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- Supermanagers TLDR - Cross-Functional Meetings
Supermanagers TLDR - Cross-Functional Meetings
The driving force behind some of the most innovative solutions.
Manuela Barcenas
September 05, 2024
Cross-functional alignment is the driving force behind some of the most groundbreaking solutions in the world, making cross-functional meetings a powerful tool for innovation.
In fact, there are lots of interesting studies highlighting the benefits of multidisciplinary collaboration. Here are a few:
Klein, Parise, and Weinberg (2022): Their research into business organizations showed that companies embracing cross-functional collaboration saw improved employee engagement and job satisfaction. The ability to work with different teams enhanced personal growth, broadened skillsets, and increased organizational commitment.
Van Knippenberg, Homan, and Van Ginkel (2021): This study found that multidisciplinary teams, despite initial communication challenges, ultimately produce better outcomes in terms of creativity and performance. The diversity of thought provided by team members from various disciplines was shown to enhance both the quality and originality of solutions.
In today’s newsletter, we’ll explore some best practices for making cross-functional meetings a good use of everyone’s time.
But first, don’t forget to RSVP to the Fellow 4.9 Product Launch Event on September 10th. Learn more about the new AI features here.
Tip #1: Use cross-functional meetings responsibly 💰
Have you ever thought about how much money a cross-functional meeting can cost your organization? Think about each person’s hourly rate and the time they’re investing to meet––or try our meeting cost calculator to find out. This habit can help meeting organizers be more thoughtful and intentional about scheduling unnecessary meetings.
If you’re planning to bring people from different departments together, make sure to spend some time planning the discussion, and if there is no agenda, it’s better to skip the meeting altogether.
Luckily, we have this cross-functional meeting template you can use as inspiration.
“For project kick-off meetings, I like to link to the pitch and designs ahead of time in Fellow, so the team can review and then add questions to the note in advance for us to discuss.”
Tip #2: Assign clear roles and responsibilities 🎯
For any kind of cross-functional project discussed in a meeting, we recommend creating a matrix, chart, or simple list of the stakeholders and their level of responsibility and involvement in each task.
“I love RACI charts to give people an idea of what they are accountable and responsible for. Everyone has to be on the same page and know when and what their contribution is so that things are constantly moving in the right direction. This visual chart also helps people understand any dependencies and also helps answer any questions they may have.”
Tip #3: Document decisions in one place ✍️
It’s hard to believe that some teams still take meeting notes in separate note-taking tools. That only causes misunderstandings and a lack of follow-through.
To make your cross-functional meetings a success, bring everyone together in one collaborative note-taking app. Centralized meeting note-taking makes it easier to track progress, follow up on action items, and maintain continuity from one meeting to the next. By consolidating your meeting resources, you can create a more efficient and effective workflow. Plus, with AI handling the heavy lifting, you can focus more on strategy and decision-making rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.
For more best practices on hosting cross-functional meetings, read our article here.
🎙️ Supermanagers Podcast Episode – Sabrina Leblanc, VP of Customer Success at SurveyMonkey
Sabrina Leblanc has played a key role in fostering cross-functional collaboration between sales and customer success teams.
In this episode of Supermanagers, Sabrina discusses the importance of clear communication channels, particularly between departments that work closely together, like sales and customer success. She emphasizes that regular and structured communication can significantly reduce friction and enhance the overall customer experience.
Sabrina also highlights the critical role of leadership alignment in cross-functional collaboration. By ensuring that leaders across departments are on the same page and communicate a consistent message, teams can work together more effectively towards shared goals. Quarterly leadership retrospectives focused on collaboration issues and successes are essential for maintaining this alignment.
To hear more about Sabrina's strategies for building strong cross-functional teams and creating a cohesive work environment, listen to the full episode of the Supermanagers podcast.
Fellow tip of the week
This week’s tip comes from Shannon Lochead, Senior Product Manager at Fellow
“In our project check-in meetings, we use Fellow's sections feature to organize and gather weekly updates from the team.
This feature allows us to create dedicated headers within the meeting agenda, where team members can easily contribute their updates in advance.
Then, Fellow automatically reminds participants to add their input each week, reducing the need for manual follow-ups and ensuring that everyone is prepared when the meeting begins.
This approach leads to more productive and efficient discussions, as every participant knows exactly what to prepare and is held accountable for contributing to that section of the agenda.”
And that’s it for this new issue of the Supermanagers TLDR Newsletter. We hope that the content we curated inspires you to continue growing as a leader.
If you're interested in connecting with like-minded CEOs, COOs, and Executives, send an email to [email protected] to join our exclusive Supermanagers Slack group.
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Thanks for being part of our community,
Manuela and the Fellow team