Managing a Cross-Functional Team

Teams are the backbone of contemporary business life. Executive teams, work teams, cross-functional teams, high-performance teams, and project teams serve a variety of purposes, but they all have the same goal: to solidify the organization’s competitive advantage in the marketplace. 

Cross-functional team leaders draw individuals from departments across the organization to address a particular problem. They might select development engineers, marketing professionals, sales people, legal experts, customer service managers, accountants, and HR executives to apply their various talents to accomplish the goal. The concept is powerful. But this mix of diverse skill sets, professional experience, and personalities also comes with challenges—and you need to manage the team carefully in order to maximize its potential for success.

• State the challenges of handling a diverse team 

• List the ways to manage these challenges 

• Apply the strategies to leverage the power of your team