The connections forged across departments are vital in ensuring alignment to support and enhance the customer experience. Throughout this post, we are going to talk about how to knock down walls and silos in your organization to help improve both the employee and customer experience.
Walls and Silos Exist in All Organizations
Ask anyone what some of the walls and silos are that they face working for organizations, and no doubt, you will find some of the following examples listed.
- Office politics
- Lack of accountability
- Lack of alignment
- Competing priorities
- Barriers to collaboration
- Budget challenges
The problem is that silos and walls are killing innovation and progress in organizations. I grew up in a rural community, so I am very familiar with silos from a farming perspective. Some might not be as familiar with the term in a business setting, though. Business silos, just like agricultural silos hold something essential and make it hard to get at. The reason they often exist is that functions within a business settle into a comfortable pattern of mainly operating independently of other teams. They do so because departments and functions within a company are often measured differently, working towards opposing goals or agendas, and have no appreciation for what other teams do, or how they do it.
Two Types of Leaders
When I think about the silos and walls existing in today’s business, I go back to thinking about my time with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. During my time there I observed that there two types of Branch Managers: (1) those who operated from a sense of fear or being scared to lose resources, or (2) those who cared and saw the bigger picture of what achievable working was together, willing to give to further progress. Guess which one was more effective at knocking down walls and being more successful?
Those who shared resources freely, whether people or cars were successful. Perceived as greater team players, these Branch Managers overcame resistance, had higher levels of both employee and customer satisfaction, higher growth percentages, and results. The two types of branch managers at Enterprise actually represent the types of leaders that exist in every business. There are those who are scared to act or do what benefits everyone and there are those care and collaborate.
Walls and Silos Create Conflict
In one study, it found that conflicts between and with groups in organizations are not due to interpersonal issues, but are often tied to the frequency of how information is shared and the lack of effective processes. Rather than co-operating, too many functions end up competing for power, influence, and resources. Another study reported that 85% of workers experience some form of conflict, with US workers averaging a minimum of 2.8 hours per week. That equates to $359 billion paid hours mired in conflict, which is crazy. Most of you are leaders, managers, executives, so hearing that over $300 billion per year is spent in conflict should be making you cringe.
When cross-departmental rivalries get heated, and conflicts arise, companies and teams turn to team-building events and motivational speakers who talk about trust. Often these solutions can’t address the challenges these groups face because the organizational structure, leadership, and processes encouraging these departments to dislike and distrust one another.
Business leaders are always telling me that they do not have enough people or resources to do the things they need to do to deliver exceptional customer experiences. The truth is that they often have more than enough. It’s just that they are so bogged down in dealing with bureaucracy and BS that they do not have time to do the things that would add value. If organizations could successfully invest time and effort to knock down walls and silos, they would be more successful.
Start With the Customer
The reason organizations struggle with overcoming and knocking down silos is because they forget that everything starts and ends with the customer. Far too often, people lose focus on the end customer as the reason for what they do. Therefore, breaking down walls and silos is about reminding everyone why the organization exists – to support customers – the people who pay everyone’s wages.
There are two types of customers, too: external and internal. Genuinely customer-centric organizations don’t put their customers first; they actually put their employees first, creating a culture that communicates and works well together. Since all organizations tend toward becoming siloed, as people seem wired to form tribes and establish territories, leaders need to come together to advocate for better collaboration because working together accomplishes more than going solo.
Relationships and Connections are Key
Lots of work has been written about overcoming walls and silos. Harvard Business Review asked a question to managers, salespeople, engineers, and consultants around the world, inquiring about which relationships get prioritized in your day-to-day job? The answer was always the same: vertical relationships, who reports to who. When asked which relationships are most important for creating value for customers? The answer flipped to horizontal relationships – the connections between other departments, functions, teams, and offices.
In fact, in another study, Harvard’s Heidi Gardner also found that organizations with more collaboration internally achieved greater customer loyalty and higher margins. The benefit of breaking down these invisible barriers is more important than ever to organizations.
Steps to Successfully Knocking Down Walls and Silos
- Build Your Network
- Establish Clear Responsibilities
- Leverage Data
- Invest Time Syncing
- Enable Shadowing Sessions
- Value Supporting Partners
- Encourage Win-Win Relationships
Build Your Network
We all must make a conscious effort to help our people meet and network with colleagues, both internally and externally. Aim to have one ally per department or team that can help support you, your team, and the customer experience. Building a group of allies is about finding common ground and interests because you know each other. Together, you can knock down more walls and barriers to success. Encourage members of your team to do the same. At every place I have worked, I have done this. It helps to have someone in your corner on every team. Even if you hardly interact or cross paths initiative-wise, ensuring you and your team have allies who can advocate for your interests is key. Never go into a meeting asking for something without ensuring you know answers to the following questions too:
- Who are your customers? (internal and external)
- What do you for your customers?
- How is your performance measured?
Establish Clear Responsibilities
With fellow department leader meetings, it’s essential to have a clear sense of who is responsible for what when it comes to their role in the customer experience. Map out roles and responsibilities together with your allies and refine improvements along the journey. As a manager, it’s also essential to know what you need to focus on and prioritize. Far too often, leaders are stuck in the weeds. Leaders need to work on the business, not just in the business. Doing so will help knock down silos. Many leaders are stuck in the weeds, doing tasks they shouldn’t do. Be clear on who is responsible for what in terms of critical processes and communications.
