Effective Strategies for Breaking Down Workplace Silos and Enhancing Team Collaboration

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Welcome, everyone! Today, the old jarhead, Dennis Guzik, is back with some great career advice, focusing on an important concept in workplace dynamics—silos.

Key Highlights:

• Introduction to Silos:
• Silos are structures on farms used to hold grain, where nothing gets in or out without effort.
• In a business context, silos refer to divisions within a company where information flow is limited unless active efforts are made.
• Examples of Silos in Businesses:
• Internal Divisions: Different departments not sharing information about projects, purchases, etc.
• On-site vs. Remote Workers: Lack of communication between those who work on company premises and those who work remotely.
• Personal Experiences:
• The speaker saw numerous silos during his tenure in the defense world, particularly at the Pentagon.
• Efforts to break down silos were only marginally successful, often requiring continuous effort to maintain communication.
• Impact on Employees and Companies:
• Silos can hinder employee awareness, professional growth, and overall company productivity.
• Breaking down silos fosters cross-division work, enhancing skills and professional experiences.
• Advice for Managers and Employees:
• Identify and Break Down Silos:
  • Managers should actively look for silos and work to dismantle them.
  • Promote information sharing and cross-division collaboration.
  • Engage in Volunteering and Social Functions:
  • Activities like team sports and company events increase communication and awareness.
  • Example: Mary, who organized a company picnic, gained recognition up to the CEO level.
  • The Importance of Breaking Down Silos:
  • Essential for both organizational success and individual employee growth.
  • Efforts should start from the bottom and reach all the way to the top.
• Call to Action:
• Think about how you can apply these strategies to your own career. For more career insights, check out the Dennis's book, "Find a Job that Fits Your Life."
• Thank you for listening!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello folks.
Well, the old jarhead is backagain, survived another week and
I'm here to give you some greatcareer advice, career advice
that is guaranteed to help youand listen up and get ready to
learn.
So my manager who happens to bemy wife recently came across a

(00:28):
couple of articles about silosand she said well, old jarhead,
you ought to do a podcast aboutthese things.
And I well, I've been aroundenough to know that when she
suggests things, I'd better dothem.
So that's what we're talkingabout now silos.
So, for those of you who do notknow, silos are tall structures

(00:52):
on farms that are used to holdgrain, and a thing about a silo
is that nothing gets in andnothing gets out unless there's
a real effort made to do it.
So, on a farm, a cow can movefrom one field to another
without much problem, but thegrains from one silo can't get
into another without a whole lotof work.
So you're going okay.

(01:14):
So what does this have to dowith me?
Unless your career involvesfarming, you don't care, right?
Nope, silos exist in businessesall the time.
In fact, many executives oflarge and small businesses spend
a considerable amount of timebreaking them down.
So now you say okay, get itthere.

(01:34):
Old jarhead.
Tell me more about this silothing.
Well, one type of silo is wherethere are multiple divisions in
a company and littleinformation gets passed between
them unless a real effort ismade to make it happen.
Things like what are youworking on and what sort of new
stuff you got going on?
What are you buying?

(01:54):
Different parts of the companymay not have any clue what
another part of the company isdoing.
Another type of silo could bebetween those who work on the
company site and those who workremotely, and you may find that
there's some information that'sjust not being shared.
So look around where you work.

(02:17):
Do you see any silos?
Maybe you already noticed thembut did not know what to call
them.
Yep, they're silos.
I saw it all the time in thedefense world.
The higher you go in thathierarchy, the more silos exist,
especially at the Pentagon,where I spent three years.
Some of that's because ofclassifications and that's kind

(02:37):
of understandable.
Others are because of thecompetition for limited
resources, and I've been part ofefforts that were marginally
successful in breaking them down.
But if you're not careful, theyseem to grow back again.
In my last position in thecorporate world.
I think that we were prettygood at cross-division work, but

(02:59):
the bigger the company got, theharder it was to eliminate
silos.
So you say, why should you care?
Well, here's the deal.
What's going on in other partsof the company, those other
silos may be very interesting toyou, but if you're not even
aware of those things, you can'tget involved.
I found that some of my bestemployees were very good at

(03:23):
looking across the division andeven doing work across the
division.
This increased their awarenessof what was going on within the
company and it also increasedtheir skill sets, their
professional experiences.
Skill sets, their professionalexperiences.
Now, if you're a manager, thenyou need to be looking out for
these silos and making everyeffort to knock them down.
Sharing information is great,but you need to take it one step

(03:48):
further and make an effort by,let's say, offering one of your
good employees to help outanother business unit.
And one last tip good tip herefor managers and employees is
the value of things likevolunteering and social
functions.
Things like team sportsincrease the communication and

(04:08):
awareness between silos.
This is a great way to do it,and I'll give a nod out here to
Mary who volunteered for thepicnic and sent up the picnic
and just got her name all overright up to the CEO.
So, and wrapping it up, silosexist everywhere and, for the
sake of the organization and forthe employees, they need to be

(04:33):
broken down, starting at thebottom but going all the way up
to the top.
Well, that's it for now.
That's my podcast for this week.
Lots of good information.
These things are short, but ifyou want a longer version, check
out my book.
Find a Job that Fits your Life.
I guarantee it.
And thanks for listening.

(04:54):
Bye, thank you, thank you.