Ensure clear and timely communication. Have representatives of each department meet regularly to make sure that all equipment problems are reported and the status of repairs is updated. These representatives should be the touchstone for complaints. Also, project management software companies make tracking software to keep everyone informed of problems in the production work flow. These representatives should be well-versed in their counterpart's discipline as well as their own.
Sign a "Professional Behavior Contract" between the two departments. What is "professional behavior?" No yelling. No cheap shots. No character assassination. Using these tactics denotes professional immaturity and marks the person as an amateur. Have the contract spell out a preferred method of handling disputes, such as informing their departmental representative. When each person signs the contract, it makes them responsible for their behavior, not the person they are targeting.
Change the rules of the dreaded "blame game." Blame and finger-pointing kills cooperation. In the TV environment, "whose fault was it?" is the first question asked when things go wrong. Make sure to have a "postmortem" after each show to discuss what went wrong and how to prevent the next occurrence. All personnel should be in attendance. Clearing the air openly and quickly is better than a week of whispering and finger pointing. While confrontation is not pleasant, it can be done with a positive goal. When problems occur on-air, everyone looks bad, not just the talent or director. Change the "who's fault was it" attitude to a "let's watch each other's back" attitude. Change the "it's not my job" attitude to "I am going to do this as a professional courtesy" attitude.
Clarify job goals and responsibilities in an emergency. Maintenance people are like mechanics. Production people are like race car drivers. If the car isn't working correctly, it's hard to win the race. By the same token, you cannot fix a car while it's going 200 miles per hour. Try to get the engineers to gather information, diagnose and then repair. Production people should adapt, improvise and then overcome. Focus on the problem, not on the person
Educate, educate, educate. Flexibility in both departments is a must. Professional standards for the engineer as well as the production person are sometime at odds. The production person has the flexibility to modify the techniques they use, so that they may have different operating methods depending what they want to put on-air. Engineers, on the other hand, usually are by-the-book people who adhere to technical standards put forth by the manufacturer. It can be hard to distinguish whether the equipment is truly malfunctioning or has an incorrect setting. This can lead to a "this thing won't work right" versus a "they don't know what they're doing" argument. Encourage engineers to learn how to operate the equipment fully and production personnel to read and understand the technical manuals. Divide the control functions into operator adjustments and engineering adjustments so that each party knows where the boundaries are in what they can touch.