Break Down The Wall!

The other day, someone asked me what I do to break down silos between functional teams. First, let me say that I don't think breaking down silos is an academic exercise; you almost always generate value by talking to folks outside your group, department, business unit, whatever. I can think of at least 10 examples of really impactful projects that have come out of "Silo Busting." Second, creating an environment for silo busting is not hard. It just requires some time. However, the way you attack your silos varies depending on the construction material.

Just keep in mind, some silos are harder to bust than others. If structural conflicts (e.g., working together means that a rational person would do worse off by cooperating) or long standing animosity between silos exist, the problem becomes a lot tougher.

Set expectations.
When I first take responsibility for a team, I set the expectation that we are going to make things better. Every day. And that means innovating. And that in my experience, innovation often comes when two people who are very different talk to each other about their areas of expertise and their problems. So, there is just an incentive to getting to know your colleagues and what they do; Opportunity for improvement often results.

As an aside, I actually have an expectations document that I share with all of my staff; innovation in the service of continuous improvement, etc is one the core values listed in the document. Also, I set an example. I am often going out to lunch to meet with folks whom I have no obvious business connection and I encourage my staff to do the same.

Information sharing
In most cases, people are working in silos not becuase they enjoy it but becuase they are too busy to share information. There are some easy tactics that you can employ to facilitate information sharing. A couple of things I do is have whole team staff meetings where and monthly round tables. During these meetings, we discuss the projects we are working on if there are ways that the group can help. Barriers fall very naturally. Also, as I mentioned above, I try to go out to lunch with people outside my business unit and encourage my staff to take their clients (and anyone else they think they should get to know better) out to lunch. To provide an incentive, I offer to pay for it.

Personality or Competence
Other times, it is a personality or competence issue. Here, I run at the problem head on and really set the expectation that the staff has to work together effectively. I then put the staff members in situations where they have to work together to be successful (e.g., some special business initiative.) The expectation of being an effective collaborator also becomes part of their development plans and makes sure the problem gets fixed. If we get to the development plan stage, then I am going to be paying close attention and actively trying to help the staff member be an effective collaborator. Typically, by working together, people reach some accommodation, build some level of relationship, and break down the silos.

If it turns out that the problem is due to competence, well, no amount of relationship building is going to matter. If the staff member on my team is causing the problem, then a performance plan is going to be put in place. If it is a staff member outside my influence, I will likely have a conversation with their boss about their performance. Good luck.