Marketers and others tout the business benefits of “cross-functional collaboration,” and encourage organizations to establish processes to ensure collaboration.

But processes alone are not enough. Cross-functional collaboration only works when you have expert tools that allow your teams to work together. This post discusses one such tool, Adobe Workfront, and how it benefits marketers, creatives, and technologists alike.

Why cross-functional collaboration is important

As defined by Ben Brigden at project management software firm teamwork.com:

Cross-functional collaboration is the process of running a project that spans various teams and functions within an organization. It draws on expertise across different departments and points all team members toward a common goal.

From this article on cross-functional collaboration by Teamwork.

Specifically, cross-functional collaboration stands in stark contrast to a siloed approach, in which every team does its own thing regardless of the other teams. When no one is working together and the organization is in disarry, people consequently don’t get anything done. Or people get the wrong things done, which is even worse.

No cross-functional collaboration results in silos.

Clearly, the organization benefits when all teams are working together. Therefore, firms must develop processes to ensure that the appropriate teams collaborate on any given project.

Creating content across multiple functions

Online retailers must create content for their prospects and customers. For example, these two organizations have clear asset management needs.

  • Shimano, a provider of “captivating products” to help promote the bicycle and sports fishing cultures, needs to market its products on 20 websites throughout the world.
  • MSI needs to manage marketing assets for its flooring, countertop, wall tile, and hardscaping products.

The teams at Shimano, MSI, and your company need tools that support cross-functional collaboration. Processes alone won’t solve their asset management problems.

Three organizational teams that must collaborate for content

Focusing specifically on the management of marketing assets, there are three major teams (and other minor teams) that need to work together to create the required content. The three major teams requiring cross-functional collaboration are:

  • The marketers who market a firm’s products.
  • The creatives who create the materials to market the firm’s products.
  • The technologists who implement the sites where the marketing material lies.

These people use different tools. For example, the creatives use Adobe Creative Cloud tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Illustrator. Creatives don’t want to learn the Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) tools that the marketers and technologists use. And none of the parties want to employ a third-party project management tools that requires extra effort to use.

How to achieve cross-functional collaboration in content creation

The solution is one that I discussed in July 2023: Adobe Workfront. This Adobe project management offering provides three benefits to your marketers, creatives, and technologists:

  • It removes silos preventing completion of work. Adobe Workfront forms a seamless part of your existing Adobe tools. The creatives can access Adobe Workfront from Adobe Creative Cloud, while the others can simultaneously access Adobe Workfront from AEM. Your collaborators can achieve all of Adobe Workfront’s benefits without leaving your existing Adobe applications.
  • It ensures asset brand compliance. It’s important that all assets comply with corporate brand standards. Adobe Workfront’s collaboration capabilities allow team members to comment, request changes, and deliver approvals—all with a complete audit record documenting all changes.
  • It maximizes content velocity. Marketers want to deploy assets quickly, once creatives design them and executives approve them. Adobe Workfront’s automations, templates, real-time reports, and Agile boards let content creators work more quickly with less overhead, supporting consumer needs for potentially millions of pieces of content.

Additional Adobe Workfront-AEM details

Team of experts discussing Content Supply Chain for their work

My colleague Zeel Trivedi recently provided additional technical detail on Adobe Workfront-AEM collaboration, including:

  • The enhanced cross-functional collaboration capabilities discussed above.
  • The automated processes that contribute to streamlined procedures, including the ability to instantly publish in AEM content that has been approved in Workfront.
  • Dynamic smart resource allocation that ensures that the right resources are assigned to the right projects at the right times.
  • Implementation of transparent workflows that automatically synchronize all tasks and deadlines.
  • Use of other AEM and Workfront features, including advanced asset management and performance tracking.

Who can help you implement this cross-functional collaboration tool?

Marketers, creatives, and technologists can all benefit from the capabilities of AEM and Adobe Workfront—but only if the solution is implemented correctly.

To achieve your marketing goals, you need an Adobe consultant who can address the issues that you, your creatives, and your technologists all face. To ensure stellar cross-functional collaboration between all three teams, you need to work with an Adobe Certified Partner such as KBWEB Consult.

Are you ready to deliver a personalized experience to every prospect and customer? If so, schedule a free, confidential 30-minute consultation with KBWEB Consult. You can book a meeting on our Let’s Talk page.