How can cross-functional training help your project team achieve success?

Cross-functional training, as the name suggests, is the training that happens beyond your regular functions. Say for example, a salesperson visiting her company's shop floor to see how exactly the product gets manufactured. This helps her understand the challenges involved at the ground level before over promising the customer about the product. Exchange of experiences of each other also would help improve the overall product quality or the process involved. We've heard of the standard phrase that's used in the org.s: Try to put yourself into customer's shoes. In this case, you may be made to wear many shoes! 😊 Cross-functional training gives a holistic perspective for your function before you get lost in the silo of your daily life.

Is this something that really needs training? People already KNOW they could choose to work with others within their workgroup or with other workgroups. Is this a SKILL that they need to develop, or do we really need them to have a different and non-competitive view of collaborative working?

Cross-functional training offers numerous benefits to individuals, teams, and organizations. It enhances interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering teamwork and innovation. It builds adaptability by preparing employees to take on different roles and challenges. The knowledge transfer and learning fostered through cross-functional training promote continuous development. It improves problem-solving and decision-making by providing a broader perspective. Additionally, cross-functional training boosts employee engagement and retention by demonstrating investment in their growth. By embracing cross-functional training, organizations can achieve a more agile workforce, enhance collaboration, and drive overall success.

Part of training in inherently the exposure to other perspectives and ways of working, and cross functional-training creates a complete experience. Getting people together to get vulnerable and learn something new creates connection and psychological safety, which builds alignment across the team and ability to solve hard problems in the future. If you want a team to move faster and work through conflict more easily, have them engage in training together and learn each other's work styles and communication styles in a low stakes environment so you are ready to go when you have to turn the heat up.

Cross-functional training can be beneficial in enhancing teamwork and collaboration. It may lead to team members feeling empowered to come up with creative solutions to problems. This can create a positive momentum in the work culture and enhance communication, collaboration, accountability, and responsibility amongst team members.

Cross-functional training is beneficial for several reasons: 1. Skill Diversification 2. Improves Collaboration 3. Ignites Innovation 4. Customer-Centric Approach 5. Problem Solving 6. Employee Satisfaction 7. Cost Efficiency In summary, cross-functional training promotes skill development, teamwork, and adaptability, which can lead to improved organizational performance and employee satisfaction.

NO amount of training will get people to really collaborate or be engaged, since these things are the choices of the individuals and in a competitive culture, most rational people will simply choose to be competitive. Some collaboration may happen but don't expect it. For 30 years, we have supported my team building game where the goal is., "to mine a much gold as WE can." The goal of the Expediion Leader is obviously to get a much gold as the whole group can generate, to maximize the return on investment. Even though the words "winning" and "competing" never appear, many / most of the teams make a conscious and intentional choice to try to WIN. They CHOOSE not to collaborate, not to share information or resources. Training won't help!

When inviting team members to engage in cross-functional training, always make sure that team members are able and willing to engage with others. Issues like team morale, trust, competence and ability have to be addressed initially. Should these factors that lead to success fall short, cross-functional training may not yield positive results.

Don't TRAIN. Work to involve and engage people into a shared alignment to missions, visions, goals and expectations. Don't do things TO people and expect things to change, since you will more than likely just going to generate resistance among those who have already chosen not to collaborate with others. Make your managers into facilitators of collaboration and alignment.