The more flexibility you can create in your technology workforce, the better you’ll be equipped to manage tomorrow, whatever that future brings.

Too often, we focus on helping our teams become technical specialists, who know volumes about a single technology, but quickly lose sight of how that technology connects with others, making their skills highly dependent on whether the organization uses that single technology.

Cross-training has a variety of benefits, ranging from the rather mundane cost savings that can come from multi-disciplined employees, to the ability to have a more flexible and adaptable workforce. These chaotic times present the perfect opportunity to allow your staff to “de-specialize” and start branching out of their core competencies in order to quickly respond to a changing environment. For example, a team with a couple of front-end developers with design skills, or an elusive “full stack developer” could drive a project end-to-end or shift their focus from front-end to back-end work as company needs evolve.

The following Cross-Training Tool Kit will help you identify opportunities, design and implement a program, and evaluate and scale a cross-training program.

In the Tool Kit:

• Identifying cross-training opportunities
• Designing your cross-training program
• Customized learning guide template
• Implementing your cross-training program
• Evaluate and scale your cross-training program
• Cross-training evaluation form
• And more!