Developers with Super Powers: Becoming Cross-functional

As projects get larger and more complex, so too do the teams required to make them great. When the requirements seem to grow beyond reach we all need to be superheros to keep up. Staying siloed into our individual roles is no longer viable. To keep up we all need to develop our own super powers by becoming cross-functional and expanding beyond our roles to succeed both individually and as a team.

By learning to be more cross-functional and expanding knowledge into the other disciplines required to build and maintain a site, a developer can:

• Produce better work as a one-person team when needed

• Collaborate more effectively with other team member roles on a team

• Prevent big problems in build by effectively participating in design and planning processes

• Keep site owners happier by applying design and user experience knowledge to sections not addressed by an entire team

Shared knowledge between team members is one effective approach to solidifying communication and teamwork between team members. One method for achieving this is through cross-functional roles and knowledge. Establishing a shared knowledge pool across a team can offer many benefits:

• Ease of conveying ideas

• Enriched collaboration

  • Both parties may suggest ideas based on unique perspectives

  • Easier compromises due to an understanding of what may be difficult on each side

• Improved team efficiency

  • With improved understanding less back-and-forth and rework is required

• An understanding of what it means to be “cross-functional”

• Resources and guidance on how to learn about other roles

• Suggestions for developers and site builders to become more effective in their role

• Guidance for more effectively collaborating with other roles

• Tips for filling in when someone is not assigned to a dedicated role

• Module developers interested in expanding beyond their back-end skillset

• Site builders looking to become more well-rounded and possibly explore back-end development

• Project managers aiming to promote cross-functional knowledge and skills in their teams

• Team members interested in becoming more well-rounded contributors

• Individuals seeking to learn more about filling in for other roles

Stephen is a Solutions Architect at Mediacurrent with 5 years of experience with Drupal, and even longer working professionally as part of a cross-functional team.

Stephen has worked on all stages of the typical site development process with heavy interaction and involvement with professionals in each role. From this experience he has learned the ins and outs of effectively applying the developer perspective to project management, design and user experience.