Facilitating collaboration between teams

Breaking down silos, setting common goals, and empowering each other: that's essentially what inter-team collaboration is all about. Whether it's two Scrum teams working on the same product family or multiple departments in a large organization, good mutual coordination can make the difference between sluggish processes and inspiring results. At Spark Academy we see that effective collaboration doesn't happen by itself; it requires active facilitation and a shared mindset.

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Why is inter-team collaboration so important?

• Faster lead times: Fewer waiting times, because teams communicate directly with each other instead of through 'formal bridges'.
• Higher quality: Multiple perspectives on the same problem lead to better solutions.
• Organizational agility: If teams are used to collaborating, they can respond more quickly to new challenges and opportunities.

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Typical obstacles

• Conflicting priorities: Each team has its own backlog and deadlines, which sometimes leads to clashes.
• Lack of transparency: If you work with different tools or reporting methods, insight into each other's progress and results is limited.
• Communication overload: To avoid duplicating work, teams sometimes share too much information, which can actually lead to confusion.
• Culture of Competition: When teams are pitted against each other or evaluated based on different KPIs, the motivation to collaborate decreases.

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Strategies and tips

Utilize meta-scrum or scaled events

Do you work according to agile principles? Then you can implement 'scaled' practices, such as Scrum of Scrums or Meta-scrum-meetings, where representatives from different teams discuss alignment and dependencies. This keeps the number of meetings per team limited, while still staying connected.

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Clarity on roles and responsibilities

Ensure everyone knows who has decision-making authority over which part of the work. This prevents duplicate work and unnecessary escalations. Consider a shared "RACI matrix" (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) or simple team overviews detailing each person's focus.

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Facilitate open communication channels

Create channels (Slack, MS Teams, etc.) where information is shared directly and publicly. Optionally, set up an 'inter-team' channel for escalations or questions affecting more than one team. Just be careful that not everything ends up everywhere—guidance is good, spam is not.

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Organize cross-team activities

This can range from cross-team retros (short sessions where two or more teams reflect together) to workshops or hackathons. This way, you get to know each other's working methods, fostering greater understanding and respect.

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Choose shared goals

Instead of each team having its own KPIs, you can formulate an overarching goal. This way, you drive collaboration instead of internal competition. For example: “We want to reduce the time-to-market for Feature X by 30%” instead of “Team A needs to do Y and Team B needs to do Z.”

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Pitfalls

Getting lost in details: If there's a difference in working methods, discussions can go on endlessly. Focus on the common ground instead of minor deviations.

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No escalation path: If a conflict between teams becomes too large, there must be a clear path to force a decision (e.g., a Chief Product Owner or management making the final call).

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Too few celebration moments: If collaboration is finally going well, celebrate it! Give teams recognition. It motivates them to continue improving.

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