How do we encourage cross-team collaboration at Napta (using our staffing software)?
Agathe Placet
Content manager
June 8, 2023
3 min
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Cross-team collaboration is a critical component for success. Agile teams that collaborate effectively are able to solve problems faster, innovate more creatively, and adapt more easily to changing market conditions. At Napta, as a startup, we grew rapidly: from 15 to 50 in just 2 years! Here are our tips and strategies for encouraging cross-team collaboration in your business and how our own Staffing software contributes to it.
The first step that has enormously increased collaboration between our teams: shared goals.
These goals encourage inter-team collaboration and make it possible to have a shared vision. This means that all teams, regardless of their functions, need to understand and share the overall goals of the business. A clear understanding of the company's strategic goals will help teams align their efforts and collaborate more effectively.
Most of our employees have a salary portion based on goals, and setting the same salary for all teams allows all employees to look in the same direction.
Plus, at Napta, we encourage initiativess. For example, we encourage anyone who wants to work on a certain topic to build a team and make proposals to the CSE or to the founders. It is very easy to build teams and monitor the progress of projects directly on our own. Staffing tool ! These teams are always naturally made up of people from different departments. For example, a team worked that was working on our Remote Policy, the creation of an employee NPS, the organization of the end-of-year seminar...
Communication is the foundation of any successful collaboration. Encourage open and transparent communication between teams by setting up collaboration platforms, organizing regular cross-team meetings, and promoting a culture of honest and constructive feedback.
The top priority for the founders of Napta was to maintain the natural collaboration that we had after the teams were built. Here is what has been implemented:
All teams (marketing, sales, account management and product) work on the same tools:
Collaborating is much easier if everyone has the same source of information and the same knowledge about where to find it.
Organize workshops, seminars, or training sessions where teams can learn from each other. Involve your employees from the onboarding of newcomers. Cross-team learning not only promotes collaboration, but also broadens skills and knowledge.
We have set up the Thursday Pitch, every Thursday members of each team organize a presentation on a subject that concerns their job. It is a very good way to learn more about a particular sector and very conducive to exchanges. Our Staffing tool allows us to manage the planning and staffing of the teams on this project.
Moreover, at Napta, our teams defy the usual rules of a tech startup: it is well known that in most start-ups, the marketing department hates the sales department (and vice versa). That the account management department always ask the product and technical team to fix bugs for customers.
This is not the case in our business. Sales and marketing work as a single team. The product team helps the account management team to be more and more effective on their own.
When a sales team member signs a new contract, information about the new account is sent directly to the future account manager.
The first appointment with the customer is made with both the sales representative and the account manager. The duo always presents themselves as a solid team, which is extremely reassuring for the customer.
Goals are met and exceeded in no time. For over a year, the teams have exceeded their goals every quarter.
From the moment of recruitment, we have made The collaborative state of mind a priority top 1. We believe that if you want a team to succeed together, you need team players. Being able to collaborate with people outside of your own job/department is a soft skill that is essential to join our company.
A diverse team is more likely to have a range of different ideas and perspectives, which can lead to richer, more innovative collaboration.
Agile methodologies encourage close collaboration, constant communication, and rapid response to change. Agile project management is an iterative and flexible process that promotes collaboration, adaptability, and the continued delivery of value. It makes it possible to respond effectively to the changes and unexpected challenges that are commonplace in the dynamic environment of a startup. Here's how you can apply agile project management to boost cross-team collaboration:
At Napta, we also use a competency map. At any time, anyone in the company can see an employee's competency profile.
Does a marketing manager need help with the website? It's easy to see who among our technical team knows a bit about Webflow. Does a product manager need advice on the Excel function? Same deal. Everyone has a way of identifying an expert on the team.
Finally, it is essential to recognize and celebrate collective successes. This reinforces the sense of belonging to a team and encourages future collaboration.
For example, you can dedicate a discussion channel only to the victories and the great contributions of employees or everyone can thank and congratulate this work. This public recognition helps to strengthen the sense of belonging to the group.
Encouraging cross-team collaboration is not always easy. However, with:
your business will be in a position to create a dynamic work environment where cross-team collaboration is the norm and not the exception. This collaborative culture will drive innovation, efficiency, and employee satisfaction, while promoting the growth and sustainable success of your business. It may seem like a daunting task at first, but the long-term benefits of creating a culture of cross-team collaboration are immeasurable.
Do you want to go deeper into the subject? We have lots of resources at your disposal to help you go further.
In addition to this subject, find our debriefing “6 tips to become attractive to your consultants again”.
Also discover our guides, templates and checklists in the Resources tab.
See you soon at Napta!
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