Smashing silos – moving from content to impact

by Mike Klein:

Communication professionals often face a basic question: how are we really changing, accelerating or transforming our organizations?

A lot of us believe that our role is to do it through the content we generate and distribute – and that the results come through the changes in awareness, conversations and behaviors resulting from that.

But there is a role we can take on that is much more tangible, powerful and structural.  I call it “becoming a silo-smasher.”

Silo-smashing involves identifying the gaps in communication and connection between parts of the organization and making key introductions that close those gaps.

It combines two related but distinct skills – influencer identification and transformational networking – that have absolutely nothing to do with content.

In doing so, it also creates a powerful way to integrate our knowledge of the organization and its issues with the portfolio of relationships we’ve developed in gathering that knowledge.

What are “silos”? And why should we smash them?

“Silo” is a nickname for a part of the organization that tends to be isolated from its other activities or functions. A silo’s isolation can result from a number of factors – like having activities or ways of working that are different from the organization’s core functions, being in a physically different location, or using different vocabularies or languages from those used by most other employees.  

To a certain extent, this isolation can be beneficial to having those functions do their work efficiently, but isolation can also breed misalignment with organizational priorities, and it can make it hard for the parts of the company that rely on those functions to interact with them constructively.  

A procurement function , one that drives purchases of supplies and services, can often exhibit the negative aspects of a silo. In my experiences, they often have processes that are obscure and hard to follow, and not being fully understanding of the extent to which core operations are dependent on their work.  

A silo-smasher approach can increase the interaction between procurement and the parts of the business to which it is least well-connected, and help drive a better sense of alignment on both sides of the relationship.

How can it accelerate the business?

A lot of internal communication tends to be sent fairly indiscriminately, so that many employees globally complain of “information overload”, and even top executives often cite “noise” as a source of organizational distraction.

But when you identify influencers, you can shift a substantial amount of the information in their direction, diverting a lot of the detail away from rank-and-file employees and even reducing the communication burden on line managers.

Adding the intentional process of introducing influencers in different parts of the business to each other, and connecting new employees to their most connected and influential new colleagues moves the role of the communication pro into one that that rapidly integrates and accelerates the business.

Is it hard?  

Identifying influencers and driving introductions and connections in an organization are distinct skills.  Before the SiloSmashers course, training in either of these tended to be rare and haphazard, and none I’ve been aware of had combined training in both.

But the two work strongly together.  It focuses on how to make connections by systematically introducing people who can mutually benefit from the introductions, how to assess the potential for benefit, and to identify the gaps that need to be closed most urgently.

It’s not a technology-based course.  All you need are a couple of excel spreadsheets and access to an off-the-shelf survey tool like SurveyMonkey.

How do I sign up?

The CSCE is offering the SiloSmasher course online and on-demand – for AUD $395 (approximately USD $250).  For more information, or to register, visit: SiloSmasher • CSCE

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Mike Klein is Editor-in-Chief of Strategic, founder of #WeLeadComms and a Fellow of the Centre for Strategic Communication Excellence and the Institute of Internal Communication.  His consulting practice focuses on strategy, social and organizational influence, and communication research.

Written by: Editor