Christina Samore has been a PMI member since 2019 and joined the Phoenix Chapter in 2020. She began volunteering with the Chapter in February 2025 as the Breakfast Meetings Producer on the Programs Team. Christina was drawn to volunteering after keeping an eye on opportunities that aligned with her professional experience, particularly her background producing an internal virtual conference at work. Having already attended and enjoyed the Chapter’s Breakfast Meetings, she saw this role as a perfect fit. This year, Christina has supported both the Breakfast Meetings and an ASU Speaker Event, finding the experience especially rewarding through the connections she’s built with speakers and other volunteers and Chapter members. She enjoys the opportunity for one‑on‑one interaction and the chance to learn from engaging presentations while collaborating with fellow members.

Known by colleagues as detail‑driven with a great sense of humor, Christina brings both structure and creativity to everything she does. Her personal philosophy—don’t say “no,” ask “how”—guides her approach to problem‑solving and has led to impactful outcomes in her professional career, including uncovering key problems in a major multi‑year project and realigning it to be successful. Outside of work and volunteering, Christina is passionate about art museums, travel (Spain being a favorite destination), and giving back through causes such as Andre House, Feed My Starving Children, and St. Mary’s Food Bank. Whether proudly project‑managing her own wedding or completing a writing challenge to write 50,000 words in a single month, Christina is inspired by leaving things better than she found them. She shares a simple message for those considering volunteering: “Do it— it will be the most rewarding decision you will make; the connections are invaluable!

Image: Freepik

Interdepartmental Communication: Why Teams Get Stuck & What Actually Improves Collaboration

By: Jane Rogers

Interdepartmental communication falls apart when teams operate on assumptions instead of shared understanding. Every group brings its own priorities, pace, and pressures, which makes collaboration harder than it should be. When teams slow down just enough to align expectations, projects move faster and friction drops. The key is building habits and structures that make clarity the default rather than the exception.

Summary

Cross-team collaboration improves when teams reduce message ambiguity, rely on shared rituals, create accessible documentation, and re-align expectations regularly. Tools help, but habits matter more.

Signals That Cross-Team Collaboration Is Slipping

What Really Improves Team-to-Team Communication

When teams break down, it’s rarely personal. It’s structural. People are busy, assumptions drift, timelines shift, and suddenly marketing is working from a different understanding than a product, who’s operating from a different understanding than engineering. The best fix tends to be shockingly boring: make it easier for people to understand one another without chasing information.

One team uses “micro-syncs.” Another builds a small glossary. Some adopt project canvases. Others store everything in a single folder instead of seven. The magic isn’t the format — it’s the shared expectation.

Tools help, yes, especially ones that make documentation easy. But the real win comes from teams agreeing on “how we work together” rather than hoping clarity magically emerges.

Accessible Document Sharing Across Teams

Teams collaborate faster when shared documents are easy to find, easy to open, and easy to annotate — especially when several departments rely on the same material. A central spot for files (instead of buried email chains) cuts down on version confusion, and keeping formats consistent makes life easier for the next person in the workflow. PDFs often become the ideal format for long-term storage and dependable viewing. Check this out if you need to add text, sticky notes, highlights, and markups directly in the document.

FAQs

Q: What’s the fastest change a team can make to improve cross-department collaboration?
A: Clarify responsibilities before a project starts — even a 3-bullet summary helps.

Q: Is scheduling the main issue?
A: Often not. Misalignment on what matters usually causes more friction than when something happens.

Q: Should everything be in writing?
A: Not everything — just anything that creates future dependencies.

Q: Do tools fix communication issues?
A: Tools support clarity, but habits create clarity.

Simple Tactics That Work

• Rotate meeting ownership so no team dominates discussions
  
  
• Use short pre-read documents to avoid “meeting roulette”
  
  
• Add a “definition of done” to every cross-functional task
  
  
• Standardize naming conventions for shared files
  
  
• Give people one place to check the status of anything
  
  
• Create “handoff briefs” so tasks move cleanly between teams
  
  
• Encourage asynchronous updates when live meetings aren’t needed
  
  

Steps to Align Teams and Keep Work Moving

Use this when kicking off any cross-team project:

1. Identify the driver (who moves the work forward?)
   
   
2. Clarify success criteria in 3–5 bullets
   
   
3. Define who approves what (and when)
   
   
4. Agree on communication rhythm (async? meetings?)
   
   
5. Establish one shared document — not five
   
   
6. Capture decisions in the same place every time
   
   
7. Do a 5-minute retrospective once the project wraps
   
   

Featured Product

Some teams swear by simple cross-department dashboards to reduce “Where are we on this?” interruptions. If you want something easy to try without onboarding complexity, Monday.com offers flexible project boards that can be adapted for multi-team alignment without creating a heavy ops burden.

