Within a company, operations are so much more than, well, operations. Success requires a collaborative effort among marketing, finance, IT, and other departments. But this collaboration often fails due to a lack of clarity.

Clarity can fail for various reasons. First, not all departments understand the unique nuances and jargon of operations lingo. Then there are communication problems commonly found across industries- losses in translation, a lack of meetings and training, and just a general vagueness.

With the right approach, these issues can be resolved, contributing to the company’s overall success.

What is Clarity in a Cross-Functional Context?

Let’s start by getting a handle on what clarity looks like for cross-functional teams. It requires:

• Defining purpose- understanding the overall goal of the project and the reason why teams exist
• Identifying outcomes- ensuring teams understand the main goals of the project in terms of KPIs and metrics
• Establishing roles- teams should understand who owns what and decides what, helping them determine what’s within their wheelhouse and who to go to with questions

Start Small

Cross-functional collaboration doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that may begin with a single shared outcome, such as speeding up production time, which may require board-based decision-making, securing financial approval, selecting the right tech, and developing a marketing campaign.

Success can be achieved by creating a KPI that applies to all departments to reduce friction. Emphasize your key metric, in this case production time, during kick-off and throughout the project’s duration.

Establish Roles

While everyone has job roles, responsibilities can vary from project to project. It’s essential to redefine roles in light of a new project and ensure everyone understands who is accountable for what. A good framework may be:

• Determining who is accountable for each task
• Deciding who approves decisions
• Knowing who is contributing to each task
• Establishing who needs to be informed of important updates
• Developing an escalation path to follow when deadlocks occur
• Once roles are established, create a one-page charter that defines these roles to ensure clarity.

This simple framework reduces the need for endless meetings and rehashing of the decision-making process, common COO pain points.

Develop Communication Rhythms

Not only is clarity important in the early stages of project development, but it must also be maintained throughout the project. Otherwise, it erodes as people forget or become careless. Communication is essential in enforcing existing roles, KPIs, and objectives, and explaining new ones as they evolve.

Communication rhythms may vary by company and project, but here’s what’s recommended:

• Short weekly meetings focusing on key issues and updates, reviewing what worked and what didn’t
• Monthly reviews focusing on big picture outcomes
• Visible dashboards and workspaces that keep teams apprised of progress
• Check-ins- with so much getting lost in translation due to digital processes, leaders should schedule time to check in with teams to ensure they understand new processes and to gain valuable feedback
• Avoid jargon in communication, ensuring teams clearly understand goals and processes, regardless of their department

Addressing Structural Friction

Companies may follow a clarity-supporting roadmap, but friction can occur, even with the best efforts. Here are some common issues and how to address them:

• Conflicting KPIs: KPIs are typically established early in the process, but conflicts may arise as the task evolves or when individuals reframe them to suit their departments. This issue can be solved by reworking KPIs so each function is measured on the same cross-functional outcome.
• Ambiguous Ownership: Roles should also be defined during planning, but confusion can arise when two or more teams believe they own the same domain. It leads to confusion as no one is sure who to turn to or who has the final say. However, a clear ownership and escalation map should solve this issue.
• Fragmented Tools and Data: With different teams using different tools and defining what might qualify as an ‘active user’ or ‘qualified lead’ differently, there could be debates over numbers rather than action and alignment. The solution involves standardizing definitions and metrics to create a ‘single source of truth’, and eliminating redundant tools when possible.

Managing cross-functional teams with clarity isn’t easy, but it can be achieved by establishing shared outcomes, assigning explicit roles, creating consistent communication rhythms, aligning incentives, and fostering continuous learning. Sign up for our newsletter for more tips on how to make your organization successful.