Can Your Managers Work Across Functions Effectively?

Dealing with Cross Functional Teams
Influencing your own team is hard enough. Influencing people and priorities across other functions raises the bar entirely. Yet both challenges draw on the same core leadership skills, and both directly shape a manager’s effectiveness. The real question is whether your managers can work across functions without authority slowing them down.

As team leaders, managers must know how to fully engage their people around shared team goals and accountabilities along with mutual ownership of outcomes. In today’s matrixed organizations, that capability is necessary but no longer sufficient. Managers are expected to navigate across functions, align competing priorities, and mobilize colleagues who do not report to them — often across geographies, time zones, and incentive systems.

This work depends less on organizational structure and more on relationships. Effective leaders build credibility beyond their immediate team by understanding how other functions create value, what pressures they face, and where interests intersect. They invest time in trust, clarity, and reciprocity, knowing that cross-functional success rarely comes from escalation and almost never from formal authority.

New manager training often delivers a hard truth early: a title does not guarantee traction. The most effective leaders rely on leaders rely on influence, not hierarchy. They frame problems in ways that matter to others, negotiate trade-offs openly, and enlist support by connecting shared goals to shared success. In cross-functional environments, influence is not a soft skill — it is the work.

How to Build Relationships and Have Managers Work Across Functions

To drive a high performing team that delivers both quality and speed, leaders must master the art of influence. Here are key strategies to help managers work across functions seamlessly, forging relationships with stakeholders whose support is critical to the team’s success:

• Look Around the Corner
  Effective teams don’t just understand the present — they anticipate the future. Leaders must combine horizontal thinking across functions with vertical thinking that considers organizational priorities, enabling them to craft strategies and tactics that position the team for long-term success. Identify early and engage proactively with key stakeholders whose influence and interest align with both your team’s current objectives and future goals, ensuring collaboration drives results rather than surprises.
• Build Trust
  Trust is the cornerstone of every strong relationship. Without it, securing commitment and support becomes nearly impossible. Ask yourself: are you demonstrating reliability and integrity in your interactions beyond your team? Following through on commitments, communicating transparently, and treating others with respect are essential practices for earning the trust that drives cross-functional collaboration.
• Establish Common Ground
  Identify what success looks like for both your team and the critical stakeholders who influence your outcomes. Explore interdependencies thoughtfully and creatively, uncovering opportunities where collaboration drives mutual benefit. By aligning goals and interests, you transform potential friction into productive partnerships that advance everyone’s objectives.
• Practice the Art of Persuasion
  Exceptional leaders can clearly convey their vision for the future in a way that energizes and engages others. Persuasion is not about pushing your agenda — it’s about inspiring stakeholders to see the value in collaborating, motivating them to contribute willingly, and creating momentum toward shared goals.

The Bottom Line
To help managers work across functions, ensure that your management development programs include the ability to effectively influence key stakeholders across functions. Are your managers doing all they can to establish a network that will support their team’s success?

To learn more about how to help managers work across functions, download 6 Ways to Foster Better Project Team Collaboration