cycles’, as well as some of the softer indicators of team success such as ‘fun to work with’ and ‘good feedback’ or ‘fresh thinking’. By the end of the 6-week cycle, while not yet completely friction-free, and with some metrics not yet being met, the team had nevertheless made a complete about-face, and was now largely embracing the changes on the horizon, and discussions about the new work methods were positive and excited. The real indicator was when a technical writer was overheard enthusiastically and passionately explaining the concept of ‘meta data’ to an engineer ...
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