Why is a Cross-Functional Team Important?

Why is a cross-functional team important?

Content should ideally be produced by cross-functional teams and their efforts together. This is vital for companies trying to mature in the digital marketing sphere. When brands are able to work together across the different specialties within the marketing department to create high-quality content, they are able to create a stronger voice for the brand and build better engagement with users.

Creating cross-functional teams is an important part of the success of your business. If your team members are able to see that their different job descriptions and duties can come together to create a successful marketing campaign, series of content, etc., your strategies will prove efficiency. Creating a successful strategy and then implementing it with a cross-functional team will prove helpful in the future as well.discover the importance of cross-functional teams - brightedge

Do cross-functional teams work?

Creating an integrated content marketing cross-functional team can be a challenge. Marketing groups tend to be very siloed, with each team member having a particular job that they are supposed to perform. Often times, team members are unable to see why they should contribute their talents to the team as they might not see the relevancy. It's important for the team leader to show how working together in a cross-functional setting will get the job done successfully.

However, breaking down silos is integral to process maturity and will lead to strong marketing strategies and better performing content. Avoiding a siloed strategy and environment will guide your teams members to seek opinions, advice, and to also give input in order to eventually create a better strategy. This, then, creates an overall better outcome for your strategy and campaign.

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How do you influence cross-functional teams?

There are several steps you'll want to take before and during your time creating a cross-functional team and environment that works well together. 

  • Bring the leaders of the different specialties together and introduce them to the new initiative. Explain the benefits of stretching across borders to create highly-targeted content. You'll want to introduce and build trusting relationships.
  • Create joint manuals and guidelines that will define terms and processes for everyone working on the content. These guidelines should also detail editorial notes, such as the voice, tone, and stylistic points that you would like to keep consistent across all content.
  • Offer opportunities for those in different departments to get together and work on projects or learn about each other’s specialties. Trainings, seminars, and joint projects can all help the different teams better understand each other, including process requirements, goals and priorities. You'll be able to keep everyone aligned better if they understand eachother's duties and workflow.
  • Hold every team member accountable for their part in projects. While working in a cross-functional environment, team members will need to remain on top of their deadlines to ensure no one is lagging behind. Create a calendar with deadlines and team members that are in charge of specific project points. Check in often enough to ensure the team is working toward the end goal and making it there in a timely manner.