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Silo definition6/25/2023 ![]() This lack of collaboration can also be supervised by analyzing the usage of resources. This can be noticed when individuals start working on the same functions without benefiting from each other’s experiences and previous work. Redundancy in all levels of the company, from small tasks to whole projects.A rising number of conflicts between team leaders accompanied by a lack of trust in others’ performance resulting in having the ‘versus mentality’.And this could show on the individual or the team level when people tend to care only about what they are doing instead of thinking of the impact on the whole company. Prioritizing self-activities instead of collaborative results.These are symptoms that you can notice in the team’s behavior and performance. The company’s leadership has to be aware of everything going on in different departments so they can identify the early signs of working in silos before it’s too late. It keeps them together as one, but when this is not achieved, they will start losing passion and isolating themselves. Having people believe they are part of something big motivates them to the maximum. They will only focus on the day-to-day activities and its reflection on their departments, not on the whole company. When individuals turn to work in silos, they will start losing belief in the vision. It requires lots of work from the management side to make sure everyone in the company believes in one vision and works towards it. However, at the same time it is not easy to keep the spark lit all the time. This has been the reason for success for many companies. Motivation is key for creativity and having the whole team working as a unity towards a shared vision is more important than anything else. The miscommunication forced by working in silos is a killing factor for businesses that will result in a semi-dead company living on a ‘ventilator’ for another day, and just losing time until it dies at the end. Brainstorming, meetings, conversations, activities, exchange of information are all important to stay up to the challenges. It requires a high level of collaboration between all individuals involved in the business. In today’s world, there are lots of challenges that companies have to overcome to keep running. Both pieces of information would benefit the sales and the developers to improve their work, but the accountants are not communicating this with others. Accountants will be overseeing the business on a financial level with statistics and reports and will know what factors led to higher sales in a specific period, and what versions of the software generated more money.Developers will be aware of the strong and weak points that would help the sales team convince more clients into buying the software, but they are not communicating this information to the sales.It will help develop better updates that correspond to users’ requirements, but they are not communicating this feedback to developers. Salespeople will be getting lots of feedback from clients.But if they changed into silos working, what could go wrong? As we all know, happy clients equal to more money for everyone. If departments worked with each other towards a common vision, it could result in satisfied users. The company consists of financial, development, and sales departments. Consider a software company that came up with brilliant software offering users a unique experience. Let’s hold off the abstract talk and get into a real-life example. It can affect team spirit and the sense of being a part of something big. The absence of vision or communication leads to ‘working in silos.’ Individuals and teams may lose interest in working together. Spoiler alert – in most cases, this will result in unsatisfied clients and unfinished work that will eventually reflect on the finances. It happens when a group of professionals decide to work on their own doing their best in what they master but without enough communication and coordination with the rest of the team. The example above demonstrates a situation called working in silos. Each one of the musicians started playing on their own! I mean, they are all professionals after all, so why not? The violinist, the cellist, the pianist, and even the maestro are doing their best on their own facing the wall not facing the musicians! How satisfied would you be with such a performance? I bet you’d be frustrated, and you would ask for an immediate refund. As the orchestra starts to play, they decide to switch things around. Let’s stop here for a moment and imagine that you paid for a VIP ticket to attend the concert. They all need to play as a unity in total accordance with the rhythm. Playing the famous Beethoven’s 5th Symphony requires the harmony of a large orchestra of professional musicians.
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