Think Like a Software Engineering Manager

9 Working with cross-functional partners

This chapter covers

• Conducting effective cross-functional collaboration
• Facing common challenges in a cross-functional work setting
• Collaborating with cross-functional teams and partners
• Communicating for an excellent collaboration experience

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.

—Michael Jordan

David, an engineering manager (EM) at Musica, is vital to integrating music recommendation platforms across the company’s products. Despite ambitious goals, his team faces productivity challenges, mainly in cross-functional collaboration. One primary challenge is communication breakdowns, where information and priorities may not be effectively communicated between teams, ...