cross-functional team

Examples of cross-functional team in the following topics:

• Cross-Functional Teams

  • A cross-functional team comprises people from different departments and with special areas of expertise working to achieve a common goal.
  • Cross-functional teams include members who bring different types of knowledge and experience from areas such as finance, engineering, human resources, and marketing.
  • Even though diversity of knowledge and perspective is the big advantage of cross-functional teams, it can also be a source of problems.
  • This can make communication between members of a cross-functional team difficult and subject to misunderstanding.
  • Cross-functional teams may be more likely than less complex teams to have members with divergent perspectives on how work gets done.

• Types of Teams

  • Depending on its needs and goals, a company can use a project team, a virtual team, or a cross-functional team.
  • Common types of teams found in organizations include project teams, virtual teams, and cross-functional teams.
  • Members of a project team often belong to different functional groups and are chosen to participate in the team based on specific skills they can contribute to the project.
  • Cross-functional teams combine people from different areas, such as marketing and engineering, to solve a problem or achieve a goal.
  • It is common for an organization to have many teams, including teams of several types.

• Choosing Team Size and Team Members

  • Team size and composition affect team processes and outcomes.
  • The optimal size and composition of teams depends on the scope of the team's goals.
  • Meredith Belbin did extensive research on teams prior to 1990 in the UK that suggested that the optimum team size is eight roles plus a specialist as needed.
  • The mix of knowledge and expertise on a team is also important.
  • For this reason, cross-functional teams may be larger than groups formed to work on less complex activities.

• Virtual Teams

  • Similar to task forces and cross-functional teams, networked teams frequently bring together people with different expertise to bring broad perspectives to discussing an issue or problem.
  • Parallel teams are highly task-focused and draw on individuals from different functional areas and locations.
  • Functional teams are comprised of people from the same department or area who collaborate on regular and ongoing activities, examples of which include providing training, executing marketing initiatives, and conducting research and development.
  • Team-member skills: Beyond their functional expertise and experience, virtual team members need to be effective users of technologies such as video conferencing and other collaboration tools.
  • When virtual teams cross national boundaries, differences in language and culture require the ability to negotiate barriers to communication and collaboration.

• Team-Based Structure

  • The team structure in large organizations is considered a newer type of organization that is less hierarchical, less structured, and more fluid than traditional structures (such as functional or divisional).
  • Teams that include members from different functions are known as cross-functional teams.
  • One aspect of team-based structures that will likely persist indefinitely is the integration of team cultures within an broader structure (e.g., a functional structure with teams interspersed).
  • Such integration allows for the authority and organization of a more concrete structure while at the same time capturing the cross-functional and projected-oriented advantages of teams.
  • The project team might be allocated a certain number of hours a month to devote to team objectives; however, members of the team are still expected to work within their respective functional departments.

• Functional Structure

  • An organization with a functional structure is divided based on functional areas, such as IT, finance, or marketing.
  • Correspondingly, the company's top management team typically consists of several functional heads (such as the chief financial officer and the chief operating officer).
  • Each group of specialists can therefore operate independently with management acting as the point of cross-communication between functional areas.
  • Recent trends that aim to combat these disadvantages include the use of teams that cross traditional departmental lines and the promotion of cross-functional communication.
  • Each different functions (e.g., HR, finance, marketing) is managed from the top down via functional heads (the CFO, the CIO, various VPs, etc.).

• Team Roles

  • Team roles define how each member of the group relates to the others and contributes to the team's performance.
  • Team roles establish expectations about who will do what to help the team succeed.
  • Often these roles are filled by specialists with deep knowledge in a functional area or another type of subject-matter expertise.
  • Each type of role brings something valuable to how a team functions.
  • Identify types of team roles and how they contribute to team performance

• Setting Team Goals and Providing Team Feedback

  • Periodic performance assessments help a team identify areas for improvement so it can better achieve its goals.
  • The way team members function as a group is as important to the team's success as the quality of what it produces.
  • Periodic self-assessments that consider the team's progress, how it has gotten there, and where it is headed allow the team to gauge its effectiveness and take steps to improve its performance.
  • To assess its performance, a team seeks feedback from group members to identify its strengths and its weaknesses.
  • The team can then use the results as a starting point for its discussion.

• The Role of Teams in Organizations

  • The use of teams has become essential to successful organizations of all types and sizes.
  • Organizations often use teams to bring together individuals from different departments or functional areas in order to conduct their operations and address problems.
  • This is known as a virtual team.
  • Teams are important in small businesses as well as large corporations.
  • Explain the value of teams and the reasons for their widespread use

• Matrix Structure

  • Common organizational perspectives include function and product, function and region, or region and product.
  • Proponents of matrix management suggest that this structure allows team members to share information more readily across task boundaries, countering the "silo" critique of functional management.
  • A company that operates in various regions with various products may require interaction between product development teams and geographic marketing specialists—suggesting a matrix may be applicable.
  • Generally speaking, larger companies with a need for a great deal of cross-departmental communication benefit most from this model.
  • Illustrate the way two different operational perspectives can be crossed in a matrix structure to organize a company