11 pro tips for happy cross-functional teams

At Marketing Factory everyone is working in crossfunctional teams – in order to break down work silos and increase collaboration and co-learning. After several years of working in these teams, Luisa and Christian presented their most valuable learnings on how to make and keep your crossfunctional teams happy at WebCamp Venlo 2023!

Transcript

1. 11 PRO TIPS
   for happy cross-functional teams
   by Christian Spoo & Luisa Faßbender
   

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2. AGENDA
   What we want to talk about today
   SHORT INTRODUCTION
   Our former way of working
   Why we needed to change
   Our current way of working
   11 PRO TIPS FOR HAPPY CROSS-FUNCTIONAL TEAMS
   Our tips and how to eliminate the most obvious problems
   DISCUSSION
   

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3. SHORT INTRODUCTION
   Who are we?
   Christian Spoo (34)
   ● Senior Developer @ Marketing Factory
   ● develops, designs architectures for
   customer projects, maintains systems
   ● professionally interested in low-level
   hardware / OS-related topics
   ● in his private life he likes playing ninepins
   and enjoys over-engineering his home
   @luisasofie_xoxo
   Follow us on
   @teh_plague
   @mfc_dus
   Luisa Faßbender (26)
   ● Senior Project Manager @ Marketing
   Factory
   ● manages several customer projects, takes
   care of corporate channels
   ● Marketing & Communications Masters’
   student
   ● TYPO3 Marketing Team Lead since 2019
   ● in her private life she enjoys going to the
   gym, cooking and visiting festivals
   

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4. SHORT INTRODUCTION
   Where do we work?
   ● Est. in 1996
   ● Based in Düsseldorf
   ● Full Service Digital Agency
   ● Focused on TYPO3, Shopware and Symfony
   ● 20 employees
   ● 50% female quota
   ● TYPO3 Association Gold Member
   ● Shopware Business Partner
   

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5. OUR FORMER WAY OF WORKING
   How did we work in the past?
   “Agile” project management (<2020)
   ● employee resources were collected on a weekly basis
   ● time spend in meetings and on open tasks was deducted
   ● additional 30% for daily business tasks was also deducted
   ● the remaining time got booked with a plethora of tasks
   ● developers provided estimations on tickets
   ● project managers had weekly meetings to plan tasks
   ➔ We were essentially one “big team” that comprised the
   entire company staff
   ➔ Additionally separated into departments (DEV, PM etc.)
   

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6. THAT NEEDED TO CHANGE
   because, well … obviously it had to.
   So what did we do?
   ● sat down with the entire company for a three-day-workshop and re-evaluated our current way of working.
   ● included an external consultant to help us find weaknesses in our current status quo.
   ● focussed on including more Beta Codex approaches into our structure.
   ● restructured the entire company into three independent teams.
   … and had some fun along the way :-)
   

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7. QUICK VIEW BEHIND THE CURTAINS
   all of that looked something like this
   

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8. OUR CURRENT WAY OF WORKING
   agile, cross-functional project teams
   ● Three dedicated teams covering different customer projects with different focuses.
   ● Similar team structures with slight variations depending on the customers and their requirements.
   ● An employee can be borrowed between teams if their expertise is needed.
   Project manager 1
   Team Phoenix
   Project manager 2
   Developer 2
   Developer 1
   Developer 3
   Developer 4
   Team Pegasus
   Backend 1
   Backend 2
   CTO
   CEO / PM
   Team Sphinx
   Project manager 1
   Developer 1
   CEO / Developer 2
   Project manager 2
   

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9. 11 PRO TIPS
   for happy cross-functional teams
   

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10. ● Not being able to say anything at all about something doesn’t
    look professional (especially) in a customer meeting.
    ● Everyone on the team needs at least enough knowledge of all
    topics to at least have a say and ideally be able to advise.
    ● Documentation: As short as possible, as much as necessary. In
    the end, no one reads through long documents but the most
    important features and functionalities should be documented.
    ● Distribute knowledge within the team to minimize the truck
    factor and enable better customer consulting.
    “RTFM” – “Did so – didn’t find
    anything helpful.”
    “No, sorry, I got no idea about
    that. I’ll have to ask someone else
    first.”
    PRO TIP NO. 1: DEFEATING THE TRUCK-FACTOR
    aka. a good documentation is half the battle
    “ X always used to do this – no idea,
    how.”
    

