According to the Business Directory, the so-called Silo mentality is a mindset that prevents certain individuals and departments from sharing information within the same company.
Make no mistake; this type of organisational silo is a problem for businesses of all sizes, as it can create divides between front-line workers and high-level employees while also causing breakdowns in communication between management and their staff.
In this post, we’ll look at why organisational silos and exist, and ask what can be done to combat them?
Why do Organisational Silos Exist?
As we touched on earlier in the piece, organisational silos are often the result of a specific mindset, and one that trickles down from the upper echelons of a business to the bottom.
More specifically, it’s generally caused by conflicted leadership and the absence of a fundamental vision for business success.
All too often, executives within the same firm have conflicting views on how the business should operate, causing significant amounts of in-fighting and preventing them from focusing on the core challenges that face their venture.
It also causes them to overlook departmental inefficiencies and the importance of employee training, creating a fragmented and disengaged workforce that struggles to work in harmony. As a result, further divisions and silos develop throughout the organisation, creating an insurmountable issue that has a detrimental impact on productivity.
How Can Organisational Silos be Overcome?
If you’ve noticed organisational silos develop in your business, or simply want to avoid them from taking root in the future, there are a couple measures that you can take.
The first of these is to create a unified vision, which bridges the divide between departments as they work tirelessly towards a common goal. With a clear understanding of the businesses objectives and its underlying values, you can create a holistic and collaborative culture that optimises productivity over time.
Beyond this, you may also want to invest in technological solutions that have the potential to improve the quality of communication between staff members. Analytical CRM systems can be particularly useful, as they collate huge swathes of customer data and make this accessible across all company departments in real-time.
This at least ensures that all departments have access to the same data and insight, and this can go a great way towards eradicating organisational silos.
There are also firms that have developed an array of technological solutions that can improve the level of communication in your business. Many of these are collaborative tools, that have been specifically designed for fragmented workforces that are affected by either organisational silos or remote working.
By leveraging these tools and creating a single communication network in your business, you improve efficiency while simultaneously reducing operational costs.