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Cross-Functional Team Trust-Building

Before a joint project between different teams, hold a "hidden assumptions" session surfacing mutual stereotypes between departments before they sabotage collaboration.

50 min Advanced

Goal

Dismantle mutual stereotypes between different functional teams (sales vs. engineering, marketing vs. finance) before they hinder required collaboration on a joint project.

Steps

1

Before starting a joint project between two teams, gather representatives from each (3-5 per side) in one session.

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Expected Outcome

Immediate

Hidden assumptions previously managed silently and sabotaging collaboration become visible and directly discussable.

Evidence base

School: Intergroup Relations / Organizational Behavior

Founders: Amy Edmondson · Deborah Ancona (2012)

Draws on Amy Edmondson's research on "cross-team psychological safety" (2012) and Deborah Ancona's work on "distributed leadership" (X-teams), both documenting that most cross-team collaboration failure stems from unstated implicit assumptions, not actual skill gaps.

Frequently asked questions

How long does "Cross-Functional Team Trust-Building" take?

This exercise takes about 50 minutes, practiced in a group in a Inner dialogue format.

When will I notice the effect of "Cross-Functional Team Trust-Building"?

Hidden assumptions previously managed silently and sabotaging collaboration become visible and directly discussable. In the short term: During the first joint project, misunderstandings from unstated assumptions between the two teams decrease.

Is "Cross-Functional Team Trust-Building" evidence-based?

Yes — it draws on Intergroup Relations / Organizational Behavior (Amy Edmondson, Deborah Ancona (2012)). Draws on Amy Edmondson's research on "cross-team psychological safety" (2012) and Deborah Ancona's work on "distributed leadership" (X-teams), both documenting that most cross-team collaboration failure stems from unstated implicit assumptions, not actual skill gaps.

Is "Cross-Functional Team Trust-Building" suitable for beginners?

Its difficulty level is: Advanced. No external tools required — it can be practiced directly inside the app.

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