|
Cross-Functional Teams Driving Systemic Innovation and Mutual Problem Solving |
|
By Vadim Kotelnikov, Founder, Ten3 BUSINESS e-COACH, 1000ventures.com
|
"What you need is a fundamental humility – the belief that you can learn from anyone." – Clayton Christensen |
|
|
Key Tasks Implemented by Cross-functional Teams
|
Implementing Specific Time-bound Tasks
|
9 Signs of a Losing Organization
Kaizen Mindset
Cross-functional Team Defined Cross-functional team is a group of employees from various functional areas of the organization – research, engineering, marketing, finance. human resources, and operations, for example – who are all focused on a specific objective and are responsible to work as a team to improve coordination and innovation across divisions and resolve mutual problems. Why Cross-functional Teams?
Some examples of cross-functional teams are teams established to:
Discovering Synergies Synergy is the energy or force created by the working together of various parts or processes. Synergy in business is the benefit derived from combining two or more elements (or businesses) so that the performance of the combination is higher than that of the sum of the individual elements (or businesses). 10 Roles of an Inspirational Leader
Case in Point GE As far as Jack Welch, the legendary former CEO of GE, is concerned, middle managers have to be team members and coaches. Welch gives a hypothetical example.3 Assume there is a multifunctional business consisting of engineering, marketing, and manufacturing components. And the business has the best manufacturing person it has ever had – someone with excellent numbers, who produces high-quality goods on time:
"But this person won't talk with people in engineering and
manufacturing. He won't share ideas with them, and won't behave in a
boundaryless way with them. But now we're replacing that person with
someone who may not be quite a perfect but who is a good
team player and lifts the team's performance.
Case in Point Hewlett-Packard Way To create an organization that could sustain its competitive advantage regardless of marketplace whims and what their competitors were building, HP founders based their corporate culture on the integration and reinforcement of critical opposites. This became known as the Hewlett-Packard Way. HP has achieved "what appears to be the greatest dichotomy: creating an environment that celebrates individualism, but at the same time one that is also wholly supportive of teamwork. Although HP people are taught to engage in cross-functional teams, they are also rated on the performance of decentralized business units and personal achievement."1... More
Building Your Cross-functional Excellence... Cross-functional Management... Cross-functional Teams Leading Organizational Change... Cross-functional Teams Leading Innovation... New Knowledge Creation by Cross-functional Teams... Systems Thinking... Lateral Thinking... Synergizing Business Processes... Synergizing Value Chain... How To Build Cross-functionally Excellent Teams... Achieving Deep Customer Focus: 10 Critical Breakthroughs... Case in Point Quantum... Case in Point Silicon Valley Firms... Case in Point IDEO... Case in Point Harley-Davidson...
|
|
References:
|
|