Conclusion

Strong interdepartmental communication isn’t just about talking more — it’s about reducing ambiguity, creating shared rituals, and making information easy to access and annotate. Once teams align around those basics, collaboration becomes smoother, faster, and far less frustrating.

Zackery Hyham has been a dedicated PMI member for two years and began volunteering with the PMI Phoenix Chapter one year ago, currently serving as Finance Project Manager and Acting Director of Treasury. Inspired by a deep belief in community-driven growth and the transformative power of PMI’s mission, Zack jumped into volunteer service to help others while expanding his own leadership journey. Within the Finance team, Zack has played a key role in financial operations and governance, contributing to the financial strategic planning for the 2026 transition into the new PMI Arizona Chapter. His impact extends beyond PMI, including organizing hygiene kits and diaper donation drives with the Kiwanis Club, offering pro bono consulting to the Arizona Historical Society, and mentoring youth through DeMolay.
Zack finds fulfillment in seeing the tangible outcomes of his volunteer work — from supporting families in need to improving financial transparency and empowering future leaders. He describes volunteering as one of the best investments in both career and character and encourages others to get involved with PMI to grow personally and professionally. Known for his passion, love of cats and Pokémon, and ever-growing Lava Lamp collection, Zack brings a unique energy to every initiative. He’s inspired by the potential in others and driven by causes that blend history, science, and community impact. Whether he's playing late-night strategy games or lecturing on efficiency, Zack’s commitment to making the world better — one project at a time — is truly exceptional.

      

Sheri Palmer, Elections Manager for the PMI Phoenix Chapter, has been a dedicated PMI member since 2005 and stepped into her volunteer role in 2025. Inspired by a desire to give back and connect with others, Sheri took on the challenge of managing the 2025 elections for the newly formed Arizona Chapter. Her passion for project management and its transformative impact on both personal and professional outcomes shines through in her work. Sheri finds the most rewarding part of volunteering to be the new connections she’s made and the opportunity to collaborate with others who share her enthusiasm for the field. Her advice to new members? “It’s never too late. Even a little bit can help. Working with others allows you to do great things when you come together.”

Outside of her volunteer work, Sheri is an adventurer at heart—often found on mountain runs or traveling in her sprinter van with her dogs, friends, or family. Her favorite destination is Colorado, where she enjoys challenging hikes and peaceful walks along rivers and waterfalls. Sheri’s personal motto, “Be a courageous and caring leader. Lead by example,” is reflected in her approach to both life and work. She’s passionate about health, kindness, and continuous growth, and she’s driven by a desire to be the best human she can be. Whether she’s reading mystery novels, volunteering with at-risk children, or planning her next national park visit, Sheri brings energy, compassion, and a goal-driven mindset to everything she does. Her colleagues describe her as “nice, but also goal driven”—a perfect blend of heart and hustle.

        

Sheri Palmer, Elections Manager for the PMI Phoenix Chapter, has been a dedicated PMI member since 2005 and stepped into her volunteer role in 2025. Inspired by a desire to give back and connect with others, Sheri took on the challenge of managing the 2025 elections for the newly formed Arizona Chapter. Her passion for project management and its transformative impact on both personal and professional outcomes shines through in her work. Sheri finds the most rewarding part of volunteering to be the new connections she’s made and the opportunity to collaborate with others who share her enthusiasm for the field. Her advice to new members? “It’s never too late. Even a little bit can help. Working with others allows you to do great things when you come together.”

Outside of her volunteer work, Sheri is an adventurer at heart—often found on mountain runs or traveling in her sprinter van with her dogs, friends, or family. Her favorite destination is Colorado, where she enjoys challenging hikes and peaceful walks along rivers and waterfalls. Sheri’s personal motto, “Be a courageous and caring leader. Lead by example,” is reflected in her approach to both life and work. She’s passionate about health, kindness, and continuous growth, and she’s driven by a desire to be the best human she can be. Whether she’s reading mystery novels, volunteering with at-risk children, or planning her next national park visit, Sheri brings energy, compassion, and a goal-driven mindset to everything she does. Her colleagues describe her as “nice, but also goal driven”—a perfect blend of heart and hustle.