Embracing a Culture of Cross-Functional Collaboration

From business development, sales, and marketing, to data analysis, graphic design, finance, and more, ClearCut is proud of the many unique skill sets that exist across our team. However, as Aristotle once said, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” We could not agree more. Since the founding of ClearCut, we have fostered a culture of cross-functional collaboration. Over time, this has enabled us to work smarter, faster, and in harmony. 

I recently interviewed ClearCut’s Head of Data & Insights, Sinan Atac, who I consider our in-house “King of Collaboration,” to better explain our cross-functional culture and why it continues to support our success.  Read on to learn his thoughts.

Defining Our Cross-Functional Workplace 

When I asked Sinan to define ClearCut’s cross-functional culture, he said it is, “the ease with which different teams participate/communicate with one another to achieve common goals.” He goes on to say that “above all, ClearCut collectively strives to exceed the expectations of our clients, prospects, partners, and anyone we interact with. We break down any silos and work together!”

Sinan experiences our cross-functional culture first-hand every day. For example, within a given week, Sinan may be found:

• Collaborating with marketing and sales on a webinar about category trends and insights;
• Collaborating with customer success and data analysts on a category analysis report for clients; or 
• Collaborating with the dev team and graphic design on an update to our software platform.  

Why Our Cross-Functional Approach Works 

While ClearCut has had success with cross-functional teams, a Harvard Business Review article cites that 75% of cross-functional teams are actually dysfunctional. Thus, I asked Sinan why he thinks we make it work. 

Sinan shares that communication and trust are pivotal: 

• “With every project at ClearCut, we all make sure to establish open and frequent communication. Having different teams stay on the same page, and remain focused on the task or problem at hand, is key to driving a successful outcome.” For example, Sinan and the entire ClearCut team have regular phone calls and leverage Slack channels to stay aligned and promote cross-functional visibility and action plans. 
• “Working with people doing tasks outside of your expertise requires trust. You may not understand how they’re doing something, but you certainly know why. Good communication across teams helps to build on that trust and to educate colleagues on how each individual brings their own unique perspective and skills to the company as a whole.” 

Closing

To learn more about our culture, read our press release about being named by Built In as a Best Small Company to Work For in Chicago here. To learn about our job openings, go here.