Lessons learned to improve cross-silo collaboration.
Getting cross-silo collaboration right often goes wrong. But the upside is clear: firms with better cross-silo collaboration achieve higher margins and superior customer loyalty.
Over the past five years, I engaged with clients on several initiatives to foster cross-silo collaboration. Here are three lessons I’ve learned.
1. Is there a genuine reason for employees to invest in cross-silo collaboration?
Sometimes, a silo can execute its strategy without collaborating across boundaries. So, the question begs: what could be the added value of cross-silo collaboration? Is it about driving operational excellence, customer intimacy, or product leadership, to name a few?
Employees will be less motivated to invest time and energy in building cross-silo connections if no clear added value exists.
The top-down imperative “we need to work as one” does not suffice in that sense. Creating a straightforward business case to elevate cross-silo collaboration helps.
2. Are there ‘cross-silo influencers’?
Cross-silo influencers are employees whose voice is heard in the organization. Often highly experienced, cross-silo influencers have a broad informal network that spans the silos of the organization. They can forge connections and create space for cross-silo teams to work together.
Organizations that bring cross-silo influencers together create impact. Consider this group as frontrunners and role models for the desired behavior you want to see across the board. Give the cross-silo influencers time and resources to shape culture from the ground up.
3. Are there friction points that put cross-silo collaboration to a halt?
When silos need to work together, I have often observed how the pace of collaboration grinds to a halt because of friction points. One silo has adopted an agile way of working, while the other maintains a more top-down approach. That is a clear friction point leading to a lack of role clarity and poor quality of decision-making. Or some silos communicate via Teams; others use Slack as their go-to channel. Again, a friction point that hampers the cross-silo potential.
To advance smooth cross-silo collaboration, list the potential friction points. Then, try out new ways of working—in small experiments while still providing valuable insights to scale effective cross-team collaboration.
I hope that my lessons learned can inspire your journey to foster better cross-team collaboration.