Here's how you can foster cross-functional collaboration among different teams at conferences.

I was once asked from the company I used to work for to participate in a leadership training program. One of the most important group exercises of the training was the so called "NASA" exercise. The exercise consisted in deciding as a group which set of tools would be needed to survive in the moon. We had to pick 20 out of 100 items listed. Each correct item had a value that would tell if we would survive or not. I led the discussion from the beginning, not paying attention to the opinion of other members of the team because at that time I thought that I was the owner of the truth. But the real truth is that I led the group to death. If I would have paid attention to what other proposed we could have prevailed. Message is, listen to others!

I have the chance to participate in a CEO´s collaborative group in which we share issues and experiences seeking others perspectives. This activity is coordinated by a very well known company that form the groups ensuring that everybody comes from different industries. Therefore, every time that someone shares an issue or trouble that he or she cannot solve everybody steps in with advice based on own experience. Sharing experiences helps others not to fall in the same mistake or take advantage of best practices that other benefit in the industry they work on. This interaction enriches the learning process that we all need regardless of the stage you are in your career. Help someone today, it will come back to you tomorrow.

Sometimes to think outside the box is difficult when you are immersed in your own turf. That is when cross functional teams come handy. Only people with no byass at all can come to the table with breakthrough ideas and innovations. At some point the organization comes to the famous "this is not going to work" or "we always did this this way and there is no need to change". In my company we encourage employees to present every year ideas to change and improve our business and we reward the best ones. It is amazing to see the quality of the ideas we receive from the most unexpected areas of the company. Alvin Toffler used to say "I don´t care where the idea comes from as far as it is useful". Follow that advise.

I attended once a conference in which when you arrived you had to put your badge in a ballot and afterward the badges were randomly pulled to form the different tables. Once in the table, there was one topic that we had to develop and present. It was a rewarding experience since you had to work as a team with a deadline timing and come up with an idea according to the topic given. The spirit of competition against other tables was a barrier breaker that really worked! In high performance teams, nobody wants to lose....

This is the most difficult part of a conference since everybody goes back to the day to day business and gets swallowed by monthly results. However, if there is an incentive to continue connected, people will continue to do so. To come up with a new company identity, or feedback to a new strategy. Anything can help to continue glueing the participants after the conference.