Cross-functional cooperation in action
How can you secure reliable commitments between teams with differing priorities and constraints?
3500 € per session, excl. VAT
In short
Two days, comprising 14 hours excluding breaks, to design a framework for cooperation between teams and prepare its pilot test. Participants negotiate commitments, make trade-off decisions and manage tensions through role play. Each practice session combines observation, behavioural feedback and another attempt before transferring learning to the workplace.
Why this training?
A poorly explained dependency can quickly turn a local delay into a conflict between departments. Discussions then focus on individuals rather than trade-offs, available capacity and mutual commitments. An additional routine is not enough to create cooperation. It is necessary to learn how to make disagreements open to discussion, negotiate contributions and establish an accepted escalation route without taking responsibility away from teams. Running case study: At Ortilune Équipements, a fictitious organisation, sales teams promise deliveries without consulting production. Logistics absorbs urgent demands and challenges priorities. Participants must negotiate and then test a shared way of handling exceptional orders. Transfer to the workplace: In the following month, propose a pilot to the sponsor focused on a single interface between teams. Hold two coordination meetings, gather feedback from partners and review commitments that were met, renegotiated or forgotten. Then decide on adjustments before any wider rollout.
Objectives of this training
- Map dependencies and points of friction between teams.
- Negotiate observable mutual commitments.
- Make a trade-off decision between competing priorities.
- Manage a disagreement without attributing intentions.
- Design and test a cooperation prototype.
Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?
Roles and tasks concerned
- Managers responsible for interfaces between departments.
- Cross-functional leads and leaders of multi-team projects.
- Operational managers tasked with resolving recurring tensions.
Prior skills
- Have experience of coordination involving several teams.
- Know the scope for decision-making and the constraints within your area of responsibility.
What you will work on
Observing interfaces
Objective: Identify where cooperation breaks down. Dependencies, handovers and cross-team consequences.
Bringing constraints to light
Objective: Explore without accusing. Questioning, listening and distinguishing facts from interpretations.
Negotiating contributions
Objective: Turn requests into commitments. Reciprocity, available capacity and conditions for acceptance.
Making trade-offs between priorities
Objective: Decide without artificial consensus. Shared criteria, mandate and escalation.
Building the prototype
Objective: Formalise a workable agreement. Roles, handovers, alerts and a brief recurring routine.
Managing tension
Objective: Address an unmet commitment. Factual feedback, effects and a request for remedial action.
Facilitating coordination
Objective: Move joint decisions forward. Agenda, disagreements and closure.
Putting the agreement to the test
Objective: Test its resilience to unexpected events. Absence of a decision-maker and simultaneous overload.
Revising and replaying
Objective: Correct ineffective rules. Simplicity, responsibility and acceptability.
Preparing the pilot
Objective: Organise a limited trial. Scope, sponsor, observations and review.
What you take away
- Map of dependencies and tensions.
- Prototype cooperation agreement.
- Completed behavioural feedback form.
- Pilot test plan and revision criteria.
Method and assessment
- Short instructional inputs followed by simulations and role plays based on the case study used throughout.
- Structured observation and peer feedback using a shared framework.
- Guided debrief: what worked, what will be adjusted, individual commitment.
- Preparation: Describe an anonymised instance of friction between teams, including facts, consequences and attempts at resolution. Identify an interface suitable for a pilot; use only materials and tools authorised by the organisation.
Observable criteria: Distinguish facts, interpretations and constraints in the diagnosis. ; Restate the other party’s need before proposing a compromise. ; Assign each commitment an owner, a deadline and a condition for raising an alert. ; Conclude an adjudication with an explicit decision and escalation route. ; Revise the prototype based on observations from the test..
Frequently asked questions
Is a shared line manager required?
No, but the limits of decision-making authority and recourse to adjudication must be explicit.
Can we work on our actual tensions?
Yes, using anonymised situations only; the fictional case study remains available.
How is feedback organised?
Observers describe specific behaviours, their effects and an alternative to act out again.
Will the approach be rolled out in two days?
No: a prototype is tested in a simulation, then a pilot in the workplace is prepared.
Last updated: