Implement open, interdisciplinary team structure

STATS
Suggested Reading Time

30 min.

Suggested Implementation Time

Throughout the whole transformation process.

Role of Participants involved

Team leader acts as a moderator between the team members who have different roles in the team depending on their specific skills and capability


Description:

Interdisciplinary teams with different kinds of knowledge, skills, experience and point of views are more creative, innovative and make better decisions. As a team leader, you need to connect the different perspectives to one productive unit. The right atmosphere and structure makes this task easier. The following steps show an example of how a team leader establish successfully an interdisciplinary team. This example and the lessons learned from the implementation can be applied to the organization as a whole.

Stages:

  1. To establish an interdisciplinary team choose people from different department, education background and hierarchies. Discuss with the team members the task and set a clear goal and vision.
  2. Work out simple rules of cooperation with the team. Important is: everyone needs to respect the skills of each other and should be clear about the process and their roles. The goal should be a cooperative atmosphere in which consensus is promoted and contributions are desired.
  3. Implement effective communication strategies that support the exchange within the team and collaborative decision making, e.g. by using collaborative tools or sharing platforms.
  4. During the work phase it could be necessary to act as a moderator. Most common problems are different subject-specific languages, perspectives and knowledge. Refer to the goals and connect the different point of views.
  5. After completing the project, reflect on the project's progress and discuss further improvements in future collaboration with the team members.