By Lisa Schievelbein

Working with cross-functional partners is a common source of woe for Communications. Though the circumstances vary quite a bit, I’ve discovered a pattern over time in the villainous caricatures I hear most about:

• The party poopers
  Crime: Vetoing Comms’ best-laid plans to try new things
  Usual suspects: Legal, IT
• The land grabbers
  Crime: Asserting dominance—and taking all credit—in areas of overlapping audiences/interests
  Usual suspects: HR, Marketing

All cheekiness aside, we at CEC have noticed communicators working hard these days to deepen their integration with cross-functional partners. Most agree that social media has really forced this issue—and it’s fitting, really, given that social media is all about blurring historical lines and creating forums for new types of collaboration and communication.

One of our favorite examples comes from Ford. While Ford’s PR and Marketing are structurally distinct departments, they’ve fully integrated their strategies and resources. According to Ray Day, Ford’s Vice President of Communications, the two groups collaborate on just about everything—including planning, budgeting, agency management, and performance metrics—and blend their unique expertise to get the most out of social media opportunities.

CEC members can find more information on Ford’s success story—among many others—in our brand-new release on Communications resouring and collaboration.

I’d love to hear from communicators out there.  Would your own cross-functional theme song be less Lean on Me, more Great Office War?