Hiring for Cross-Functional Teams

Esther has an M.A. in Organizational Leadership, is the author of over 100 articles, and co-author of "Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great" and "Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management". She’s a founder of the AYE Conference, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Agile Alliance. www.estherderby.com.

  Agile   Talent Management  

In a previous ProjectManagement.com column, I wrote that T-shaped people--people who have deep skills in one area (the down stroke) and competence in several other areas (the cross of the “T”)--are essential for successful cross-functional teams.

Many hiring managers have practice in assessing broad technical skills. However, strong, creative and capable teams result only when those T-shaped people can work interdependently, self-manage, solve group problems and learn together. That implies another set of skills to look for when hiring for a cross-functional team--interpersonal and collaboration skills. Let's look at each of these, and how you might learn about these characteristics in an interview.

Team members work interdependently. They collaborate, negotiate, make tradeoffs and handle conflicts. These interactions require a high level of interpersonal skill and emotional intelligence. To explore these skills with a candidate, ask questions such as:

• “Tell me about a time you and a co-worker had a difference of opinion about how to approach a technical task.”
• “Describe a time when you were asked to take on more work than you knew you could complete. How did you handle the request?”

Listen for: The ability to explore other points of view, and generate additional options.

Warning signs: A candidate who …

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