Performance
Avoid Silo Syndrome
By Lois Raats and Debra Bannister

 In the world of farming, a “silo” is a tall, sealed-off cylinder, generally used to store grain. In effect, it functions as an energy trap, capturing solar energy for future consumption.

 Silos in the corporate world, however, have a less benign effect. Corporate silos occur when individuals and teams begin to hoard information and resources and focus narrowly on achievement of individual or team goals rather than on the broader mission of the organization.

 We’ve all seen situations where:

● Engineers design new products that the marketing group can’t sell or the manufacturing group can’t build.

● Sales reps promise the moon but can’t deliver because they haven’t talked to manufacturing or admin.

● Individuals can’t get the information they need to do their jobs effectively.

● People discover new work processes that might help another department, but don’t bother letting them know.

● Symptoms appear such as territorial wars, back-biting and gossip, low morale, and employee turnover.

 Like farms, corporations are living systems where potential energy gets generated, moved, and stored. When teams form silos, they trap energy that could be used for future corporate consumption. Thus energy that could be directed outward toward the organization and its customers starts instead to bounce around within a closed system.
 

Defending Turf

 Historically, silo behaviour has tended to develop within hierarchically structured organizations. However, matrix organizations based on cross-functional teams are by no means exempt from siloing issues. Siloing is the dysfunctional behaviour that occurs when people feel obliged to defend and maintain their turf. In the new global economy where information must be rapidly deployed and utilized, silos tend to make any organization less effective. When functional or cross-functional teams are not communicating effectively with each other, the organization suffers. (To understand how this works, just read any Dilbert comic strip.)

 What causes this siloing behaviour? Most people would agree that in an increasingly competitive world, worries about basic survival often replace an interest in personal growth or the welfare of others. Organizations where silos predominate have often developed a “scarcity” mentality where people are concerned that if they give something away they will get nothing back or be even worse off than before. Decentralized and virtual organizations increase individual isolation, and interrupt natural workplace communities that might otherwise sustain ongoing collaboration and cooperation across teams.
 

Change From The Top

 Why should corporate leaders be concerned about team silos? Among other things, money is a measure of energy. Profit appears as a matter of course when energy is being generated and managed effectively to meet customer needs. Conversely, when energy is blocked or confined, as in silos, the organization stagnates, and potential profit gets wasted. The above silo-like behaviours and symptoms invariably translate into decreased innovation and agility, resulting in diminished productivity and inferior customer service. Silos are often a direct result of faulty structures and processes that interrupt and confine workplace relationships. Such practices stem directly from the vision and values of organizational leaders. Change must thus originate at the top of the organization.

 What are some antidotes for “silo syndrome”? Here are a few ideas.

● Build relationships through cross-functional initiatives. Help people overcome their natural fears and anxieties and initiate relationships by bringing together diverse groups of people to solve work-related problems.

● Build relationships through informal learning. Professional communities of practice and peer learning circles provide ways for people to get to know each other in new ways. It’s much harder to avoid or betray someone you know and care about personally.

● Reward cooperative behavior. Companies talk about collaboration yet frequently reward individual achievement. Make sure your reward structures and motivators animate the true values and goals of your company. Organizations reap the behavior they positively reinforce.

● Create a culture of collaboration. Senior management needs to model the cooperative behavior it wants from employees. If leaders are not currently cooperating, they need to be coached to do so. Trust across disciplines has to be planted by managers skilled in interpersonal communication.

● Remember the mission. You want your people to understand their roles and the roles of others. But you also have to make clear everyone’s biggest responsibility: to delight the customer and gain market share for the company by competing with the real corporate enemy: the competition.

● Enter new territory cautiously. There may be areas of the business that represent opportunities for revenue generation that no one has yet entered. Before crossing the threshold into these arenas, meet with potential stakeholders and contributors to get buy-in for your intervention. Better yet, agree to leverage the potential together.

Silos are real and they are a serious problem that seems to permeate North American corporations. The first step in dealing with silos is to acknowledge their existence. The second is to develop and implement effective strategies to minimize them.

  
…helping teams work together better

Lois Raats and Debra Bannister are co-principals and founders of Meta Team Solutions, a company dedicated to helping teams work together better. Over the past 20 years, Lois and Debra have made a difference in the lives of individuals, teams, and small and large organizations by facilitating meaningful, permanent transition to improved levels of performance, profitability and overall satisfaction.