July 23, 2018

How to Map for Cross-Functional Areas

Although the staff members may be generally aware that these cross-department contributions exist, without mapping them and being as specific as possible, it is impossible to know how all the work across departments builds upon each other in specific ways."

​For some organizations involved in urban planning and management, it is unclear what their strengths and weaknesses really are. What are they doing very well? Or poorly? What topics have thorough coverage? Or lacking? One way to gain quick insights, which can provide a base for further exploration, is through mapping for cross-functional areas. Keep in mind that How to Map for Outcomes can be combined with cross-functional mapping for a deeper analysis, though each is helpful in its own right. 
 
Mind mapping for cross-functional areas step-by-step
Take a look at How to Map for Outcomes for the basics of mind mapping. We’ll keep the steps the same until we get to the third step. From that article, “First, you’ll start off with the current basis of the organization, typically the departments or divisions of the organization. You’ll map these fairly equidistant from each other to give space around each one. Second, you’ll branch from the departments or divisions with the work they produce. There is a wide variety, of course, but typically these are structured as programs (containing multiple projects and initiatives). Projects are likely at too small a scale to map with this step, unless they have an importance level similar to a program.” 

​Third, instead of mapping outcomes of focus or interest, you’ll map cross-functional areas. Typically, the functional areas (note we are not getting into the cross functional part yet) will be the areas of work or delivery areas of the organization, reflected in the structuring of departments or divisions. Some typical functional areas are emergency management, transportation, workforce, land use, zoning, and housing, and many others (see Figure A). 

Figure A

When we map cross-functional areas, we make connections between the functional areas, typically structured as departments or divisions. Let’s walk through an example process of someone in an executive position working to pinpoint cross-functional areas. Keep in mind, the lines illustrating connections can come from the department in general or a program or initiative that has been identified. For this example, we’ll focus on the department level, but both levels could be included and will reap greater and more accurate detail. The organization does a good bit of work on protecting key critical infrastructure elements for the purpose of emergency management, such as ensuring evacuation routes are the last infrastructure elements to fall into a state of disrepair or levees and other protective infrastructure are the first to receive maintenance funds. Some of these critical infrastructure elements are for transportation purposes, so a line is drawn from emergency management to transportation with the anticipated result (AR) title “critical transportation infrastructure protection.”

​Shifting into the land use, zoning, and housing department, the work they do in housing involves a connection with transportation. Housing is planned with multi-model connections including transit, biking, walking, and driving to employment, commercial centers, and other key destinations. This AR connection is titled “housing development with balanced transportation access.” In thinking more about housing, some gaps come to mind. Housing is of course tied to workforce development, but there is not a clear connection the organization makes between these two currently. A dashed line for a need (N) is drawn with the title “plan for balanced workforce housing.” That is a big topic that could take many directions. It could pertain to ensuring housing is balanced, attainable, and affordable to all income groups for existing employers as well as new employers that recently moved to the area. It could tie into other needs as well. Housing is currently not a major focus for the emergency management work, though it could be strengthened. A dashed line is drawn with the N title “pinpoint housing needs within emergency management.”  Another AR between workforce and transportation is “transportation with balanced workforce access,” and another N between workforce and emergency management is “plan for post-disaster workforce recovery.”

Quick way to understand work across departments 
As the exercise proceeds, the filled AR lines begin to indicate where the current efforts are, while the dashed N lines indicate potential gaps. Though rudimentary, it is quick and easy to do by only one staff member as a start and is truly telling of the work products and their ultimate contribution areas. Although the staff members may be generally aware that these cross-department contributions exist, without mapping them and being as specific as possible, it is impossible to know how all the work across departments builds upon each other in specific ways.

How you could use these insights
As with How to Map for Outcomes, how this information is used can be wide ranging, but here are a few options:

1. Collaborative work sessions (same as with outcome mapping) - The executive could hold sessions to other staff members to discuss which elements they agree with or disagree with, so that this initial exercise is only the first iteration. It is recommended that multiple staff members at different levels and with different subject focus areas do collaborate on such an effort. This will give a chance for different perspectives to be understood and the map to continue to shape. Having those with different subjects of focus and specialties is critical for identifying a wide range of connections, since this is ultimately an interdisciplinary exercise. 
2. Getting to and communicating the organization’s true, current focus - Organizations sometimes do a lot of things and take on increasingly wide ranging work. Not being clear about the core of the work runs the risk of stretching the organization too thin. From a communications perspective, it can also make it seem as if the organization does a little bit for everyone and everything, which can create the perception that it does very little overall. Sometimes it can be better to go narrow and deep than thin and shallow. 
3. Finding and bolstering strengths - After the true and current focus becomes clear, the organization may wish to simply bolster in the direction it was already heading, which can be a very effective strategy.
4. Finding and turning weaknesses into strengths - In some cases, pinpointing the true and current focus reveals significant gaps, which some may have thought were filled, but are not addressed adequately enough to reap real impact. In this case, the exercise builds a base for building up weaknesses. 
5. Connecting funding with core delivery areas - Some organizations experience fluctuations with funding, and it can be helpful to understand what should always remain protected, no matter what. This type of exercise reveals the special and unique offering of the organization, which should be prioritized in the event of a sudden downturn. 
6. Uniting planning processes - Some planning processes are separate due to legal requirements and the structure of departments, such as economic development plans and transportation plans. However, in many cases, the result of the planning process (typically a document) is the only element required to be delivered separately, at least from a legal perspective. This means that the separate planning processes can be united into a single process with multiple results or products. This type of exercise can serve as an initial foray into the potential for planning process connectivity. 
7. Collective impact (same as with outcome mapping) - Some elements will lead to subject or topical areas that fall out of the scope of the organization, but are connected to its progress and mission. In such cases, it makes sense to figure out which organizations do have more influence or control and initiate contact in case of collaboration and a shared way of working. Ultimately, this can provide a foundation for a collective impact approach.

Now that you have a strong foundation for both cross-functional mapping and outcome mapping, move onto the next step, How to Combine Mapping and Results for Holistic Organizations. In addition, see if other resources can be helpful such as How Operational Level Staff Can Get Involved .