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11. We know, but that’s not our point. Then what is?
    ● The most important information should be easily and quickly accessible to everyone.
    ● Offer help for self-help, instead of fine-grained step-by-step instructions.
    ● Build a general understanding of the project among those involved and promote knowledge building.
    ● Move away from departmental or silo thinking towards skill-based work.
    ● Keep your team productive and cope with both sick people and employee turnover.
    But you can't expect every position to be double staffed just in case, can you?
    That's just not feasible!
    PRO TIP NO. 1: DEFEATING THE TRUCK-FACTOR
    aka. a good documentation is half the battle
    

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13. PRO TIP NO. 2: OPEN COMMUNICATION
    aka. honesty is key
    “Yeah, no problem. I’ll totally get
    that done today.”
    “Yeah, I wanted to get that done this
    week.”
    “Sure, I’ll do that until friday for
    sure.”
    ● False promises to "appease" team members or customers do not help anybody.
    ● Deadlines should be met, but it is not the end of the world, if they are not. (obviously only with good reasons)
    ● If delays are looming, that's fine. Just communicate them early enough so the team can relent and support.
    ○ Delays can be caused due to a lot of unforeseen reasons and there’s no general problem in that.
    ● Talk to each other and don't withdraw out of shame or fear of consequences.
    

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14. PRO TIP NO. 2: OPEN COMMUNICATION
    aka. honesty is key
    How to communicate instead? Here are some examples:
    “I have a lot on my list today, is it
    sufficient to finish this task until
    friday?”
    “If your ticket has priority, would
    you help me re-evaluate the
    priority of my other current
    tasks?”
    “This is just not doable until friday.
    Can we talk about how to solve this
    together?”
    “I know I agreed to pick up this task,
    but I just can’t make it work in time.
    Can someone else please take over?”
    ● Communicate early enough
    ● Be honest and open
    ● Express your needs clearly
    ● Ask for help if you need it
    ● Support your colleagues
    

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15. PRO TIP NO. 3: BE OPEN FOR NEW THINGS
    aka. take off the blinders
    “That’s none of my business.”
    “Just ask X, he's been doing this
    for years.”
    “No, I've never done that before.
    I'd have to read up on it first.”
    ● You will always encounter topics that you do not yet know. However,
    ostrich-like behaviour rarely helps.
    ● The expert you need may not be available at the moment. So: Do you want to
    wait and see or try it yourself and eliminate silos?
    

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16. PRO TIP NO. 3: BE OPEN FOR NEW THINGS
    aka. take off the blinders
    “I’ve never done this before, can’t you
    just do it?”
    “Why don’t you give it a try first
    – I’m confident you can do this.”
    “Okay, I’ll give it a try. Can I ask
    you for support in case I get
    stuck somewhere?” “No.”
    

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17. PRO TIP NO. 4: KNOW YOUR LIMITS, but…
    .. dare to overcome them.
    ● Not having an answer sometimes is fine. We’re humans, not machines.
    ● But: Try to be helpful (to your customer or your colleagues) and don’t just shrug it off.
    ● No one likes to backpedal in meetings, but technical dead ends do happen in practice.
    ● Consciously see these dead ends as an opportunity to further your education, rather than as a faux pas.
    ● Everyone profits from a wider range of knowledge.
    “_shrug_ I don’t know.”
    “Can’t you present this to the
    customer? I don’t like
    presentations.”
    “This doesn’t fall within my
    scope of work. ”
    “(...) rather not, I’ll make a
    fool out of myself.”
    

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18. PRO TIP NO. 4: KNOW YOUR LIMITS, but…
    .. dare to overcome them.
    ● Dare to explore new topics and overcome your personal
    fears.
    ● You will make a fool out of yourself sometimes anyways.
    ● Broadening your personal and professional horizon will
    make you a better consultant.
    “I will make sure to figure this out as
    soon as possible and get back to you on
    a short notice.”
    And if you miss, you miss.
    (True to the motto "Trial & Error").
    “Just to let you know: This is my first
    time holding a talk and I’m nervous, so
    please bare with me.”
    

