Many operational problems arise not out of the work done per se, but from the gaps between one team and another. These points of handover and joint working create ambiguous responsibilities and accountabilities, leading to failures in communication and inconsistent output quality.
A factor in the UK banking crisis, for example, has been the poorly defined responsibilities and ways of working between the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Bank of England. As a consequence the Tories have recently proposed that, if they come to power, the FSA will be scrapped and its responsibilities handed over to the Bank, ensuring more transparent accountabilities.
The trouble is there are no perfect organisational structures; each is a mix of strengths and weaknesses. Creating an all-powerful Bank of England, for instance, may lead to a lack of ongoing debate and challenge about the best way to regulate the financial industry.
So how can you prevent your teams’ work from falling through the gaps? Here are four practical steps you can take:
- Clarify accountabilities. It is difficult enough establishing clear accountabilities within a single team, never mind when the work is cross-functional. Last week I ran a workshop to help a group of departmental leaders establish objectives and accountabilities for a major strategic initiative. We made most progress when we agreed that we would have single, clear leader for each project, even when more than one department was involved in its delivery.
- Foster collaboration. Research has shown that working in the same physical location creates better joint-working between teams. Collaboration is therefore easier between smaller, concentrated groups than it is between large, fragmented departments. However, better collaboration between larger groups can still be achieved. Moving people between departments, bringing them together in smaller groups to resolve specific issues and working as leaders to create a bigger sense of shared community can all contribute to better working relationships.
- Keep your organisation design simple. The greater the bureaucracy, the bigger the potential for issues to fall through the gaps. Reducing unnecessary layers, ensuring group-wide committees have clear responsibilities, simplifying administrative processes and merging departments with similar remits will all help reduce bureaucracy and increase the clarity in responsibilities.
- Focus your own time and effort. Instead of spending all your time on the central work of your team, seek to answer these questions: Are the hand-offs between my department and our internal and external partners working effectively? Does our organisation have conflicting or related projects and jobs that require better co-ordination? What opportunities do I have to simplify this organisation and the way it operates?
Simply put, the attitude you display to cross-functional working will soon be modelled by your team.
