If you work in the tech industry, you’re probably accustomed to operating within a functional team aligned to your shared technical expertise. Examples would be DevOps or Quality Assurance. But increasingly this siloed approach is becoming outdated, and businesses are opting instead for cross-functional collaboration.
What is a cross-functional team?
Cross-functional teams are typically groups or squads of employees from different functions across a business – for example Sales, Account Management, Engineers and Finance – working together to achieve organisational goals. This model has been around for a while, but in recent years it is being increasingly adopted in the tech industry. Technical cross functional teams can see team members such as Developers, Testers, DevOps Engineers, UX Designers and Product Owners all collaborating on projects with a greater level of synergy, communication and a clearly defined common goal.
Last month we spoke to one of our clients in the software design and development space, about why they chose to implement cross-functional teams into their organisation and the benefits this has brought about.
But why might an individual want to work within a cross-functional team, rather than one dedicated to their own specialism? What are the benefits to you of working in this agile fashion? We asked some of our contractors to find out.
Experis QA Engineer
“From a QA perspective, a cross-functional team gives a me access to information and people I would not normally have in a more traditional team or project structure. As a firm believer in “if you don’t understand what you are testing, how can you test it”, working in a cross-functional team greatly improves my ability to truly understand the design and purpose of the product under test.
“In addition to that, cross-functional teams go a long way to instilling an understanding of ownership and responsibility of a product’s quality within the entire team. Working in a multi-disciplined team gives you a feeling of belonging and togetherness where everyone can clearly understand and relate to individual roles and tasks.”
Browse for QA roles here.
Experis Development Contractor
“I love working as part of a cross-functional team. Having all the skills within a team to deliver value to the end-user almost always results in a greater sense of ownership and empowerment. In my experience, cross-functional teams result in the ability to deliver meaningful value more frequently, are more conducive environments for learning and growth, and result in better overall morale. They are definitely the most sustainable way of structuring a team in my opinion.”
Search for similar roles here.
Cross-collaboration from a diverse range of employees from different areas of an organisation can bring about powerful results – not just for the company, but for your own personal development. From providing a broader global perspective to your work, to fostering greater innovation, and improving your interpersonal and communication skills, working in – and embracing – an agile environment can add a truly valuable new dimension to your work, making you more attractive to future employers.
