Why did some work teams manage well through COVID-19 and the lockdowns?
Some teams I have spoken with believe they were at their best during the crisis. During this time, they actively connected more with each other, communicated often, planned and problem-solved together, supported each other to respond to challenges and really did not let silo’s get in their way. In times of change and uncertainty, this sounds like a very effective way to work! One way to sustain this collaborative way of working is to be alert to any emerging silo’s and act quickly to connect or re-connect across teams. In this short article, we are sharing clues to spot and stop a siloed way of working.
8 ways to spot silo thinking and behaviour
Here are some of the tell-tale signs that silos are at play.
- Mistrust between teams through an “us and them” mindset.
- Withholding information via isolated planning and decision making.
- Focus on own goals instead of cross-team goals.
- Little interest or understanding of other teams’ processes, challenges, etc.
- Duplication of time and effort.
- Slow response to change.
- Customer promises not delivered.
- Employees disengaged and it is hard to get stuff done!
Siloed working significantly impedes innovation, change and agility. If the pace of change outside your organisation exceeds the pace of internal change, the future will be challenging. It is key to build strong connections and resilience not only within teams but across teams if organisations are to stay ahead in times of uncertainty and change. Here are five simple ideas to snuff-out team silos and build collaborative practices.
5 strategies to snuff-out silos at work
Leaders can take positive and deliberate action to keep building and strengthening connectivity across organisational teams:
- Have a shared and uniting vision, focussed on customer. Involve all teams in understanding the organisation’s purpose and the contribution they and others make to your customers’ experience.
- Actively include cross-business teams in strategy sessions, operational reviews, prioritising and problem-solving. This makes for faster implementation of projects and limits re-work.
- Identify opportunities to replace single-team goals and metrics with cross-team goals and set teams up to achieve these. Make time for, and celebrate collaborative effort.
- Leaders at all levels to be aligned and drive outcomes that are best for the organisation and customer, rather than their own function. With this mindset, silos have little chance of surviving.
- Set up cross-team development initiatives. Sometimes silo’s exist simply because teams don’t know much about work that others do. Create opportunities for teams to learn about each other, to spend time in others’ shoes! This will help to build and maintain connections between teams.
In the words of Simon Sinek.
“The ability for a group of people to do remarkable things hinges on how well those people can pull together as a team.”