Team Management.

Leading a cross-functional project team

You have been asked to lead a project team focused on a new e-commerce initiative at your company. While you have overseen groups within a specific department before, this is your first time managing people from different areas of the organization. You will be working with employees from information technology and marketing and sales, among others, to develop your firm's strategy for implementing the project.

While many of the skills you have used to lead staff in the past will be useful, you will also be faced with new challenges, such as managing people you do not directly supervise and having to explain financial information to professionals who may have limited or no accounting knowledge.

At the same time, leading a cross-functional team will make you more visible within the organization. This makes it all the more important to prepare carefully for your role as project leader. The following steps can help as you begin the process:

* Set goals. Before launching an initiative, you need to define the primary objective. Is it to boost sales by expanding into e-commerce or simply to identify the best options for your company and present them to executives? The better you define your goal, the greater your chance of success.

* Build your team. Selecting the right number of people to complete the project is also important. Keep the team as small as possible while still bringing in all the skills needed to fulfill objectives. The smaller the group, the easier it will be to manage and keep focused on specific tasks.

* Hold an initial meeting. Once you have identified the participants, meet with each individual to discuss his or her skills and how those abilities will be used to complete the project. This is particularly useful when working with people from areas of the company you are less familiar with. The initial meeting is also a good time to determine how much time the employee will have to devote to the team. Keep the discussion upbeat and organized, explaining all facets of the initiative and welcoming any ideas.

You will also want to schedule a team meeting to review the budget, timeline and available resources. Clearly identify each person's responsibilities, while making sure everyone knows that you will not micromanage the process. By giving team members a degree of freedom in how they do their jobs you will ultimately boost productivity.

Assign one person the task of preparing a summary of the meeting, which should then be distributed within one day of the meeting. In addition to providing team members with a valuable reference, the prompt distribution of the summary will help convey the importance of the project. You will also want to maintain a written schedule or timeline for the project that can be adjusted and updated as work proceeds.

* Monitor progress. While you may be overwhelmed with existing job responsibilities, it's critical to make yourself available to help team members when needed. In addition, check in with each participant periodically to see if you can provide guidance. This will help you solve minor issues before they become major problems that could jeopardize the project's success.

Also encourage team members to develop their own solutions to any challenges they encounter. You will tap into the energy and ideas of the group and build the confidence of team members.

* Update executives. It is easy to become so consumed with managing a project team that you forget to let your own supervisors know how the initiative is progressing. Make sure that you provide regular updates to your boss as well as to the executive who gave you the leadership assignment.

Managing your first cross-functional project team can be both time- consuming and challenging. However, if you take a proactive and interactive approach to overseeing the process, you can help ensure that the initiative is completed successfully. Your efforts will allow you to build new leadership skills that will not only provide professional satisfaction, but also increase your value within your organization.

David King is area manager, Western Canada, for RHI Management Resources North America's largest consulting services firm providing senior-Level accounting and finance professionals on a project basis.