Hi there,
Collaborating with a remote, cross-functional team for a deliverable can feel…
Slow.
Complicated.
Mysterious.
Let’s speed up these deliverables for your team. 🏎️
⚡ Supercharge of the Week
Remote Octopus recommends clearly communicating dependencies with remote, cross-functional colleagues.
What is a dependency? Asana gives us the rundown:
In general, a dependency is something that relies on something else.
General examples of a dependency…
- Plants are dependent on sunlight
- Fish are dependent on water
As it relates to project management, a dependency is a task that relies on the completion of a different task.
Examples of dependencies in project management:
- A company's PR statement is dependent on the CEO’s approval of the messaging
- A reimbursement is dependent on an expense report submission
- A bug fix is dependent on the identification of its root cause
Cross-functional collaboration is full of dependencies. We’re often relying on other teams to complete a specific task.
Dependencies are ripe for slow down and over-complication and mystery…
… which means dependencies are also an awesome place to streamline, speed up, and minimize risk.
In project management, there are many different types of dependencies. For the project management nerds out there, they’re often mapped out through a critical path leveraging project management software.
Today, we’re diving into two straightforward and common types of dependencies:
When you are waiting on something.
When someone else is waiting on you.
⏰ When you are waiting on something.
In this situation, you’re collaborating with a cross-functional team and waiting on their completion of a specific task or deliverable.
Examples:
The Data Team is pulling a report.
Marketing needs to copy edit a document.
Legal needs to sign off on a presentation.
You’re probably waiting on a lot of cross-functional deliverables right now!
When you’re waiting on a deliverable or task, it’s important to communicate this need early and clearly with the cross-functional team – especially if this deliverable is a blocker to moving additional work forward.
Example in Action
Hi Jaylen – Looking for your sign off on this report by end of week. Once we have your sign off, I can move forward with our internal roll out in Slack. Thank you!
If the deliverable is further out from your request date – such as a week or two – you might consider checking in with cross-functional colleagues as the date gets closer to re-up the dependency.
Example in Action
Hi Freya – Checking in, will the Data Team be able to meet our target of producing the report by this Thursday end of day? Once we have the report in hand, I can kick off our team strategic planning.
⏰ When someone else is waiting on you.
In this situation, you’re collaborating with a cross-functional team and completing a specific task or deliverable for them.
They reached out to you to request a report, a sign off, etc.
When you’re the one delivering, it’s important to ask the cross-functional team additional questions about their request. You want to uncover any dependencies in their workflow and better understand if your deliverable is a blocker to moving additional work forward on their end.
Example in Action
Hi Taylor – Yes, I can sign off on this report by end of week. Once I sign off, is that everything you need on your end from my team to move the work forward?
If the deliverable request date is coming up and you sense that your deliverable might be late, immediately reach out to your cross-functional colleague to clarify any impact on dependencies. In project management terms, you’re trying to get a sense of the total float and understand the impact of this late deliverable on project completion.
Example in Action
Hi Malik – Checking in, it’s looking like I might be 2-3 days late on the copy edit. I should be able to get it to you by end of day next Tuesday. Does that work for your team or are there any key dependencies that will be impacted?
🦗🦗🦗 Sometimes, when someone else is waiting for you, it might look like… you just haven’t heard from them in awhile. You thought they were working on a key deliverable, but it’s been crickets. If you’re hearing crickets, reach out with a check in on deliverables.
Example in Action
Hi Aisha – Checking in on the data report progress… Are you waiting on anything on my end or do you have everything you need? Our target delivery date is coming up this Friday.
By gaining a better understanding of cross-functional dependencies and timelines, you and your team can clearly prioritize work in progress, unravel mysterious workflows, and reduce risk.
So… are you waiting on something? Or is someone else waiting on you? Probably! Reach out with one of the Examples in Action above to speed up your cross-functional deliverables to the finish line. 🏁
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