Driving Success Through Cross-Functional Management in Engineering at Taboola: A Blueprint for End-to-End Ownership and Business Impact

In today’s fast-paced business environment, flexibility and collaboration are key to driving innovation and delivering impactful results. At Taboola, we’ve embraced cross-functional management as a way to bring together the best talent from across the organisation to work toward common goals. Our approach, embodied in the Tracks methodology, empowers teams to take end-to-end ownership of projects and deliver measurable business impact.

As we celebrate the first anniversary of Maximize Conversions—one of the successful initiatives born from this methodology—it’s a great time to reflect on how Tracks have transformed our approach to project management, innovation, and growth. This journey has been further validated by being named a finalist in the 2024 Digiday Technology Awards for Best Native Advertising Platform, largely due to successful collaborations like the Hyundai case study. Beyond Maximize Conversions, other impactful innovations, such as Generative AI from the Creative & Formats Track, have continued to drive engagement and deliver superior business outcomes.

Part 1: Introducing the Tracks Methodology: Building Cross-Functional Teams for End-to-End Success

In this first part, we’ll explore the fundamentals of the Tracks methodology. We’ll look at how it fosters collaboration across departments, drives business impact, and empowers teams to take ownership of their work, creating a culture of accountability and innovation.

Tracks: Cross-Functional teams that Drive Impact

At Taboola, Tracks are medium-term cross-functional teams that typically last several months to a few quarters, designed to drive impactful outcomes within a defined time frame. Tracks focus on developing demanding technical abilities through structured roadmaps, enabling teams to achieve clear business goals.

• Purposeful Collaboration: Tracks bring together cross-functional teams from various departments—R&D, Product, Marketing, and more—under a shared mission. This collaboration enables us to break down silos and foster creative problem-solving.
• Mission-Oriented with Clear KPIs: Each Track is guided by a roadmap with defined milestones and KPIs, ensuring that every project stays aligned with the company’s strategic objectives.
• Leadership and Accountability: A Track is typically led by an R&D Manager or Product Manager, ensuring that leadership is aligned with both technical and business needs. Teams are given clear direction, while leaders are accountable for driving progress.

Track Leaders’ Responsibility

Each Track leader—usually an R&D Manager or a Product Manager—is tasked with guiding their team toward achieving the Track’s goals. The Track leader has several critical responsibilities:

• Defining the Roadmap: The Track leader must define a clear roadmap, outlining the milestones that need to be reached to meet the project’s KPIs and deliver meaningful business impact.
• Driving Execution: Track leaders are responsible for the day-to-day execution of the project. They coordinate cross-functional teams, ensure smooth collaboration, and manage any challenges that arise during the project’s lifecycle.
• Accountability for Results: Ultimately, the Track leader is accountable for its success. Their role is to ensure that the project stays on course, meets its goals, and delivers measurable results in line with Taboola’s business objectives.

Enhanced Flexibility in the Tracks Model

One of the greatest strengths of the Tracks methodology at Taboola is its flexibility in team assignments and leadership, which allows us to adapt to business priorities more effectively compared to the classic organic structure.

1. Dynamic Team Assignments: In the Tracks model, teams aren’t confined to their original departments. Instead, resources (people) can be reassigned based on the specific needs of the project. This flexibility ensures that the best talent is placed on the most impactful projects, regardless of their department. In contrast, the classic organic structure typically limits team members to their designated functions, which can restrict their ability to contribute to high-priority initiatives outside their core teams.
2. Leadership Across Tracks: In the organic structure, leaders manage their own teams and projects within a specific department. However, the Tracks methodology allows for greater leadership flexibility. A group manager may lead a Track with teams from other departments, while some of their own teams may be working under a different Track leader. This cross-functional leadership enables us to assign the best-suited leaders for each project, promoting both technical excellence and strategic alignment.
3. Flexibility in Response to Changing Priorities: As business priorities evolve, the Tracks model allows for quick reallocation of resources. If a new business opportunity arises or a project’s goals shift, the Tracks structure enables us to pivot more easily by adjusting team assignments and resources. In contrast, the organic structure can be slower to adapt, as formal restructuring processes may be required to shift resources between departments or projects.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration as a Standard: The Tracks methodology inherently encourages cross-functional collaboration by breaking down departmental silos. In the organic structure, collaboration across departments often requires more effort and coordination. With Tracks, cross-functional collaboration is built into the process, allowing teams from different areas of the organization to work together more seamlessly.

Diagram: Illustrating the Tracks structure, including the Tracks Management Forum, Track Leaders, and cross-functional collaboration between R&D, Algorithms, Product, and Marketing teams.

Note: While the diagram separates Track Leaders and R&D Managers, in practice, certain R&D Managers may also act as Track Leaders for specific Tracks. As was described above in the “Leadership Across Tracks” section, this flexibility enables us to assign the best-suited leaders for each project, promoting both technical excellence and strategic alignment.

