Unleash your teams' innovation and creativity with cross-functional management
What is cross-functional management and what can it do for the company?
Breaking free from hierarchical links, this form of management is flourishing in organizations that are tending towards greater horizontality or more collaborative structures.
It encourages exchange and interaction, as opposed to strict objectives and fixed processes, and makes teams more flexible and productive.
But how exactly does cross-functional management work, and what objectives does it pursue? If you're in charge of leading a cross-functional project, which key skills should you draw on?
Find out now whether cross-functional management is right for your organization, and if so, how to implement it!
Definition of cross-functional management
Cross-functional management means leading a group of people with different skills and expertise towards a common goal, whether it's a project, a product or a process.
Let's forget hierarchical levels and take a step back: cross-functional management disregards the ties of authority that bind people together.
Cross-functional management is often contrasted with hierarchical management. A word of clarification is in order here, however: cross-functional management does not imply that all hierarchical relationships are non-existent within the organization, as is the case with horizontal management.
Quite simply, the cross-functional manager exercises a certain managerial authority, regardless of the status and other hierarchical links between other team members.
He or she therefore does not tend to do away with all hierarchical levels, but rather to bring together employees with different profiles with a view to carrying out cross-functional work and achieving the desired results.
💡 Cross-functional management is all the easier to implement in an organization that encourages collaborative working.
The objectives of cross-functional management
At the crossroads of several functions and departments, cross-functional management associates and gets different company players to work together to achieve a defined goal, without exercising hierarchical power.
To lead the team towards the common goal, it aims to :
- ensure coordination and fluidity of exchanges ;
- create cohesion between team members;
- reconcile the different objectives of stakeholders with those of the cross-functional project;
- value everyone's ideas and contributions, in the image of participative management;
- use leadership as a means of influence.
Forms of cross-functional management
- Project mode : to deliver a product to a customer on schedule. The managerial challenge is one of structuring;
- Process mode: to implement orientations regularly or produce deliverables repeatedly. The challenge is to provide a framework and coherence for fragmented activities;
- Task force mode : to deal with a continuous improvement issue, or to meet a specific, urgent need (task force). The challenge is to compose the team properly and create a creative emulation;
- Network mode: to create a shared group based on common professional interests. The challenge is to clearly define the goal to be achieved and the type of results to be obtained.
The missions of the cross-functional manager
Knowing the different roles you'll play as a cross-functional manager is the first card you'll need to play.
To succeed in your role, you must :
- assert yourself as a leader and take responsibility for the mission entrusted to you;
- clarify the roles of each stakeholder;
- find a way of communicating and messages that make a difference to everyone involved;
- identify best practices that everyone can adopt to move in the same direction;
- involve all team members and value their opinions;
- draw on different profiles to enrich the group's knowledge and generate new ideas;
- empower your staff and ensure their commitment;
- motivate and encourage everyone to give their best.
The advantages of cross-functional management
Cross-functional management has many advantages. It :
- encourages initiative-taking;
- generates greater creativity and innovation;
- encourages interaction and cooperation between individuals;
- increases stakeholder autonomy;
- speeds up processes and decision-making;
- promotes customer interests, which take precedence over service objectives;
- strengthens employee motivation and commitment, thus enhancing confidence and well-being at work.
Discover in this interview all the secrets to meeting today's management challenges 👉
The limits of cross-functional management
While the advantages of cross-functional management are numerous, it is not necessarily easy to implement. Certain difficulties may arise for the cross-functional manager, who :
- may find themselves grappling with sometimes divergent issues;
- must adapt to the operating and communication styles of team members from different business cultures;
- has to juggle individual priorities while ensuring the smooth running of the cross-functional project;
- must devote a large part of his/her time to communicating and facilitating exchanges.
How to implement cross-functional management in your company?
Good cross-functional management practices
Here are a few fundamentals to develop in order to achieve the objectives of your cross-functional projects:
- Work on your assertiveness: it can be complex to manage people with no hierarchical link, and therefore to find your managerial legitimacy. Your ability to persuade and negotiate will be invaluable when it comes to dealing with the different objectives of each department, management or your colleagues' superiors.
- Understanding your environment: it's vital to understand your colleagues and the environment in which each of them operates. This overall understanding enables you to decipher the power relations, needs, interests, sources of motivation and constraints of each individual.
- Conflict management: when managing a multi-disciplinary and sometimes multi-cultural team, you have to expect to deal with different personalities. This diversity is likely to lead to conflictual relations. Try to identify opportunities in every difficulty, and capitalize on diversity to turn it into a strength.
- Promote collaborative values: to work as a team, it's essential to convey values based on communication and collaboration. Ideally, as a manager, you should highlight each person's strengths, find good practices to harmonize in order to support a good group dynamic, and put in place the means to facilitate exchanges.
Tools for cross-functional working
Collaborative working can be optimized using a variety of tools:
- a collaborative platform,
- a corporate social network (CSN),
- an electronic document management system (EDMS),
- a videoconferencing tool,
- a password manager, etc.
See more collaboration tools:
Cross-functional managerial qualities to develop
If you're looking for the right person within your organization, or if you yourself have the responsibility of leading a cross-functional team, here are the main qualities and skills you need to possess or develop:
- organization,
- listening skills and empathy,
- observation,
- pedagogy and communication,
- trust,
- communication and openness,
- diplomacy,
- flexibility and adaptability,
- emotional intelligence.
The evolution of cross-functional management in the age of teleworking
As telecommuting becomes more widespread in organizations, new challenges arise for managers.
To counter these difficulties, keep a few tips in mind:
- reorganize the team if necessary ;
- find new ways of communicating and circulating information;
- set up regular get-togethers and take care with the time for exchanges;
- adopt a positive, motivating attitude.
You can forge links, encourage exchanges and continue to support the overall vision of the project using digital methods and tools.
Do you have a cross-functional management role in your company? What levers and best practices would you like to share with your peers? We'd love to hear from you!
Article translated from French