Fusion teams for enterprise success: five industry leading practices

At a time when organizations are under increased pressure to boost efficiency and productivity while keeping pace with customer expectations, using technology to help improve processes and create connected experiences can be more essential for enterprise-wide success. However, with IT talent acquisition challenges, more IT leaders are focusing on process improvement, including broader technology initiatives like automation, to help drive faster time to value, increase internal alignment, and improve employee and customer satisfaction.

And more broadly, in a recent pulse survey, nearly two-thirds of the executives shared that they’re changing or plan to change processes to address labor shortages. Yet, as organizations pivot even more toward automation and other tech initiatives, finding employees with the right combination of deep functional knowledge and technology know-how can be critical. Without the right talent and strategies in place, organizations can often fail to deliver on promised efficiencies and increase operational risk.

This is why fusion teams — multi-disciplinary teams that blend employees with technology, analytics, or domain knowledge and those who share responsibility for business and technology outcomes — are becoming increasingly critical to organizational success. In fact, according to the 2022 IT Leaders Pulse Report, for organizations with fusion teams already in place, 63% of senior IT leaders say these teams have been very effective in helping the business meet its goals.

But simply establishing fusion teams without clear business outcomes and internal alignment will not likely set an organization up for success. This is why organizations should follow industry-leading practices to help increase their opportunity for achieving key goals.

Here are five industry-leading practices organizations can use to help boost productivity, efficiency, and employee and customer satisfaction.

1. Take a strategic approach

A clear strategy articulating rationale and desired outcomes for leveraging fusion teams helps organizations set themselves up for success in achieving said outcomes. This can also mean having a specific roadmap to help communicate strategic thinking, the purpose behind the outcomes, and the plan for getting there. 

2. Create alignment

It's no secret that siloed data and systems can hinder digital transformation and organizational growth. With different teams only seeing part of the picture, their data, and the methods/platforms they use to store and leverage it, it often leads to a fragmented view. For example, if a team only uses its siloed view to create a roadmap to reach specific business outcomes, they also can be at risk of creating a fragmented roadmap. It may work within their particular business unit (BU), but it does not likely align across an enterprise.

This is why it can be key for organizations to take an enterprise-wide approach to help align BUs on the purpose and targeted business outcomes for leveraging fusion teams. This enables teams to work smarter to leverage an array of skills and knowledge across an organization and move beyond siloed work.

3. Invest in collaborative tools

Given the multidisciplinary nature of fusion teams, organizations should proactively invest in tools for cross-disciplinary collaboration. This means using tools that individuals across an organization can access easier and use to communicate, plan, collaborate, and share key information and documents.

4. Adopt a multiplier mindset

Multipliers are team members who help their teammates grow by identifying their strengths and applying these strengths to a specific task. They have knowledge in varied backgrounds like information technology, engineering, and business analytics.

Organizational leadership can identify and include multipliers on fusion teams to help improve team performance and better develop their teammates. Multipliers also bring this amplifying effect to those on their domain knowledge teams. For example, an engineer who is a multiplier within a multi-disciplinary fusion team also becomes a multiplier within their engineering team and then continues the effect with their work on the next fusion team. The impact can be exponential. 

5. Embrace innovation

With the majority of respondents in the 2022 IT Leaders Pulse Report creating fusion teams–69% have created or are working on rolling them out–their value is evident in helping organizations reach key business outcomes. Yet, to create an environment where fusion teams continue to be effective, organizations should embrace innovation and new ways of thinking, moving beyond traditional, often siloed ways of working.

Fusion team success also can hinge on the synergistic nature of collaboration, enabling each team member to share ideas freely, and voice their thoughts and opinions productively, all in the name of constant innovation and growth. 

Learn more about fusion teams

With mounting pressure to do more with less, fusion teams can offer organizations the opportunity to help increase efficiency and productivity while creating connected experiences internally and for customers.

Yet, to leverage the potential of fusion teams, organizations should lead with an innovation-first mindset to help improve team collaboration and performance. This, along with a clear strategy, effective enterprise-side communication, and collaborative tools, enables organizations to leverage fusion teams for organizational success effectively.

Get in touch to learn more about how your organization can leverage modern technology and integration solutions for success today and well into the future.