Hey <#CFKUPJZ7W|tribe> working with cross-function...
# tribeq
quiet-coat-90669
09/27/2022, 5:50 AMHey #tribe working with cross-functional leadership, How would you drive execution, without direct managerial authority over them? Want to understand various ways to tackle such a problem.
j
jolly-island-57985
09/27/2022, 5:57 AM@quiet-coat-90669 Assuming you are the CEO here, sharing my thoughts:
• the #1 thing that has worked for me. Defining a north star metric(could be MRR/ARR, or dau, traffic, CAC, CLTV etc) for the company and then helping each of the vertical align with it and contextualise it for themselves+ their vertical. Then building a culture focussing everything on the metrics. This is a long term play though.
• In the short term asking leaders to focus on their KPIs and holding them accountable towards them. Here the KPIs need to executing focussed though.
Sorry if this doesn’t help. The best i could do without anymore context.
q
quiet-coat-90669
09/27/2022, 6:11 AMThis is fairly helpful. What if you are not the CEO but a member of Founders Office? Say a Chief of Staff or EIR? I'm trying to understand the various problem statements a generalist role in a large org can throw at you.
j
jolly-island-57985
09/27/2022, 6:48 AMI would propose the above to the CEO and ask them to implement it. As a EIR or Chief of staff u mostly would not have the authority needed to get something like this executed.
c
chilly-rocket-77832
09/27/2022, 7:54 AMHow would you drive execution, without direct managerial authority over them?Without authority? Influence.
chilly-rocket-77832
09/27/2022, 8:00 AMHere's a slide-deck describing influence to solve a specific challenge (an apathetic workforce).
chilly-rocket-77832
09/27/2022, 8:04 AMComing back to the original question,
what is the specific cross-functional problem that you are trying to solve?
For example - Do you have an idea for a feature that requires multiple functional teams to do some work each?
If yes, need to identify how is his feature going to help each of the teams/individuals if they work on it?
• does it help the potential participants learn/grow?
• does it help achieve any of the targets they already have?
• anything else that can generate buy-in?
l
loud-artist-61521
09/27/2022, 8:56 AMFew challenges I see that generalist roles face:
1. Their charter is defined by CEO but is not aligned with dependent stakeholders. Stakeholders don’t see it as priority (half-hearted implementation) or a P2 problem that they want to be hands-off (adoption problem). Both will fail. Better for them to work on P0/P1 problems that people need additional bandwidth.
2. They are left without guidance on how to achieve their set goals. They are taken for a ride by stakeholders or ends up making mistakes that make people lose trust in them, losing influence. Better for them to be mentored on the skills, given feedback early in the process for each charter they pick up.
3. Ownership not being clear. Even if 1 and 2 problems are not there, results would only come ownership of specific deliverables from each stakeholder. So generalists charter should be incorporated in to your org’s planning and results process (ex: OKR/sprints etc)
q
quiet-coat-90669
09/27/2022, 11:41 AMThis is extremely helpful folks! Do add any other points you deem fit.