3 tips for better interdisciplinary team collaboration

Tanja Grosser and Maria Mazepa work in interdisciplinary teams at Zühlke day in and day out. While they don’t claim to have all the answers, they have learned some useful tips that can help those working in interdisciplinary teams to collaborate more effectively.

In this post, they reveal why it’s important to:

• Connect personally
• Create a shared language
• Have a clear division of responsibilities

Tip #1: Connect personally

Teams are more effective and efficient when everyone has the psychological safety that their ideas are valued, they have the right to be wrong, and are empowered to think curiously.

But creating this ‘trust layer’ is not easy.

Some teams try to jump straight into the project problem-solving, hoping that the trust will develop along the way. But if you want to build the right foundations, you need to start by building a personal connection with your teammates, first.

Tanja Grosser is a Principal Project Manager – she’s keen to stress the importance of learning about the people you’ll be working with before you work on the project itself.

“Take time to bring everyone together,” she says. “I’d recommend all team members do something non-project focused initially. For example, having breakfast together will help you better understand them as individuals, and how they view the tasks at hand.”

The more you know about their personalities, what they’re passionate about, and how they prefer to work, the easier it is to build trust.

Tip #2: Create a shared language

Impactful teams are effective communicators.

But creating a strong communication culture poses a particular challenge for interdisciplinary teams. What might be considered as best practice or a routine approach for one team member might not translate to others in the group. For example, a software engineer and a UX designer may interpret the meaning of ‘interface’ differently.

Maria Mazepa is an Expert UX Designer. She recounts that when working on a product prototype with non-UX colleagues, clarity was essential for successful communication.

“I was constantly asking ‘how can I create an environment where others understand exactly what I’m doing?’.”

To close this communication gap, Maria’s advice is to carve out time at the beginning of the project to establish a common language on core terms. This involves coming together to learn about each other’s disciplines so that you can decide on the most effective ‘naming’ system to minimise costly misunderstandings.

“Only with a common language can you bridge the gap between business requirements and other team member’s expectations,” says Maria.

But Maria is also keen that this isn’t the only benefit of creating a shared language.

“Not only does it put stakeholders on a level playing field, it also helps empower them to voice their ideas on elements of the project that are outside of their normal discipline.”

Tip #3: Have a clear vision of responsibilities

An interdisciplinary team delivers a unique benefit: the project’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) tend to approach the same problem in different ways. However, with so many competing ideas and priorities, things can fall through the cracks.

Your goal should be to run an efficient project as well as stimulate fresh perspectives. That starts with setting expectations around which parts of the project each team member is responsible for.

“It’s important to have certain responsibilities divided by person and roles, but it’s important to understand the relationship between responsibilities and suggestions,” Tanja explains.

“As a Project Manager, I’m genuinely happy when someone with a technical background feels empowered to suggest ideas that fall within my area of responsibility, because that’s where new breakthroughs are born. Just because you’re responsible for one area, doesn’t mean people can’t voice their suggestions on it.”

The key here is to strike a balance between a clear division of responsibilities along with an openness to new suggestions.

When you combine this with a shared language and a personal connection to your fellow team members, you create the best environment for effective interdisciplinary team collaboration.