“Breaking down silos can spark innovation in unexpected ways.” ― Gillian Tett
The modern organization is a complex phenomenon – a construct that centers on ideas, an evolving template that gained expression from human thought processes – and a complicated, structured, legal entity that strives to perform dynamically in tune with impulses emanating in its internal and external environments. Many thinkers and observers have critiqued the founding impulses, the outlines, mechanics, formation, dynamics, and cultures that comprise modern organizations.
One key observation targets organizational silos, wherein groups of employees, associates, workers naturally pursue a narrow, dedicated agenda in terms of work performance. Hence, we may infer “Silos occur when areas within the business are unwilling/unable to effectively share knowledge and collaborate with each other.” This could potentially erode the competitive advantage of an enterprise, limit its potential to rise and expand – thus leading to certain manner of compression or sub-par performance in competitive market environments.
In addition, silos prevent knowledge sharing and reduce the scope of collaboration inside the modern organization. A strong business case spotlights the requirement to break silo mentality in a bid to promote the best interests of modern organizations/enterprises. An alternative point of view posits the idea, “specialized teams are able to achieve their aims more effectively and efficiently as a result of concentration of knowledge.”
Thinkers and observers recommend the creation of detailed organizational charts as part of concerted attempts to break silo mentality. Such charts could emerge inside structured blueprints that promote familiarity between human elements/colleagues/co-workers that operate and perform inside a modern organization. The flowchart could take shape as a detailed diagram, or a map that displays the various work groups and divisions that drive organizational performance. This illustration should also bear the name/designation of every worker/associate/supervisor appended to the respective groups and divisions; such mode of presentation allows the organization to break silo mentality and promote the essential human element that drives the spirit of performance. In addition, stewards must invest effort to circulate the map to every work group as part of attempts to promote knowledge and demolish silos.
Communication platforms and common goals – this combination when implemented effectively – could assist an organization’s efforts to break silo mentality and harvest significant benefits. Managers/supervisors could design flowcharts that connect communication platforms to every aspect of team activity, and impose common goals on sets of separate teams. The illustrations could also emerge as custom tools that, for instance, re-purpose segments of an organization to drive success in large, multi-stage work projects. Flows of information that animate these diagrams could undergo re-definition and re-direction to assist such projects. In essence, the modern flowchart presents interesting options that empower organizations to defeat and break silo mentality in multiple contexts. Additionally, each successful instance of such an exercise could find embedment in the best practices adopted and endorsed by various expressions of the modern organization.
“The silo mentality is really an organizational way of thinking that occurs when departments or management groups do not share information, goals, tools, priorities, and processes with other departments. The silo mentality is believed to impact operations, reduce employee morale and may contribute to the overall failure of a company, or its products and culture.” Such observations could trigger a sustained re-think in the minds of senior management personnel, thereby reinforcing the organizational will to break silo mentality. Clear processes and procedures, mated with a redefined/rejuvenated sense of ownership could present the ideal solution to defeat entrenched silos inside organizations. Pursuant to this, flowcharts could assist stewards to devise new outlines of work processes, promote complex interactions between different work teams, initiate new protocols of co-operation between technical and operational resources, dissolve the walls of perceived silos, and reinforce a sense of ownership among work teams. Additionally, these illustrations could encourage organizations to re-allocate sets of responsibility among teams as part of efforts to promote collaboration and teamwork.
Cross-functional teams – a creation of modern management theory – could author enduring solutions or propositions that help break silo mentality. The development of such teams represents a process that aims for extended co-operation between teams, work groups, and departments; this technique also posits the use of neutral mediators, champions of process flows, domain experts, and expert facilitators. In such scenarios, flowcharts could help assemble the various moving parts of this technique, embellish processes with modes of value addition, and enable organizations to explore various elements from other branches of knowledge, enroll assistance from the behavioral sciences, and develop a multi-pronged sophisticated attempt that seeks to break silo mentality. These illustrations could also encase multiple editions of experimentation, the results of which could undergo distillation for implementation in a subsequent, overarching project with similar objectives.
“The IKEA effect states that people who put creative effort into the beginning stages of a process will be more invested in it down the line.” This statement could serve as a pivot for efforts that seek to break silo mentality and gain constructive outcomes in the long-term. For instance, an enterprise focused on civil architecture could bring together the services of different skillsets and personnel across the firm as part of preparations to embark on a landmark work project. The assemblage that results from this policy brings to the proverbial table a variety of skills and experiences, thereby spotlighting a remarkable instance of initiative designed to break silo mentality and drive an outstanding experiment. Flowcharts can help bring this technique to fruition, thereby creating a positive demonstration of the benefits of initiating a break from traditional work practices. Additionally, spaces inside the flowchart could help record progress and insights that emanate from said experiment.
“Most silos form when employees develop a greater sense of loyalty to their individual team or department, than loyalty to the organization.” This observation could represent a starting point for re-engineering efforts targeted at the headline objective. In response, the modern organization or enterprise could promote re-skilling initiatives designed to break silo mentality in the minds of employees/associates. Such a technique can encourage human beings to gain multiple skills and competencies that allow them to function efficiently in different segments of the parent organization. Once introduced into the mainstream, this technique could enter the ethos of an organization, promote fluidity of employee movement inside the organizational matrix, and result in smarter/more enlightened work practices. Flowcharts can enable the various facets of this technique see the light of day; these diagrams can also drive methodical implementation in different layers of the modern workplace.
Readers can gain a better understanding of the utility of blueprints and flowcharts through a close examination of these ideas designed to break silo mentality. The human brain, intellect, and intuition could interact with the mechanisms of flowcharts in real time to develop unique strategies that could effect qualitative improvements in contemporary workplaces. Therefore, we may view silos as deleterious developments that must undergo a cultural transformation in the wider interests of the parent organization. On their part, senior management personnel must devise a variety of stratagems that spur the dissolution of narrow modes of working; such activity can elevate outcomes at various levels, boost the quality of work lives of employees and associates, and empower organizations to seek higher missions and objectives.
