Unless your company produces grain, no growing business wants silos. Insulated departments can unknowingly double their efforts by working on similar projects and cause a host of other issues.
How can your company stay on the same page?
Share the Big Picture at Staff Meetings.
Company-wide staff meetings are a great time to celebrate how far you’ve come and what you’d like to accomplish! We hold quarterly staff meetings where everyone gets an opportunity to connect face-to-face over some piping-hot pizza and hear about our roadmap to achieving our company goals. Our CEO gives an inspiring presentation each and every meeting where she shares our Strategic Planning Pyramid (straight from one of our favorite books, Rockefeller Habits by Verne Harnish). Armed with this big-picture knowledge, our staff is able to work in the same direction.
Keep Coworkers in the Loop with Daily Huddles.
Staff meetings every few months will remind your team of the company’s long-term goals and build connections, but it’s just as important to keep the lines of communication open on a daily basis. Daily huddles (also borrowed from the Rockefeller Habits) help fill in the gaps. When employees announce what they’re working on, it can spark others to offer assistance or suggest combining their efforts when projects overlap.
Build Trust Through Incentive Campaigns.
Trust is the foundation of any good working relationship; when you trust your coworker, you’re more likely to talk to them openly and honestly and look for ways to help each other. At Ruby, every quarter we have a fun, engaging incentive campaign to foster trust and communication between employees. We play games like bingo, earn ruby gems as points, or use scratch-off tickets to spice things up. There’s never a dull moment, and our teammates get to know each other better and build trust at the same time!
How do you avoid silos at your company? Share your strategies in the comment section below!
