Tips for Building Cross-Functional Teams

by Stephanie Neil
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    Posted on Dec 13, 2006

  • Get executive buy-in up front.
  • Make sure a functional organization independent of both IT and manufacturing leads any technology deployment. Individuals from IT and manufacturing can be pulled in as part of the project team to execute the plan.
  • Assign each project an executive owner who is responsible for building a steering team composed of IT, automation, and functional specialists. This core team is also responsible for communication and for training everyone else.
  • Conduct a detailed analysis of the process as is, as well as what it should look like upon completion.
  • Bring in a third-party broker -- perhaps an application vendor or systems integrator -- who understands both IT and automation terminology and can mediate and translate between the two groups.
  • Consider creating a corporate Esperanto, or alternate language, that enables diverse departments to understand each other when it comes to technology and functional needs.
  • Factor in the human element. People's personalities, beliefs, work styles, even tempers need to be considered when forming a working group. Source: Managing Automation reporting


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