What Makes Them Work: and How They Fail 

Over the years many IT organizations have become extremely proficient at squeezing the budget – or in layman’s terms, getting a lot more work done, without increasing staff. So when business management starts throwing around terms like “cross functional collaboration”, IT managers are likely to translate it as “ do more with less.”  But, with a little work, you’ll find that implementing real collaboration across teams, and business units, can be a blessing in disguise, improving morale.

“With a little work, you’ll find that implementing real collaboration across teams, and business units, can be a blessing in disguise, improving morale.”

Cross-functional collaboration is a great way to break down silos and increase teamwork between IT and business departments. It can also help improve problem-solving and innovation in an organization. Here are some benefits of cross-functional collaboration in IT and business: 

• Increased innovation: Cross-functional collaboration can lead to new ideas and solutions that might not have been possible with a single department working alone. 
• Improved problem-solving: Cross-functional teams can bring together different perspectives and skill sets to solve complex problems, improving both the current product/project and adding depth to both business and IT professionals. 
• Increased efficiency: Cross-functional teams can help reduce duplication of effort and streamline processes. 
• Better alignment between IT and business: Cross-functional collaboration can help align the goals of IT and business departments, leading to better communication and collaboration (or reduced duplication of similar efforts between teams). 
• Improved customer experience: Cross-functional collaboration can help ensure that the customer experience is consistent across different departments and functions.   
• To make cross-functional collaboration work, it’s important to establish clear goals, roles, and communication channels.

“Teams may prioritize technical considerations, while business teams focus on strategic goals, potentially leading to conflicts in priorities.” 

But all is not easy.  Cross-functional teams between IT and the business can face various challenges. Here are some common issues: 

• Communication Gaps:  Differences in language and terminology between IT professionals and business stakeholders can lead to misunderstandings. Poor communication channels may hinder the exchange of crucial information and requirements. 
• Misaligned Goals and Priorities:  IT teams may prioritize technical considerations, while business teams focus on strategic goals, potentially leading to conflicts in priorities.  Misalignment can result in the delivery of solutions that don’t meet the actual business needs. 
• Differing Timeframes: IT projects often involve complex technical work that might have longer timelines than business stakeholders expect. Misaligned project timelines can lead to frustration, perceived delays, and some serious finger-pointing (and organizational angst).  
• Resistance to Change:  Business stakeholders might resist technological changes, fearing disruptions to their workflows.  IT teams may resist changes that could compromise the technical integrity of their systems or where they perceive their proposed solution is better than what the business wants. 
• Lack of Mutual Understanding:  Limited understanding of each other’s roles, responsibilities, and constraints can lead to unrealistic expectations.  Business teams may not fully grasp the technical complexities, and IT teams may not fully understand the business context. 
• Inadequate Stakeholder Commitment:  Lack of active participation and engagement from business stakeholders during the development process can result in solutions that don’t meet business requirements. 
• Insufficient Resources: Inadequate resource allocation, whether time, budget, or personnel, can impede the success of cross-functional teams. 
• Change Management Challenges: It can be difficult to manage the transition from existing processes to new solutions, especially if change management strategies are lacking. Even the best-designed solution can become a disaster if implementation issues delay successful deployment. 
• Security and Compliance Concerns:  IT teams may prioritize security and compliance, while business teams might emphasize speed and flexibility, leading to conflicts in implementation approaches. 
• Lack of Clear Roles and Responsibilities:  Ambiguity in roles and responsibilities can result in tasks falling through the cracks or duplicated efforts. 
• Tool and Technology Integration:  Integrating new tools or technologies into existing business processes may be challenging and disruptive. 
• Limited Collaboration Platforms:  If there’s a lack of effective collaboration tools or platforms, coordination between IT and business teams may suffer, as individuals will often fall back on department-level legacy processes. 

“To make cross-functional collaboration work, it’s important to establish clear goals, roles, and communication channels” 

Setting clear and manageable goals for individual projects can help ensure that cross-functional teams stay focused and productive.  

Establishing common language and goals early on in the planning process can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same goal.  

Like any good project, building a strong communication plan can help ensure that everyone knows how information is shared and who can access it when needed. It’s the glue that ties everything together.