How To Foster Collaboration For Scalable Innovations

Over the years, I've discovered the truth: Game-changing products won't succeed unless they have a unified vision across sales, marketing, and product teams. When these key functions pull in different directions, it's a death knell for go-to-market execution. Without alignment on positioning and buyer messaging, we fail to communicate value and create disjointed experiences. So, how do I foster collaboration across these functions? 1) Set shared goals and incentivize unity towards that North Star metric, be it revenue, activations, or retention. 2) Encourage team members to work closely together, building empathy rather than skepticism of other groups' intentions and contributions. 3) Regularly conduct cross-functional roadmapping sessions to cascade priorities across departments and highlight dependencies. 4) Create an environment where teams can constructively debate assumptions and strategies without politics or blame. 5) Provide clarity for sales on target personas and value propositions to equip them for deal conversations. 6) Involve all functions early in establishing positioning and messaging frameworks. Co-create when possible. By rallying together around customers’ needs, we block and tackle as one team towards product-market fit. The magic truly happens when teams unite towards a shared mission to delight users!

Everyone talks about cross-functional collaboration. But, most senior leaders are incentivized to protect their territory. I've guided and worked on many transformation projects, and the change happens when you flip the script. Here's what actually works to turn territorial leaders into enthusiastic partners: 1. Speak the universal language of business outcomes A CTO I worked with, transformed resistance into momentum by starting here: "Our time-to-market is 3x industry average. What could we unlock by cutting that in half?" Suddenly, the CFO saw cost savings. Marketing saw competitive advantage. Sales saw bigger wins. 2. Translate value in their metrics. Your innovation might mean: - Revenue lift (Sales) - Efficiency gains (Operations) - Brand equity (Marketing) - Risk reduction (Legal) Connect your initiative to what they measure. 3. Build proof with micro-wins. Start small. A quick pilot. A 2-week experiment. Show them real results in their world, not PowerPoint promises. 🫀 Here's what happens: When stakeholders see their success metrics improving, turf wars dissolve into transformation stories. I've watched this work in Fortune 500s and startups alike. The key? Stop selling your project. Start amplifying their impact. 💡 What's your experience? Have you seen other approaches that turn skeptical stakeholders into strategic partners? ♻️ Share this with a leader who may benefit from this ➕ Follow Shirley Braun , Ph.D., PCC , for insights on leadership, scaling, and transformation that sticks.

This HealthTech startup was able to 3x its impact, after I asked one question. I was consulting for a promising HealthTech startup in New York, lead by their CEO Peter. They had great funding and an inspired mission, but something felt off. The once vibrant team now seemed drained, trapped in a cycle of relentless output. “What more should we do? What else can we add?” — their product roadmap was a frantic mess. Innovation took a backseat to meeting deadlines and market pressures. The team’s creative spirit was suppressed by the stress of delayed delivery deadlines and market pressures. Peter couldn’t understand the lack of drive in his team, and was tired of pushing people. So I came in, and after spending a few days with them learning and observing, I asked a simple question in a late night meeting: "Peter, why did you start this?" The silence was deafening, but the answer was clear: To develop a simple, effective solution that could revolutionize healthcare. We revisited our strategy, and took action in 4 steps: ▶ 1. Integrated teams Broke down silos between sales, marketing and product. Fostered collaboration and unity. ▶ 2. Refocused on problem-solving Pivoted from pumping out features to addressing the health problems. This reignited creativity. ▶ 3. Outcome-based measurement Judged success by real user impact instead of just number of features. ▶ 4. Cultivated innovation Encouraged questioning, experimenting and learning. Empowered the team to explore new ideas. Gradually, this overhaul re-energized the team. They felt like contributors again, not cogs in a machine. Peter connected better with his team, and his leadership became more empowering. By going back to their origin story and core mission, the startup regained its status as a HealthTech innovator. Over the next 3 years, they went on to impact over 350,000 lives. Have you ever faced a 'feature factory' dilemma? How did you navigate it? #healthtech #healthcare #startups #product

A top-tier professional services firm we advised had decided 4 years earlier to ditch its sector-based strategy (mostly for political reasons – a long story). Since then, clients were increasingly dissatisfied with generic advice, partners felt disconnected from their “community” of like-minded peers, the firm lost its edge in generating eye-catching thought leadership, and the firm was losing market share. Ouch. The challenge underscored a key lesson: success in PSFs demands engaging with clients on the dimension they care about – how to win in their own industry. Inside the firm, this requires true cross-silo collaboration. We worked with leaders to re-envision their sector strategy and implement process changes, leadership changes, and skill development to successfully relaunch. Here are five essentials to build true cross-silo collaboration, to serve sector-specific needs: 1. Appoint sector heads who can actually lead. Industry expertise should be a given. Sector heads need to shape the strategy, motivate peers and hold them accountable, and engage with the market.  2. Create community. Sector leaders should organize regular, dual-purpose interactions to (1) expand/build knowledge of industry trends and client needs while (2) enhancing bonds and trust between community members. Get people involved – don’t drone on with “updates” but rather spark debates, ask Associates to do mini-presentations, have fun. 3. Embrace a matrix. Practice groups remain essential units for innovation and building technical expertise. Sector leads need to work directly with peer practice group leaders to create an integrated strategy and product offerings that address what the market needs. 4. Create shared goals. Align the sector and practice groups on shared objectives and metrics that reward collaboration. For example, instead of solely incentivizing individual sales, focus on overall client satisfaction and revenue growth. We explore these ideas in our HBR article “Performance Management Shouldn't Kill Collaboration.” 5. Celebrate collaborative success – and stop heroizing individuals. Recognize and reward examples of effective cross-silo collaboration (rewards don’t have to be money – we find that creative prizes can go a long way). Highlight team success stories to inspire others to break down silos and generate real innovation. 💡 Your turn: How has your organization tackled the challenge of aligning teams for sector success? Share your thoughts below. (And stay tuned for our next post on how to overcome barriers to sector collaboration – grounded in Chapter 7 of our best-selling book "Smarter Collaboration: A New Approach to Breaking Down Barriers and Transforming Work.") #SmarterCollaboration #Sectors