Blogs

Developing Cross-Functional Skills in a Changing World

By Michael Callier posted 05-03-2017 10:14

  

As collaboration across multiple teams within firms becomes the norm, it is often very helpful to have at least a functional knowledge of how other groups work to add value to the organization. But given the challenges of individual learning styles, remote workforces and time pressures from daily work responsibilities, how can one develop cross-functional skills? As a cross-functional professional in the fields of law, process and technology, I believe that the answer lies in both the individual learner and in company learning environments.

 

The Individual Learner: Commitment to Lifetime Learning

 

Technology, skillsets and organizational functions constantly change. If we want to remain relevant and continue to add value, we have to evolve with the change. Our ability to do so begins with a mindset for growth. A growth mindset leads to a desire for learning and discovery and it is this desire that forms the foundation of cross-functionality. From this vantage point, change is exciting, rather than scary, as it represents new opportunities for learning. The result is that, as environments change and evolve, so do we - happily. Therefore, the first step to becoming cross-functional is a commitment to lifetime learning through a growth mindset. Perpetual learners have an avid curiosity for what they don't know and spend their lives constantly learning new things.

 

The second step on the road to cross-functionality is humility and patience. Each time we learn something new, we make ourselves vulnerable by admitting what we don't know. We leave our perch of knowledge and competency in a particular area, if only for a moment, in search of a new, and sometimes better, perch. This can be uncomfortable in the legal industry, especially considering that so much value is based on being an established subject matter expert. We’re often expected to know the answer, rather than be experts at discovering the answer through exploration. This uncomfortableness can impede learning, discovery and innovation. Humility helps to ease the discomfort because it allows us to accept the fact that there’s so much out there that we don’t know. Patience comes in to sooth the tension that arises as we transition from accepting that we don't know, starting the journey of learning and, finally, reaching a point of knowing. Humility and patience, combined with a passion for learning, can create a firm foundation for developing cross-functional skills.

 

The third step on the journey to cross-functionality is to find the right resources. Once we've committed to learn and prepared ourselves to receive knowledge, we have to find resources from which to acquire the knowledge we need. These resources can come in many forms, including books, websites and colleagues. A commitment to learning, if knowledge is to be acquired, includes a commitment to seek out resources. Here are a few of my favorite resource types (in no particular order):

 

Mentors. I can't say enough about mentors. Mentors are people who have already been where we’re trying to go and are willing to share how they got there. I've been blessed with great mentors willing to share their time and wisdom with me. In fact, I attribute most of my learning to my mentors because, even if they did not accompany me on the entire journey, they either started me down the path or met me with guidance and advice along the way. There are very accomplished people out there who would like nothing more than to share their experience with others. Find them, take them to lunch, ask good questions and then just listen.

 

Corporate Training. An often overlooked resource, corporate training departments can be great resources for developing cross-functional skills. Corporate trainers help to close knowledge gaps every day and usually have pre-existing materials or pre-designed training modules that a person can use in pursuit of cross-functional skills. Corporate trainers can be exceptionally helpful in that they are typically intracompany focused so the materials that they provide will be intimately tied to the needs of the organization. Examples include training for enterprise technology tools like the MS Office Suite and SharePoint but also include subject matter training for cybersecurity, human resources and even legal research.

 

The Buddy System. Similar to fifth grade field trips, the "buddy system" is a great resource for developing cross-functional skills. As the name implies, find a colleague who has a skill that you lack and who wants to learn a skill that you have. Invite him or her to a friendly, informal knowledge exchange. Generally speaking, people love to share their experiences with others and appreciate when we show interest in what they do. Be clear about your intent to learn and willingness to share because being transparent will help to diffuse suspicion and help to engender trust.   

 

Books. Reading has always been crucial to becoming cross-functional. Books and articles provide a wealth of knowledge and are even more important in the current Knowledge Economy where we rely much more on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or natural resources, as we did in the past. In this era, EBooks and readers like Kindle are two of the greatest inventions of modern time because they give us instant access to knowledge resources. We can Google a topic, find the most prominent authors in that space, and download their latest books - all in a matter of minutes.

 

Online Resources. There is so much free information available these days that, with a commitment to learning, we can acquire knowledge in almost any area. Some of my favorite (and free) Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) include:

 

  • Coursera: thousands of free online courses from the best universities in the world.

 

  • Khan Academy: expert created courses in areas like math, science, engineering and finance.

 

  • Codeacademy: where you can learn to code using Python, HTML, SQL and Ruby, among other languages.

 

  • MIT OpenCourseWare: where MIT publishes ALL of its course material online for free (there are over 2340 courses!).

 

You can also find a lot of other great learning resources through Google Scholar and YouTube.

 

The Organization: Enabling Learning Environments

 

To fully develop cross-functional skills, organizations must foster cross-functionality. To do so, companies must create and maintain learning environments conducive to such an endeavor. The task of enabling conditions conducive to robust learning environments must be intentional. Despite the recent use of “accidental encounters” to spark innovation and idea sharing, facilitating such encounters is anything but accidental, as you can see below from Facebook’s new facility. But given the always-connected, on-demand, consumer-centric learning trends of present day, what do modern learning environments look like? Further, given that the number of non-self-employed remote workers in the US is said to have increased by 103% since 2005, and that 50% of the US labor force will be remote by the year 2020, how can companies encourage conversations that lead to cross-functional conversations?

 

According to Deloitte University, the most forward-thinking companies are adopting new and expanded learning architectures to account for the above changes. These companies are "building internal knowledge-sharing programs, developing easy-to-use portals and video sharing systems, and promoting collaborative experiences at work that help people constantly learn and share knowledge.” Here are a few examples:

 

 Individualized Learning Experiences. MasterCard's learning and development team decided to focus on individual learning needs. In doing so, the team segmented learner audiences into business units to more specifically assess those needs. As a result, MasterCard has had success with a learning tool it calls Degreed. Degreed allows individual learners to curate their own learning "playlists", from various internal and external learning sources, in a variety of formats including articles, podcasts, and webinars. Employees can develop personalized learning experiences to focus on the skills that they want to develop.

 

Physical Community Spaces. Facebook's new building, called MPK 20, is one, 430,000 square foot open room. According to Mark Zuckerberg, the goal of this shared environment was to create a perfect space for engineers to work together. "We wanted our space to create the same sense of community and connection among our teams that we try to enable with our services across the world."

 

Banning Remote Work. In some instances, companies have banned remote work all together in order to facilitate real interactions between employees. The idea is that the best results for innovation and collaboration occur in-person and not online. Example companies include Yahoo, HP, IBM and Reddit.

 

Stretch Assignments. A stretch assignment takes an employee out of his daily role and department and puts him in a different department to work on a specific project outside of his normal scope. By dedicating 20-50% of work time to such a project, the employee can “stretch” to build cross-functional skills, grow relationships and learn more about the company. 

 

Conclusion

 

Cross-functional skills can best be developed with a growth mindset embedded in a learning environment. To achieve cross-functionality, individual learners and organizations must adapt to constantly evolving technology and societal conditions, which offer both great advantages and great challenges.

 



#Training
0 comments
507 views

Permalink