We tend to believe leaders change the future and create something new like it was never before. However, does the leadership team or senior management team has the time to think of changing the future. As a leader, responsibility increase by a hundred folds, making decisions for day to day activity, focusing on the profit, and many more. Creativity does not have space within this busy schedule of work. The leaders will lack time to think of the future and creating a new way for others.

The most efficient solution is preparing a roadmap for the future and presenting it to the team without the steps to achieve the milestone. The team and employees will have enough opportunities to decide themselves and create steps to reach the milestone. This will give rise to new ideas and fresh thoughts within the team.

The above situation can be resolved with a few simple steps:

• If the leadership team is ready to accept the top-down approach and is willing to listen to employees’ thoughts and ideas to achieve the milestone. The company has to go with the Top-down approach.
• Encourage employees to participate in a cross-functional team that will help them understand the functioning of other teams, and they will have a better decision for the company.
• Start small, do not get into a mode of relying on the employees when you start. Take a part of the process and start the approach by including a few employees and watch the result.
• Promote the involvement and allocate dedicated hours to this cross-functional learning for every employee. The involvement in the process should be volunteered not forced.
• Create a structure of the team and work on deadlines. Keep a target for every step taken and built. Weekly brainstorming sessions will help to gauge the progress.
• Collaborate the career option with this process that will make people work harder to achieve better. Recognition and awards within the process are something that will motivate the employees.
• The process will grow stronger when each team has senior management involved in the process and keep employees motivated with the work and ideas.

Cross-functional team building is not a new concept in the corporate world. However, adopting it is difficult in every organization that leads to a static leadership structure in the organization. It would not be easy to involve all employees in this process but, if you are successful in getting 65% of the people for this team building activity, then we have positive energy working towards the success of the company.