Similarly, for product development activities, the above-mentioned characteristics can help
members of cross-functional development teams to work better together. The development of
cross-functional teams brings together people from different specialties in order to solve
problems. The interaction required between functions in order to solve problems challenges all
team members to learn more about each function, stimulating skill variety. The conglomeration
of different knowledge, skills and abilities fosters idea generation among the team. Once ideas
are generated and the decision is made to develop them, the employees who are best equipped to
handle the given issue (such as engineering, marketing, finance, etc.) should be given the
autonomy to creatively solve the problem within boundaries. It may be helpful to eliminate titles
so that all team members are on a level playing field based on knowledge rather than formal rank.
It is also possible to give all team members very general titles to imply broad and shared
responsibilities. Timely feedback should be given in order to help team members learn from
mistakes and improve their performance.