Organizational silos prevent the free flow of information through your company. While the exact impact can vary, the situation often means that certain employees don’t have the details they need to work effectively or efficiently.

When there are projects that involve cross-functional teams, silos typically lead to frustration. The lack of information-sharing may cause various team members to prioritize the wrong tasks or handle responsibilities in a manner that doesn’t align with undiscussed changes. In time, this can cause the employee to feel undervalued. At times, they may even begin to burn out.

Essentially, organizational silos harm collaboration. Additionally, they can create an environment of mistrust, as it often feels as though others are hiding critical details. In turn, productivity diminishes, and morale falls, all because information isn’t flowing freely.

Fortunately, it’s possible to break down organizational silos. Here are some tips to make it happen.

Capture the Employee Experience

In some cases, it isn’t abundantly clear that organizational silos are the root cause of certain collaboration issues. By reaching out to employees to learn about their experience, you can gather insights that may indicate if silos are problematic.

One simple option is the use of employee surveys. You can specifically ask about information-sharing, allowing them to discuss silos they’ve encountered.

Discussing the flow of information during team meetings is also wise. Again, it creates opportunities to identify issues, especially if it’s a regular topic of conversation.

Create Simple Mechanisms for Information-Sharing

At times, organizational silos develop because different employees or teams aren’t seeking or discussing information in the same places. It’s purely an approach issue, one that can be resolved if there are simple mechanisms for information-sharing.

When coordinating team efforts, ensure all members are discussing project-related details on a single platform. Often, project management solutions or collaboration software are go-to options, but they aren’t necessarily the only ones worth exploring.

Once you choose an approach, set clear expectations regarding its use. That ensures all team members know that communication is to occur solely in that space, keeping all critical information appropriately gathered.

Outline Cross-Departmental Objectives to Align Goals

In many cases, a silo-oriented mentality develops in response to perceived separation between functional areas. For example, departments may incidentally have conflicting goals or might have competing objectives. In these cases, silos are subsequently encouraged, either as a means to ensure a department can concentrate on its targets or to give it an edge over an internal competitor.

If you want to overcome that mindset, outlining cross-departmental objectives is a solid option. When goals are aligned, it incentivizes collaboration. In turn, information may begin flowing freely between groups simply because it allows for goal achievement.

Ultimately, the tips above are incredibly effective at breaking down organizational silos. They allow you to identify issues, promote collaboration, and build camaraderie through shared goals. When used cumulatively, they can quickly make silos a thing of the past.

If you’d like to learn more about effective information-sharing in the workplace, the team at VB wants to hear from you. Contact us today.