Level-up Engineering Guide to Building Cross-Functional Collaboration In Software Engineering
Interview with Ritendra Datta, Director of Engineering at Meta. He gives valuable advice on improving cross-functional collaboration by holding empathy sessions and scaling cross-functional teams mindfully.
Sign up to the Level-up Engineering newsletter!
In this interview we're covering:
- Different cross-functional roles
- Cross-functional collaboration in practice
- Tips to improve cross-functional collaboration
- Encouraging respect among cross-functional partners
- Cross-functional empathy sessions
- Common mistakes during cross-functional collaboration
- Scaling cross-functional teams
- Involving management in growing cross-functional teams
- Hiring leaders for scaling
Excerpt from the interview:
"We have cross-functional empathy sessions, where people get together for 4 hours and represent all cross functions. The key tech lead, an IC, a manager, a product manager, a data scientist and a UX researcher will meet somewhere outside of the office, and spend the day talking to each other.
They could discuss what they do on a daily basis, and what’s frustrating about it. The representatives of each function gain a better understanding of the different positions, and why the work of each function is valuable and challenging in its own way.
Every time we have these cross-functional empathy sessions, everyone goes home humbled by what others are doing and the struggles they’re facing. They realize that everyone is working hard. They often describe it as “an eye-opening experience.” "