In complex organizations, departments often have very distinct responsibilities but also need to work collaboratively to ensure the accomplishment of the overall mission. It can be easy for collaboration to turn into mission creep where lines get blurred and the workload becomes all consuming. Boundaries are essential but must not turn into silo walls.
In my work, I have witnessed outstanding teams become overwhelmed with “helping.” It starts out innocently, a quick “can you help me with this?” The next thing you know the team has taken on a project completely outside of their scope. While they may have the knowledge and resources, taking on the additional task means time away from their primary jobs. High performers will continue to get the day-to-day work done on top of the new project and may like the feeling of being needed and valued. The cost is while they continue to perform, they no longer have capacity to improve, rethink, or refresh the work. In this situation, the leader may like the reputation that their team can do it all, have difficulty saying no, not recognize the team’s workload, or a combination of the three. This can happen due to individual, team, and system dynamics.
Conversely, I have also seen departments so closed off from the rest of the organization that they build walls that barely let the light in. While they may find comfort in not taking on additional duties and being able to focus on their departmental tasks, the walls work both ways. It can also prevent them from getting information or ideas that could actually help them solve internal problems, become more efficient, or even expand opportunities. Here, a leader may feel protective of themselves or their team, be overwhelmed with their own team’s situation and feel they can’t take on more. They may even become so guarded that requests from outside the department begin to feel like threats to defend against.
While both are well intentioned, a leader needs to find the balance between letting everything in by opening the flood gates and keeping everything out by building silo walls. Imagine the happy medium as a sieve. The leader and their team can sift through everything coming their way. Things that are immediately helpful like information and collaboration flow through easily. Bigger tasks can be evaluated carefully rather than accepted blindly.
Ideally, this effort is done with the team rather than for them. Together you can determine their capacity while honoring their own departmental goals and providing opportunities for greater impact. Doing it together reinforces group accountability, ownership, and development.
The sieve also works in reverse. They should be thinking about what they can share with the larger organization as well. Communicating key findings, information and best practices between teams helps build trust and strengthens the overall organization.
Ensuring you have an organization of sieves not silos starts at the top. Senior leaders need to demonstrate collaboration between themselves and expect it from their teams. When senior leaders see others building walls or opening the floodgates, they must coach them back to alignment with the sieve culture. The longer those patterns are allowed to continue, the harder they are to change.
That said, it is never too late to implement that collaborative culture. It can be difficult and feel like the silos are made of steel. But even steel can be reshaped. It takes individual leaders, their teams and senior leadership working together to change the larger system. Ensuring collaboration and building trust means more efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation and ultimately, better outcomes.
