How to Make Cross Functional Teams Work - Department of Product

Cross-functional teams are made up of people from different functional areas within a company. These teams can take many forms but they're designed to be working groups that improve coordination and integration, span organizational boundaries, and reduce the prodution cycle time in new product development.

Bringing people together from different disciplines can improve problem solving and lead to more thorough decision making. 

• Cross-functional collaborations bring out fresh perspectives
• There is adequate communication between each team member and those who have certain questions about something that is unfamiliar to them they can easily reach the person with experience in said topic
• Cross-functional teams also hone management skills because in order to work with divere backgrounds and work styles they must develop special skill sets to effectively collaborate and/or lead.
• Cross-functional teams will know the strengths of other teams and understand each others' efforts.