Cross-departmental collaboration as a success factor in change processes

Effective cross-departmental collaboration is considered a key lever for an organization's success. In practice, however, silo thinking, self-interest, and short-term departmental optimization often dominate, along the lines of "We do it better," or "The others aren't delivering what we need anyway." We often observe teams and departments putting their own interests ahead of those of the organization as a whole, justifying this by arguing that they are ultimately measured by how well they perform and therefore must constantly optimize. While this principle is understandable from an individual perspective, it can be detrimental to the organization's overall performance if it is overdone.

What is a constructive way of dealing with this dilemma?

In our practice, we observe that the balance between self-optimization and overall optimization is best achieved by consciously structuring cooperation at the relevant interfaces.

Particularly helpful here are clarification processes that not only focus on a shared understanding of the overarching value creation process and its value-creating components, but also on the type of collaboration and leadership approach that best contributes to constructive cooperation across team and departmental boundaries. In so-called interface workshops, for example, interface relationships are actively shaped and concretized in service level agreements.

Culture and attitude are also crucial

It becomes clear that the members of the organization should not only deal with “hard” facts, but also focus on “soft” factors such as conflict management skills, attitudes, and a culture of trust.

The interplay of team development, systemic process support, and methodical structural work is therefore particularly effective. This not only achieves short-term success but also initiates a cultural change that has an impact beyond the project.

The conclusion

Cross-functional collaboration doesn't happen automatically, but rather the result of conscious, regular work—on structures and attitudes. Transformation can only succeed when both levels are considered together.

Would you like to know more?

This blog post provides a concise description of one of the key success factors in organizations that still receives too little attention. If you'd like to learn more, please register for an informational meeting with one of our consultants here.

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