I have seen teams schedule meetings without any preparation, which often turn into brainstorming sessions that don’t lead to any concrete action items. This can waste a whole week of productive time. Additionally, when teams don’t have a clear communication process, people are more likely to ask the same questions over and over again, and they may get different answers each time. This can lead to confusion and misalignment. Furthermore, teams without a dedicated communication process may be less likely to collaborate effectively. They may simply help out other teams when they are asked to, but they may not actively look for ways to work towards the end goal and share ideas. This can lead to teams becoming siloed and focused on the specific task, rather than the overall mission.When embarking on a new project, my initial focus revolves around comprehending the ultimate goal and the path we need to tread. This involves articulating the problem we’re aiming to solve and outlining our envisioned solution.As part of our practice of streamlining communication, my team and I engage in open discussions to ensure everyone is aligned with our objectives and proposed approach. Subsequently, translating these discussions into a cohesive document facilitates seamless knowledge transfer to teams unfamiliar with the project. This approach helps to understand the challenge and the proposed solution, fostering a shared vision.After we chose the path on the solution, we are starting the implementation phase for a simple POC. The POC phase has proven to be incredibly enlightening, offering insights and learning experiences that enrich my knowledge. Translating this newfound knowledge into a succinct video or even conducting a live demo in a test environment breathes life into the project and captivates the team members attention.As the project evolves and necessitates collaboration with members from other teams, the groundwork and POC converge to optimize this engagement. Armed with a clear understanding of the project’s essence and a concise outline of our requirements, I find that explaining the concept and the desired outcomes becomes a seamless process. During meetings, the POC demonstration serves as a visual anchor, aligning all stakeholders and facilitating coherent discussions. On top of that the project document stands as a facilitator to fill the teams with details, which can be attached beforehand at the calendar meeting.In situations where time is of the essence and the member capacity of the other team is constrained, collaboration takes center stage. Facilitating a meeting between the teams becomes paramount, in this meeting we are trying to understand the team available to work on our requirements. When it seems it will take a long time until they will be available to do so, our focus shifts to contributing to their codebase, thereby removing any roadblocks. This contribution can assume various forms, such as expediting implementation through Request for Comments (RFCs) or directly submitting Pull Requests (PRs) enriched with relevant details for broader team members review.To keep in sync with the engaged team, we form a direct communication channel, so we can update on progress and send demos of the contribution if needed.With those kinds of contributions we are trying to find the common agenda between us, which converts to understanding of how the other team can also benefit from our project and contributions along the way.For projects intertwined with their long-term objectives, we orchestrate additional sessions concentrated on their codebase, culminating in the formulation of guidelines for future contributions. These guidelines encompass both coding practices and testing procedures.Photo by Randy Fath on UnsplashTo conclude, optimizing collaboration during tight periods hinges on a meticulous yet streamlined approach. By encapsulating the essence of your goal, showcasing its viability through demos, fostering clear communication, adopting collaborative contributions and shared agenda, we could navigate the complexity of cross-team collaboration even when time and capacity are of the essence. This approach not only fuels immediate problem-solving but also lays the groundwork for sustained cooperation in the future.