{"id":615,"date":"2024-07-11T11:16:59","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T11:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ideasutra.com\/home\/?p=615"},"modified":"2024-07-23T08:50:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T08:50:19","slug":"enhancing-cross-functional-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ideasutra.com\/home\/2024\/07\/11\/enhancing-cross-functional-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"Top E-Commerce firm Enhances Collaboration between Cross-Functional Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Enhancing performance of Cross-Functional Teams at a leading E-Commerce Business<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ideasutra developed and executed a transformational program aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of cross-functional teams, using visual-thinking frameworks and models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Challenges that arise from Rapid and Massive Growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the consequences of rapid growth is the resulting lack of cohesiveness between various functions that arises from the added business complexity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Functional cohesion is as much a symptom of culture as it is of other meaningful organizational processes. Cross-functional teams at mature organizations organically evolve to cohere over the years, sometimes over decades, while venture capital fuelled startups sometimes find themselves grappling with the disorder that arises from sudden growth and expansion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a run up to one of the largest acquisitions in Indian startup history, our client, a leading E-Commerce business, brought us onboard to help the leadership team find better ways to develop effective means to collaborate between various business functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We worked closely with the client management team, over a 3-month period, to first map out the desired outcomes and then we designed and executed a series of sessions especially crafted to this particular organization’s work culture and style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our team mapped out the individual and sometimes overlapping needs through a series of stakeholder interviews, site observations and shadowing. We identified areas that are both opportunities and challenges for cross-functional collaboration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Setting the stage for the Workshops<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Prior to conducting visual-thinking workshops, we conducted a multi-layered internal communications campaign aimed at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Conveying the core values of the organization, and how these values address the disruption caused by radical change.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Sensitizing senior leaders who will participate in upcoming decision-making workshops on the themes that we will be exploring using a storybook style collection of people and organizations who dealt with similar challenges.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    We used a combination of environmental graphics such as posters, wall murals and danglers for mass internal communication. We also designed personalized dockets containing the business storybook and other preparatory material to prep and sensitize senior leaders to the themes that will be explored in the upcoming workshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Facilitating the Visual-Thinking Workshop<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    We workshopped initial ideas with the management team, which culminated in a final offsite program for the C-suite as well as other senior leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ideasutra’s 3-hour module of this larger off-site program consisted of a visual-thinking workshop that explored the potential for cross-functional collaboration in the present, as well as those that may arise from the potential formation of future business categories and functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Some of the frameworks we used during the workshop included:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n