A silo mentality is a reluctance to share information with employees of different divisions in the same company. This attitude is seen as reducing the organization’s efficiency and, at worst, contributing to a damaged corporate culture.
Key Takeaways
- A silo mentality is the unwillingness to share information or knowledge between employees or across different departments within a company.
- The silo mentality usually begins with competition among senior managers.
- Successful firms encourage and facilitate a free flow of information.
- Silos can create low morale, negatively impact workflows, and ultimately adversely affect the customer experience.
Understanding a Silo Mentality
The word silo originally referred to storage containers for grain or missiles, but it is now used as a metaphor for separate entities that stockpile information and effectively seal it in. In business, organizational silos refer to business divisions that operate independently and avoid sharing information.
The silo mentality is generally seen as a top-down issue arising from competition between senior managers. The protective attitude towards information begins with management and is passed down to individual employees. It also may be seen between individual employees, who may hoard information for their benefit. It is often found between employees of competing departments where some assigned duties overlap.
It’s not always a matter of clashing egos. A silo mentality can reflect a narrow vision. The employees are so bogged down in their daily chores that they never see the bigger picture or see themselves as having a critical role in that bigger picture. Or they may be utterly unaware of the value to others of the information they’re sitting on.
No matter what the reasons for it are, a silo mentality exists because senior management allows it to exist. Managers of successful firms generally encourage the free flow of information between departments so that all aspects of the company can function effectively.
The lack of cross-departmental communication can negatively impact workflow as information is not passed freely across the organization. This can leave some departments working with inaccurate or out-of-date information. These and other operational inefficiencies resulting from silos also complicate how companies deliver value to customers and adversely affect profitability.
A silo mentality inevitably damages morale, especially when employees become aware of the problem and are unable to do anything to change it.
Overcoming the Silo Mentality
Attitudes are difficult to change, especially when self-interest is at stake. Some key strategies to dismantling silos include:
- Create and Communicate a Unified Vision: Share a unified vision across departments to encourage collaborative sharing of information.
- Implement Company-Wide Software: Use software that records and tracks progress towards the company’s goals, and give all employees access to it.
- Host Interdepartmental Events: Organize training seminars and team-building activities that allow employees to get to know and respect each other.
- Reward Collective Achievement: Alter the employee compensation structure so that it rewards progress towards company-wide goals.
Related Terms: Corporate Culture, Team Collaboration, Workplace Efficiency, Organizational Silos.
