Participating in Cross-Functional Teams
Mukund S. Chorghade, Ph.D.

Managing research on diverse projects and across several sites has become a significant endeavor in itself. Industry faces challenges associated with sustaining growth and profitability in the face of ever-increasing research costs. Research organizations' productivity must be dramatically increased. For example, the drug market is increasingly segmented; industry has created individual islands of technology along the discovery route (combinatorial and computational chemistry, high throughput screens, genomics, etc.). Increasing segmentation of patient populations, treatment options and drugs for therapeutic intervention requiring greater customization have resulted in drug discovery and development being done sans frontiers with collaborations spanning the globe. These collaborations include scientists who have a broad array of technical, professional and cultural boundaries. This scenario is being repeated in virtually all segments of the chemical enterprise, creating a "web of collaboration" spanning the entire gamut of professionals in academia, government and industry.

The idea of using cross-functional teams is a recent and highly effective idea to streamline operations and define effective solutions to problems. Several years ago the model for R & D was a laboratory that was isolated psychologically, and sometimes geographically, from the rest of the business. The independent laboratories set their own goals, agendas, and end-points. The expectation was of large value emanating from these efforts. "Tossing a product across the wall" from research and development into production and marketing was a frequent modus operandi. The discovery research groups would target a particular problem with virtually no input from the development, sales, marketing or regulatory groups. The "discoveries" would then be passed to the other groups as a fait accompli. The groups in the other functions would complain about the lack of real utility of these products and denigrate their laboratory colleagues as ivory towered scientists without any understanding of the real world. Scientists were unused to presenting and defending their ideas to professionals outside their own specialties. Today, a scientist is more likely to expound on ideas in a team environment. The concept of an "interlocking" project team can be used to manage more complex, strategic projects involving multiple teams, key suppliers and customers and external partners.

Successful examples of teams that led to commercial success are the ones that resulted in the discovery of Tagamet and Viagra. Kevlar was developed at Dupont for use in automobile tires; teamwork led to its utility in bulletproof vests.

Responsibilities Of A Cross-Functional Team

Before anything else, a cross-functional team needs time to address issues of structure and work process. Since teams are composed of diverse groups of people, interpersonal relationships can prevent a team from working well together. It may help for the team to meet away from the workplace in order to focus on getting to know each other and begin the process of forming the group.

These initial meetings are critical to help define the team's purpose and goals, the project's requirements, and how all the individual pieces fit together. The goals must be clear and based on a specifically defined problem. The team also needs to define how it will work together, how it will make decisions, how it will measure its progress, and how it will communicate with senior management. Assessing progress involves evaluating how well the team is accomplishing its work and how the relationship with management is working. Is the team getting the support it needs? The team should also receive feedback periodically from its management sponsors.

As noted earlier, the discovery of Tagamet was a team effort. GlaxoSmithKline has detailed the lengthy process from molecule to marketplace, noting that it uses the scale of a huge company to reach its goal of applying science to improve patient health. Equally important is its flexibility, allowing teams of scientists the freedom to take an entrepreneurial approach, and enabling them to move quickly, on the basis of informed decisions.

The discovery of Viagra was achieved after initial failures of the material in clinical trials for treatment of hypertension and angina. Excellent collaboration between the discovery research group scientists, clinicians and regulatory personnel led to the development of a real blockbuster drug.

Characteristics Of An Effective Team Member

Effective teamwork is a great way to expand your professional network, and can bring you recognition amongst your peers and superiors. In addition to strong technical and interpersonal skills, you need to demonstrate initiative and a willingness to learn.

A prospective team member must have the skills to engage a group in problem-solving exercises, and demonstrate savvy, vision, and broad organizational perspective. You must effectively represent the specific function in development and project decisions. You have to apply the function's strategies, processes, tools, and standards to the assigned projects.

Do not underestimate the importance of having faith in an idea and championing the project or product. Through skillful negotiation you can lobby colleagues into supporting your ideas. The discovery of the Post-it notes at 3M showcases the value of product championship.

Accepting An Invitation To Join A Team

While it's always flattering to be asked to join a team, you needn't accept every invitation. Here are some considerations when making your decision.

Choose a team wisely. Do your homework and ascertain how critical the team's output is and whether it adds value. Analyze if a team is necessary for this project or whether the task can be completed with the aid of a couple of dedicated performers.