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19. PRO TIP NO. 5: SHOW EMPATHY
    for your colleagues
    “I've already explained this 5 times, are
    you stupid?”
    “You should really know that by
    now.”
    ● In cross-functional teams, it's not just different skills that come
    together, but also different personalities.
    ● Just because something is obvious or simple for you personally
    doesn't mean that your other teammates automatically know what
    you're talking about right away.
    ● Especially when it comes to technical topics, it's important to pick
    up the other team members and give them a certain basic
    understanding.
    ● Of course, there still has to be a certain limit, and tact is required
    here.
    

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20. PRO TIP NO. 6: DON’T BE A CONTROL FREAK
    control is not always better
    ● Nobody needs micro-management. We’re not in Kindergarten and we want our team to be content.
    ○ Micromanagement is one of the most pressing reasons why employees switch companies.
    ● Communicate your needs and wishes clearly and openly to your team. – Set expectations right.
    ● Find your working mode.
    ● A good team is built on trust.
    ● Every team member is given the benefit of the doubt; no one new has to earn it first.
    "Have you seen what X booked today
    from 3:45pm-4:03pm?!"
    “I've slacked you almost an hour
    ago - why are you only answering
    now?”
    “I expect a detailed status
    update every two hours!”
    

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21. PRO TIP NO. 7: THOSE WHO KNOW SHOULD GET THE JOB
    expertise over curriculum
    ● Titles, positions, resumes and degrees have no place in a
    team of equals.
    ● Also: an expert is someone who holds expertise in a
    field, not someone who has been with the company the
    longest.
    ● Equality in the team instead of rigid hierarchies.
    “But I am the managing
    director here.”
    “Oh, what do you know. You're
    just an intern.”
    

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22. PRO TIP NO. 8: SUPPORT CHANGE
    aka. let go of the reins
    “I would love to take the training,
    but the boss said no.”
    “Project managers do not need an
    IDE.”
    “You're a developer, if you want to take
    a leadership seminar, pay for it yourself
    and do it on your own time.”
    ● If an employee wants to develop
    personally or professionally, this should
    be supported by the team and not
    prevented.
    ● The team and the company benefit from
    the further training of their employees
    and should not put a stop to this - unless
    it is completely outside the company.
    “We've always done it that
    way.”
    

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23. PRO TIP NO. 9: SHORT WAYS AND SOVEREIGNTY
    aka. breaking the phone chain
    ● Bring together the right people for the job.
    ● No project is fun if your own developer first has to ask the project
    manager, who then follows up with the customer's project manager
    two days later and the customer then gets an inquiry from his IT
    contact two weeks later.
    “I'll have to ask X first.”
    “I have to get that approved first....”
    “I'm not doing that now, I don't
    know if that's been offered yet.”
    

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24. ● The result should be presented to the customer as a
    joint success, and accordingly everyone is responsible
    for the success or failure.
    ● There should be no apportioning of blame, but rather
    solution-oriented work.
    ○ Nevertheless, there are of course individual
    achievements and contributions to the overall
    result.
    ○ Within the team, it should still be known who has
    made which contribution.
    PRO TIP NO. 10: ALL BEAR RESPONSIBILITY
    aka. one for all and all for one
    

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25. PRO TIP NO. 10: ALL BEAR RESPONSIBILITY
    aka. one for all and all for one
    ● Each team member bears responsibility for the
    project and must not just rely on "the others will
    get it done" ("TEAM - Toll, ein anderer macht’s” -
    roughly “great, someone else will do it").
    ● Stronger ones pull the "weaker ones" along; the
    "weaker ones" learn from the stronger ones.
    ● Working together for project success - not against
    each other for intrigue.
    

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26. PRO TIP NO. 11: BE FLEXIBLE
    aka. sometimes change can be good, too.
    ● The team can and should change with time:
    ○ New requirements demand new team members, while
    old ones may no longer be needed and would be better
    placed in other projects.
    ● The team isn’t left completely alone, but continues to be a
    part of the company and can get help and support from
    other teams.
    ○ Even teams with allrounders can run into problems and
    could potentially need support from others.
    

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27. DISCUSSION
    we want your opinion!
    

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28. THANKS FOR LISTENING!
    questions, comments or anything else?
    

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