To help, use the RACI Matrix where you can pull together relevant stakeholders to decide pivotal roles for projects, processes, or communications. Identify and document who is ultimately:
- Responsible: those who do the work
- Accountable: the person who delegates the work and signs off as delivered
- Consulted: those subject matter experts whose opinions are sought
- Informed: those who are kept up to date on the progress
Leverage Data
Organizations have a hunger for data and analytics. One of the most valuable gifts departments can offer other parts of the business is data and information. Leverage things like customer data to facilitate changes and ongoing continuous improvement to products, services, and processes. Make data easy to use and access for partners across the business. Use data to make a business case for driving change. When speaking with senior leaders or executives, monetize any data shared as well. Data, when confirmed to be accurate and easy to understand, can be leveraged as objective material to drive home the importance of initiatives. Wherever possible strive to use data as opposed to subjective feelings when advocating for increased collaboration and alignment.
Invest Time Syncing
Lots of people like to complain about being too busy to connect with other leaders. Some people claim that they have not had enough of an opportunity to understand who everyone else is and what they do. Becoming more aligned requires a time investment in things that provide value. One of the best investments a leader can make is holding sync sessions with their peers on other teams.
Invest your time, unlocking the power of sync sessions by listening, learning, and sharing. Regularly connect with colleagues discussing shared objectives, obstacles in their way, and items on each other’s roadmap. These sessions require prioritization and deserve a dedicated timeslot. How frequent you meet with each other will depend on how much your world’s overlap. Sometimes you can bring together multiple leaders together based on their function too.
In the customer experience space in organizations, there is a lot of talk about empathy. How about we apply that to our internal relationships? Share information on what it’s like to interact with one another. Clear the air and share what bugs you and your team while allowing your counterparts to do the same. I’ve often heard people express things like: “I had no idea you guys do that! No wonder our requests drive you crazy!” The goal is to increase the respect between departments and leaders while building a more significant commitment to collective success.
Enable Shadowing Sessions
After regularly syncing with others throughout the business, continue to share your team’s experience by enabling shadowing sessions that are two-way in nature. Let others see how their work in their functions connects to your group by shadowing each other. The bidirectional nature of shadowing should see yourself and others on the team spending time learning about other departments. You could even create a job rotation strategy giving team members exposure to other parts of the business. Furthermore, you could even invite departmental leaders to hear feedback first hand from your team during Start, Stop, and Continue sessions.
Value Supporting Partners
Nothing undermines collaboration like one leader taking all the credit when initiatives go well. Some people are unsung heroes in the organization, helping you or your team achieve your objectives. Acknowledge their contributions – be they big or even incredibly small – doing so helps to energize participation for future initiatives. The two most powerful words to drive increased collaboration are “Thank You.”
Encourage Win-Win Relationships
The last key to successfully knocking down silos and walls is to encourage win-win scenarios. Like any negotiation, the focus or end goal needs to be about everyone winning. Whenever someone wins, and the other person loses, the less likely those who lose will want to participate.
Ask this one question: what do we need from each other to succeed? This question is about supporting one another’s work going forward, detailing agreements, and timelines for information sharing, quality, while requesting advanced notice for significant changes. Focus on ensuring that everyone wins. Mutual success has to the goal when working cross-functionally. To make connections strong across departments, there needs to be an integrated planning process. Whether its shared objectives, joint business processes, or determining which resources or projects overlap, it’s vital that department leaders align on what success looks like for everyone involved. Win-win has to be the goal.
Lessons Learned Trying to Knock Down Walls and Silos
Trying to knock down walls and silos takes time and a lot of effort. Guaranteed, you will run into issues and obstacles hindering your progress. Take it from me that there are a few key lessons that I have learned the hard way that you should keep in mind.
You Can’t Always Win – Know When to Fold
There are times when its not worth pushing your agenda. Sometimes you might need to take a loss and find the more opportune time to move forward with your list. Lose a hand, to ultimately win the game. Pick your spots and decide if this is the kill to die on. Not every battle is worth fighting. Sometimes its best to let it burn instead of sounding like the person who cried wolf when you experience resistance. Some people will come into their own in seeing what’s right. You need to decide if this issue is the one hill worth dying on. Pick and choose your spots, or it can seem very one-sided. It can’t just be about your needs. You only have so much time, energy, and social capital to spend.
Sometimes It Takes Multiple Attempts
Like trying to candy that stuck in a vending machine, sometimes you need to hit it from multiple angles. Different approaches can sometimes make a world of difference. If you do face resistance, try tackling your request for help from a different perspective. You never know what approach might resonate with someone. Don’t always take the first no.
Rinse, Wash, and Repeat
Once you think you have successfully knocked down walls and silos, don’t be surprised if you eventually find that they have been built back up eventually. If you don’t continually work on knocking them down, through building strong relationships and connections, you will fail. You must keep working at it when it comes to knocking down walls and silos. It’s essential to recognize that you can’t do it alone. To scale your efforts, involve your team and others to help you in your pursuit of improving communication and connections.
Conclusion
Leading by example, is critical. Someone needs to lead the charge to knock down walls and silos, and it might as well be you. As leaders, your roles are to work on the business, not just in the business. Help steer the strategy through but make it belong to everybody. Be accountable for achieving results with having your best people working on it while inviting everyone to create and act on customer-centric decisions.
To successfully knock down walls and silos, everyone at all levels of the organization must commit to continuing working at it, succeeding together. By strengthening connections and communication, you can knock walls and silos, improving both the employee and customer experience.
For a regular dose of advice, tips, and tricks from Evolving Management, follow us on our company LinkedIn page. You can also follow me or my podcast, The Chris Hanna Show on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn or visit chrishanna.ca for more solutions. Let’s connect.
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