Tracks as a Catalyst for Innovation

The Tracks methodology fosters a culture of innovation at Taboola by enabling:

• Cross-functional collaboration that brings diverse perspectives together to solve complex problems.
• Focused, mission-driven innovation where creative problem-solving is aligned with strategic business goals.
• Flexibility for iterative improvement, allowing teams to experiment, take risks, and refine their ideas.

One of the most powerful tools for fostering this creativity is Discovery Mode, which provides a structured way to explore uncertain opportunities and test new concepts (see more about innovation in Part 2 under the section on Discovery Mode).

Benefits of the Tracks Methodology for R&D Developers and Talents

The Tracks methodology isn’t just about delivering business results—it also empowers R&D developers and talents to thrive. By providing opportunities for cross-functional collaboration, high-impact projects, and personal development, Tracks create an environment where innovation and career growth flourish.

1. Exposure to New Technologies: Working on Tracks gives developers the chance to work with cutting-edge technologies and tackle complex challenges, keeping their skills sharp and relevant.
2. Ownership and Autonomy: Tracks give developers the end-to-end responsibility, allowing them to take the initiative, make decisions, and see their work through to completion. This ownership boosts creativity and engagement.
3. Career Growth and Visibility: Developers who contribute to successful Tracks gain visibility within the organization, accelerating their career growth and opening up opportunities for leadership roles.

Not Every R&D/Product Activity Should Be Part of a Track

Tracks are designed to drive large-scale initiatives aligned with leading company goals, with achievements expected within a mid-term timeframe. They focus on high-impact outcomes with clear roadmaps, milestones, and well-defined KPIs. Additionally, Tracks emphasize cross-functional collaboration, bringing together teams from different departments, such as R&D, Product, and Marketing.

However, not all R&D activities fall within this scope. Some developments are critical but not directly tied to such large initiatives, including ongoing improvements and maintenance to existing products. After a Track achieves its purpose, responsibility may revert to the regular organic teams for continued maintenance and evolution.

Maximize Conversions: A Track Success Story

One of the early success stories that emerged from Taboola’s Tracks methodology is Maximize Conversions, which was launched just one year ago. This AI-powered bidding strategy was designed to transform how advertisers manage their campaigns on Taboola, simplifying the process by allowing advertisers to focus on their business goals while the system optimised performance behind the scenes.

The Challenge: Before Maximize Conversions, advertisers had to manually adjust their campaign bidding based on their goals, which was time-consuming and often inefficient. The Taboola team recognized the need to develop an automated system that could improve advertiser results by leveraging AI to optimise bids in real-time.

The Approach: A cross-functional Track was created to address this challenge, pulling together talent from R&D (Software engineers, Algorithms engineers), Product, Analysts and Product Marketing. The team worked collaboratively in high focus to design, test, and refine the AI-based bidding strategy. This involved multiple iterations, each informed by data and feedback from advertisers during early trials. The goal was to not only increase the amount of conversions and improve cost, but also simplify campaign management for advertisers, enabling them to achieve better results with less manual effort.

The Result: Since its launch, Maximize Conversions has delivered significant results:

• Over 1,000 advertisers have joined the platform, including major brands like Babbel and Hyundai.
• Campaigns using Maximize Conversions have seen an average 110% increase in conversions.
• Advertisers have launched double the number of campaigns each quarter, showcasing the effectiveness of the tool.

In the Hyundai case study, Maximize Conversions played a crucial role in reducing costs:

• A 30% reduction in cost per session.
• A 26% reduction in cost per car configuration.

Additionally, innovations like Motion Ads, developed in the Creatives & Formats Track, also played an important role in driving engagement for Hyundai and other brands. Together, these innovations contributed to Taboola being named a finalist for Best Native Advertising Platform at the 2024 Digiday Technology Awards.

Images:

1. Celebrating the first anniversary of Maximize Conversions with 1,000+ advertisers and a 110% conversion increase.
2. Hyundai’s partnership with Taboola achieved a 30% lower cost per session using Maximize Conversions.

Shaping Taboola’s Future Approach: The success of Maximize Conversions, along with other early Tracks, was pivotal in shaping Taboola’s broader approach to cross-functional management and innovation. The collaboration between teams from various departments and the rapid iteration cycles exemplified how the Tracks methodology can drive business impact efficiently. As we celebrate the first anniversary of Maximize Conversions, it’s clear that this Track demonstrated the value of empowering teams to innovate and deliver results aligned with Taboola’s strategic goals.

Conclusion: Empowering Innovation and Impact through the Tracks Methodology

The Tracks methodology has had a transformative impact on how we operate at Taboola. By breaking down silos, fostering collaboration, and providing the flexibility to focus on high-impact projects, Tracks have empowered both our organisation and our people to innovate and grow.

In the next part, we’ll explore the high-level management of Tracks, the roles of group and track managers, and how innovation is driven through Discovery mode.