Amazon Fmr. PM on Synergy by Design: Building Cross-Functional Teams

How can product leaders create synergy across teams? Creating impactful user-facing products demands robust collaboration across product management, design, and UX research teams. However, the structure of these teams often introduces processes and power dynamics that hinder such collaboration. In this webinar with Amazon Fmr Product Lead Brian Root, product managers, designers, and UX researchers involved in user-facing projects will gain insights and practical tools to foster a more collaborative, innovative, and productive team environment. Join us to gain insights on building cross-functional teams.

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Show Notes:

1. Cross-functional teams are important for product development but face challenges with inefficiency and siloed work.
2. UX research should be involved earlier in the process to mitigate risks upfront rather than as an afterthought.
3. Different team structures like silos, embedded, and roundtables each have benefits and drawbacks to consider.
4. The roundtable structure aims to improve collaboration by giving each function a seat at the table.
5. Risk frameworks can help define necessary expertise areas for product development.
6. Leaders should understand limitations of their own functional experience to avoid biases.
7. Intentionality is needed to consider problems from different risk perspectives.
8. Context sharing between functions like PMs and designers improves efficiency.
9. Strategic involvement of research and design leads to better insights and outcomes.
10. Competing priorities within teams require collective problem solving.
11. Cross-functional relationships take time to develop trust and understanding.
12. Cultural shifts are needed to fully embrace design in enterprise product delivery.
13. Engineering expertise is critical but engagement varies between individuals.
14. Functional leads can benefit mature teams where possible.
15. Awareness of biases helps inclusive leadership of diverse teams.
16. Budgeting research/design time improves accountability for the full process.
17. Engaging stakeholders builds understanding of necessary process and resources.
18. Filling risk expertise gaps requires intentional conversations.
19. Testing competing ideas produces the best outcomes when possible.
20. Focusing research impact improves marginalized roles in some structures.