Understanding Levels of Engagement to Increase Cross-Functional Productivity

Working with a wide variety of organizational teams, I have noticed most tend to focus intensely on their immediate areas of responsibility and they struggle to find the right level of engagement with others. Sometimes individuals are too involved, which leads to accusations of “overstepping their boundaries.” While other times, individuals don’t get involved enough, leading to accusations of not being interested in “the bigger picture.” This fluctuating level of engagement can lead to organizational silos.

Organizational silos are a bi-product of communication breakdowns across functional areas. If this is similar to what you have experienced, do not fear! I developed a great tool used to break down organizational silos and strengthen engagement in an organization. Meet the Cross-Functional Engagement Matrix.

This tool is used to describe the level of engagement for which each member should be participating with a project, task or in a business area. This easy to use, yet extremely effective conversation and engagement tool can be quickly implemented to promote a healthy and productive level of collaboration within your team or organization. Below are six levels of engagement and the expectations for each:

Level 6: Leadership – Includes the final decision-makers that lead and/or champion the effort and remove roadblocks for the team.

Level 5: Investment – Contains stakeholders that actively support the project with resources (time, FTEs, dollars) and be fully-engaged with the project work.

Level 4: Alignment – Comprises of participants that contribute hands-on to the project in some capacity and support the Investment Level.

Level 3: Appreciation – Involves those who can clearly articulate how the work is connected with the overall mission and core values of the organization.

Level 2: Understanding – Embraces those that can provide a brief, executive-level overview of the project, product or service, work status and next steps.

Level 1: Awareness – Includes those that know the work exists.

To use the tool effectively, team members should be assigned to specific levels of engagement based on their required involvement. As individuals move up through each level, it is important they understand the previous level(s) and the team members responsible for those levels. To achieve this, a well-facilitated conversation is required before undertaking the project – establishing a firm foundation for communication. From there, the tool becomes the new norm for establishing higher levels of engagement, increasing productivity and working with collaborative ease.