Debunking the Myths of Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration
Summary
Trying to plan and collaborate across different teams whilst creating a cohesive culture can sometimes feel like a pipe dream. This is especially true as we start to work with more distributed teams and as we add more and more specialised functions to the mix, such as Design, Research, Content Strategy, Product Management, Engineering, Data Science…oh my! There are also a few common myths which are just not true in today’s modern team environment. Come along for a few laughs as we explore a few popular myths, debunk them and arm you with a few practical tips and ideas to help you build world-class products.
Key Insights
-
•
Standardizing roles in cross-disciplinary teams often creates unnecessary blame and ignores individual skills and project uniqueness.
-
•
Focusing on shared responsibilities tied to outcomes is more effective than rigid role definitions.
-
•
Co-creation and joint accountability across disciplines reduce friction and promote better team cohesion.
-
•
Bringing all disciplines into the design and research process early improves project outcomes and ownership.
-
•
Trust in distributed teams does not develop automatically; it requires deliberate relationship-building and communication.
-
•
Raising communication bandwidth by switching from asynchronous to synchronous formats can prevent frustration and trust erosion.
-
•
Ensuring all remote participants join calls individually helps level presence disparity and improves meeting effectiveness.
-
•
Early and continuous sharing of work rather than a final big reveal increases shared empathy and alignment.
-
•
Understanding the ‘how we got here’ context of a product is as important as aligning on where you’re going.
-
•
Process alone cannot guarantee great teamwork; investing in the human and messy aspects of collaboration is essential.
Notable Quotes
"Teams constantly bicker over turf blaming the various disciplines for their inability to meet deadlines."
"Research does this and design does that creates an us versus them strategy that leads to needless friction."
"Who is not in the room is just as important as who is."
"Exceptional teams are made up of individuals who reach out beyond the traditional boundaries of their own role."
"You have to know when to raise the bandwidth. If you see 10 plus people commenting in Slack, consider jumping on a video call."
"When trust is high, speed goes up and costs go down."
"People miss the water cooler moments in remote teams, so you have to create deliberate opportunities to connect."
"A shared understanding of how you got here creates a sense of purpose, not just urgency."
"The cargo cult story teaches us that form without understanding is not enough; blindly following process won’t deliver results."
"Process is neither necessary nor sufficient for great design."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"The sponsor sessions are equal in quality and quantity as our main programming and completely free for anyone to attend."
Louis Rosenfeld Bria AlexanderDay 1 Welcome
September 23, 2024
"If you don’t have 10 minutes to meditate a day, you actually need to meditate for an hour."
Lisa GirondaOpener: Chief of Staff–An unexpected journey
January 8, 2024
"Quantities can be measured, but qualities need to be mapped — that shift feels core to the designer's role."
Jamie Beck Alexander Nina Gregg Shawn Petersen Bill DeRoucheyHow can you find your role in climate?
January 17, 2024
"If you’re not inspired and motivated, you cannot connect the dots across functions for a seamless customer experience."
Iram ShahClosing Keynote: The View from the Top
June 4, 2019
"If you hire by portfolio visual impact, industry experience, and price alone, you’re probably making the wrong choice."
Melinda BelcherInsider preview of Enterprise Experience 2020
May 28, 2020
"How do we become facilitators who can encourage and model true power sharing? That’s the big question."
Natalia RadywylCo-Designing New Power in Australia's Public Sector
November 16, 2022
"Enterprises are places where one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing and sometimes despises it."
Uday GajendarThe Rise of Meta-Design: A Starter Playbook
May 19, 2022
"Doing research is not always the most natural transition for people who don't really care about research."
Jesse ZolnaInviting the Whole Org to Come See For Yourself
March 30, 2020
"Being a change agent means designing for change, which is harder than the change itself."
Steve Baty Richard Dalton Maria Giudice Harry MaxDiscussion
June 9, 2016
