Once team completes requirement at hand, within their allocated sphere, any spare time we trained each other to make sure the team remained strong. Very handy in the event anyone fell ill, went on vacation or urgently needed family time. Cross pollination within an office system some frown upon, ultimately the willingness is rewarded by gaining additional skills.
Streamlined to stay ahead of the pack, I like it!
Cross-pollination is a massive advantage and it is one of the things that is getting killed with the WFH culture, as people might do their job, but don't share their skills.
Thankfully these new ideas were not around, the cleaning lady became our switchboard operator who became one of the accounting ladies in debtors.
Stepping stones up a ladder slowly knowing the company would offer an opportunity as positions opened. Sharing skills opens doors for the youth.
Sounds like a manager I had in Australia. He started off as cleaning crew, ended up managing a nationwide company.