How companies ensure XTC

Sammanfattning: This paper aims to investigate how a company ensures cross-team collaboration, what challenges there might be to this phenomenon, and lastly how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted this type of collaboration. The empirical data was collected through interviews with 12 employees from 5 different teams at a Medical-Technology company. The employees got to answer several questions about how they experience cross-team collaboration (XTC) within their organization, and between their teams. Five components were identified as vital for collaboration through a literature study and later analyzed with regard to the empirical data. The five components were psychological safety, communication, knowledge sharing, conflict management, and team-building. Further virtual tools for collaboration and information sharing for virtual collaboration were added to the literature study. Communication, knowledge sharing, and team-building were found vital in the case study, as well as transparency, and a common vision over the process. The biggest challenges were found to be miscommunication, lack of an outspelt plan, and lack of resources. Lastly, it was found that the COVID-19 crisis had not impacted the cross-team collaboration other than the loss of social relationships and informal information sharing. Advantages that the crisis has brought were easier communication due to the right virtual tools and the flexibility to work remotely even after the crisis.