Satisfy yourself that your skill and knowledge base can contribute to the team's success. Is your role on the team well defined? Will you have some influence on the team's agenda? Will you be able to take risks and create new ideas?

Recognize that teamwork is not entirely glamorous. It may take patience and a long-term commitment to accomplish a desired outcome.

Detect and eliminate time wasters. Avoid lengthy and interminable discussions that overshadow the critical path. Always redirect the team if you see it going off course from its originally stated goals.

Remind yourself that it is immaterial how many teams you are on. Your performance is vital! Pay careful attention and contribute to group dynamics by helping to build commitment, trust and support within the team. Maintaining a sense of humor is always helpful, particularly when stress levels run high.

Characteristics Of A Successful Cross-Functional Team Leader

Since cross-functional teams are composed of diverse individuals, effective leadership is valuable. The first task for a team leader is to help the team establish its mission and set goals. Leaders should have the technical background to understand the subject of the team's work and to recognize each team member's strength and potential contributions. Team leaders can encourage individual members' growth and even defer to subject matter experts on the team to provide leadership in some areas.

In addition to their expertise, team members will also have a range of experience in working as part of a group, including no experience at all. Thus, team leaders must also be skilled in facilitating group interactions, especially conflict resolution and consensus building.

Cross-functional teams may underestimate how empowered they are to make and implement decisions. The team leader must clarify and communicate the team's authority to decide key issues.

Team leaders serve as liaisons between the team and upper management and other key stakeholders in the project. They should have the skills to manage these relationships and obtain a commitment to support the team. It may be helpful to work with a mentor who can assist in navigating the labyrinth of corporate politics. Finally, the team leader should be flexible enough to adapt as conditions change and as the needs of the team evolve.

When Teams Don't Work Well

Some teams don't work out when they're not needed or the culture doesn't appreciate them. Here are some reasons why teams don't work well.

Lack of support from top management. This is perhaps the number one barrier to effective cross-functional teams. A team can overcome many stumbling blocks on the road to high performance but when key managers don't cooperate or undermine team efforts, there is very little a team can do to recover. Further if the team fails to produce results, the message is sent that nothing ever changes.

Unrealistic expectations from management and business or marketing professionals. This results from a combination of impatience and a desire to seek an instant solution to a long-term problem. After all, Rome was not built in a day, and a cure for cancer is not likely to be found in a month

Individual egos and styles that conflict with the team concept. If a team member values individual recognition or doesn't want to conform or isn't trusted by other team members, then the collective performance of the group is undermined. Without an equal commitment among all team members, the team and the project will not succeed.

Irrational fear of failure and the "curse of smartness". This means that we believe ourselves to be so smart that we seek solutions to problems that do not exist. Several intelligent people agonize long over so many facets of a problem that they are reluctant to make any critical decisions. Moreover, people value the fields in which they are well versed over all others and are averse to listening to individuals from other work functions.

Teamwork is not rewarded and is not an effective path to career advancement. Company culture may view serving on a team as taking away from the "real work" that needs to be done. Since department managers are responsible for employee appraisals, the appraisal tends to focus on work done within the unit, not on any team project the employee may be on. And since rewards and recognition are tied to individual efforts, that means that employees may run the risk of lower ratings and bonuses if they spend any significant time working on a team.

It is highly recommended that you work closely with your management to avoid these problems. By judiciously choosing your teams you will find your visibility, productivity and chances of a promotion increase dramatically. Today's "knowledge worker" is one that can "learn, unlearn and then re-learn". The work environment demands that you are flexible, adaptable and a quintessential team player. You must be dedicated to continuously learn, grow and expand your credentials. Judicious use of learning, listening and influencing skills allied with the strategies outlined here will make you a valuable employee for many a year.

Mukund Chorghade is President of Chorghade Enterprise/CP Consulting, Inc. in Natick, MA, where he provides consultations to major pharmaceutical companies on collaborations with Indian academic and government laboratories, process re-engineering, and project management of technology transfer. He has also served as an American Chemical Society Career Consultant since 1999.

Related Reading

Lindborg, Henry J. The Basics of Cross-Functional Teams.

Parker, Glenn M. Cross-Functional Teams: Working With Allies, Enemies, and Other Strangers.

Zoglio, Suzanne Willis. Teams at Work: 7 Keys to Success.