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The structural silos that
form in organizations are a powerful barrier to information sharing and
innovation. Anthropologist Gillian Tett explains how some organizations have
broken down these barriers.
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5 Comments/Reflections
Mark Goodsell Apr 2020
Clearly a core skill of cost / management accountants to bring different parts of a business together for the greater good of the organisation. The more each team / division of an organisation understands different parts of the business the more they can add to the organisation.
Whatever the terminology communication is vital and as technology changes new way of 'linking' up needs to be employed. Whether this is twitter, intranets, departmental e-mail lists etc.
It is also important, especially in manufacturing industries that daily / regular interdepartmental meetings are held where ideas, issues and problems can be discussed. It not only leads to a general greater understanding but also innovative solutions that may not have been thought of by individual departments / teams.
I am familiar with these concepts from a number of my recent contract employments within manufacturing industries whether it be within food manufacture ( New York Bakery ), circuit boards ( Asteelflash ) or engineering ( Cerulean ).
Damian Szczepanski Dec 2019
It was well caught that that we live in times which worships efficiency and so there is often not enough time space to slow down and have a look at our business from different perspective to find new opportunities for business growth.
Aakash Gupta Aug 2018
Great article, i'm a strong believer in cross pollination of ideas and skills. In my organisation there is a lot of working together with other heads and this needs to be fostered at all levels in the organisation. It helps to share the experiences and then think collectively, we have often come up with good workable and unique ideas. It is critical for product development, internal processes and many other things.
Adana Louw Feb 2018
Cross-team training can really help breaking down silos. It should be very beneficial to have people from multiple departments/skill sets work on projects in order to obtain a wide view of the problem at hand. People tend to focus on the issues surrounding a project which they identify with and relate to (comfort zone), and putting different people together should be able to give a better view, and also better solutions.
Mita Bhattacharjee Feb 2018
A potential key, untapped resource for companies. Through joining different departments together, actively encouraging identification of synergies and understanding the roles of other departments enable a business to automatically innovate and evolve naturally. The question is how to engage and enforce the behaviour within an organisation's workforce.
5 Comments/Reflections