Blamestorming Other Telling Signs Your Organization is Siloed Marla Gottschalk

Blamestorming Other Telling Signs Your Organization is Siloed Marla Gottschalk Photo by Jim Witkowski on Unsplash I speak with organizations who have every intention of being collaborative. However, their collective actions tell a very different story. They envision functioning as a seamless, multi-functional entity â€" working in concert to satisfy clients and achieve organizational goals. But in reality, this is quite difficult to accomplish. Unfortunately there are obvious, telling signs that they have missed the mark. By and large, silos develop within organizations to protect valued resources. This is often fear-based â€" and building these proverbial walls can become the kiss of death for any organization that intends to remain agile. Wed all like to think of our organizations is immune to this condition. However, it is easy to slip into protective mode. In some cases, weve acquiesced into a silo-ed state without recognizing the malaise. Here are a few signs: Lack of a consistent constructive cross-functional conversation. Lets be brutally honest â€" there really isnt a lot of communication going on cross-functionally. Your customer/client process doesnt really dovetail with other functional groups and sadly, no one seems to be alarmed that this integral step is absent. Customers are no longer central to the conversation. Your teams are so busy putting out fires and keeping up with demands, that your clients are no longer central. When the tail (the acute issues) starts wagging the dog (being longer-term smart), its time to slow down and take another look. You are unsure what other functions are really doing. Processes and procedures can evolve quickly. You can lose site of the roles that others play in the larger scheme. As result, your team really doesnt have a grasp on how to effectively interface with other parts of the business. Rampant blame-storming. Joint ownership of processes and procedures is non-existent. If issues seem to be more like hot potatoes of blame than a call to arms to improve â€" take this an ominous warning. If everyone seems to point a finger, yet no one is venturing to say we take responsibility, you may have a real problem. Separate cultural identities. If each functional group is more akin to an independent pop up shop, take note. You might blame each other for the current problems or snafu, but its really the lack of shared vision thats the offender. Time to re-group and get on the same page. Things are portrayed as a zero sum game. If your group seems to feel that if they give up responsibility of tasks (even if tasks are best moved to another team), your organizational presence would be minimized. Scope of work should be assigned to the group best able to deliver the end-product of the highest quality. Youve given up trying to become a better organization. Many siloed organizations arent happy with the status quo â€" yet their employees feel that effort to change the dynamic would be fruitless. If you are so frustrated that you feel things cannot be improved, this is a telling sign that your group needs help. Have you seen this operating in your organization? What did you do? Dr. Marla Gottschalk is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist who starts conversations about work life core stability. She also writes as an Influencer at LinkedIn.