Cross Functional Team
Title of the Project: Cross Functional Team
Course:PGCHRM – 18
Name of the faculty: Dr.M.G Jomon
Subject: Organization Behaviour -2
Submitted by:
Group No.: 26
Group Members
Mr.Aniket Mansute Roll No:2229548
Ms.Bhanu Bhatia Roll No:2229490
Ms.Nidhi Thomas Roll No:2229508
Ms.Namita Dabas Roll No:2229583
Name of the Centre: – Raja Garden, New Delhi
Cross Functional Team
What is a Cross Functional Team?
Cross functional team is composed of those individuals from departments within the Firm
who competencies are essential in achieving an optimal evaluation. Successful teams
combine skill sets which no single individual possesses. The role of the cross functional team
in using expertise of many different people is coupled with the task of enlisting support for
the work of the team. Teams like this are useful when you need to bring people with
different expertise together to solve a problem, or when you want to explore a potential
solution. For example, you might put together a team made up of people from finance,
engineering, production, and procurement to come up with a solution to reduce the lead-
time for a new product. The cross-functional team works together to reach a goal or
objective such as developing new products, reducing defects or increasing the efficiency in a
process.
Cross-functional teams are significantly different from teams that are aligned on one
functional level. For example, a group of marketing people generally “speak the same
language,” and they have a solid understanding of what their department is trying to
accomplish. With a cross-functional team, you may have representatives from a wide array of
specialties – finance, accounting, operations, legal, human resources – and each person has
his or her own perspective and issues. This diversity is a reason that cross-functional teams
can be highly effective.
CFTs seem to be most effective in Companies with fast changing markets such as computer,
telecom, etc, that value the adaptability, speed and an intense focus on responding to
customer needs. CFT are in a better position to solve complex business problems, because of
these problems transcend disciplines and functions.
Following are the effective strategies to set up your CFT, to give your team the best chance of
success:
1. Set Goals/Objectives
Begin your team by setting a goal. You need to set the objectives and know that why is this
team being set up. Clarify the objectives and identify the resources that the team can call
upon. These objectives are to be agreed with senior managers in the organization, and by the
managers of the departments affected by your new team.
2. Define Roles and Select the Right Team Members
Once the goals are set and you know what is to be achieved, you can identify the roles that
you need to fill, and the types of people you want in those roles.
When defining roles, think about more than just the technical expertise each person should
have. For example, will they need good communications skills or good decision making skills
or will they need to be able to work to tight deadlines, etc.
Cross Functional Team
Once you have team members on board, explain the goals to achieve and make sure that you
are all working to achieve the same objectives.
3. Resources and Logistics
New teams need access to all normal, basic resources, and it’s worth making sure you have
thought about everything that you need to organize. For instance: you need dedicated team
space, the team needs a budget, set up a shared area for storing files and documents, etc.
4. Establish Ways of Working
With a new team, you need guidelines in place that explain how the team will work together.
Here are some areas to consider:
• How acceptable is it to be late to meetings?
• How are meetings structured?
• Are team members copied into all emails?
• Are team members expected to be “always available” or is it accepted that
people will have times when they can’t be contacted?
• Who is involved in making decisions, and how are they made? Who is told
about these decisions?
5. Right Leadership Style
The overall authority for your cross-functional team will be with the senior managers,
sponsors, or a steering group. However, the team will be expected to make day-to-day
decisions without their input, so someone in the team will need to lead the team towards its
objectives. As the team leader, that person will be leading equals as you won’t have direct
authority over many of your team members. Someone will need to use a more persuasive
leadership style, rather than a controlling approach, to help them set their priorities. Often,
this involves functioning as a coach, helping people make their own decisions and solve their
own problems.
6. Negotiate and Communicate
There will be times where team members have priorities that conflict with their day–to-day
roles, and they may sometimes need to seek advice from their sponsor or steering group to
take things forward. It is important that you communicate effectively with everyone.
7. Build Top Management Sponsorship and Support
One of the team leader’s main responsibilities is to ensure that the cross-functional team has
the full support of the Top Management within the organization. The managers in every
affected functional area must support the project. The team’s objectives must be seen as a
priority else it will be too difficult for individual team members to find the time and resources
necessary to complete their tasks.
Cross Functional Team
8. Right Approach to Motivation
Linking the cross-functional team’s success to the success of each functional department is a
powerful way to gain support and increase motivation, where this can be achieved. Establish
clear performance standards and expectations related to the team. Individuals need to know
how well they’re performing as a member of the cross-functional team, and that evaluation
should be separate from the functional department evaluation. It is a good idea to reward
the team as a whole. This contributes to team unity and cohesiveness. All of these rewards
should include formal and informal recognition.
9. Enough Time to Contribute
When you are leading a cross-functional team, you need to be careful to manage the
expectations of team members and their functional managers as to how much time team
members need to spend on project work as opposed to departmental work. To establish the
right balance, the department manager needs to give up some authority, and the cross–
functional team leader has to be aware of departmental needs.
Why is this team chosen for the study?
CFTs bring six important advantages:
