What are some best practices or tools for sharing knowledge and information within and across silos?

When different departments or teams operate without a shared understanding of the organization's overarching purpose, conflicts and inefficiencies can arise, leading to siloed behavior. Breaking down these silos requires a concerted effort to establish and communicate a common vision and purpose that unites all members of the organization.

In my experience, aligning everyone with a shared understanding of our mission has fostered collaboration, trust, and accountability. Jodi-Tatiana Charles adds valuable insights, suggesting creative approaches like knowledge exchange fairs and internal blogs to break down barriers. This human-centric strategy not only bridges gaps but also nurtures a culture where diverse teams collaborate seamlessly toward common objectives. A must-read for leaders aiming to cultivate unity in purpose. #OrganizationalCulture #Collaboration #VisionAlignment

You need to reach a point where there is a shared empathy and compassion for each different department - only with that can you move away from the silo mentality. The best way to start to achieve this is by having different departments share resource. get people to literally be in their shoes and see the business from their perspective.

As soon as I became a manager, I had to work hard to connect the different parts of our business, which made sharing information easily my top concern. Getting everyone on the same contact platform changed everything. Together with tools like Slack and Confluence, we created a digital space where everyone could share and receive information easily. Regular talks between departments helped us be clear on our goals and standards, which made sure that everyone on the team was on the same page with our vision and purpose. Using technology and organized contact together in a smart way broke down obstacles and created a culture where sharing knowledge is natural.

One thing I've found helpful is to identify a core value to lean into to help share information within and across silos. For example, if your organization values innovation, create cross-collaborative efforts that focus on innovative thinking and knowledge sharing.

Learned something wonderful from my #HR40under40 journey in the last few weeks - 1) Encourage standard practices to document discussions, decisions, and action items. 2) Enable free flow of information, while being mindful of communication overload. 3) Facilitate horizontal teamwork such that people reach outside their silos to access complementary expertise for idea exchange.

We set up a series of open but organized meetings called "Knowledge Exchanges" where teams could share information about their present projects and problems. Departmental lines had been stopping people from talking to each other before this happen. Employees from different departments could also spend a day with another team through "shadowing days." This not only helped them see things from a different point of view but also led to new ideas for how to solve problems. The way we shared information became natural and important to our daily work because of these practices, which not only helped our company culture but also made us much more efficient.

One way to achieve this is through collaboration catalysts like Agile coaches, innovation champions, or internal consultants can play a pivotal role in igniting cross-functional teamwork. Think of them as facilitators, mentors, and sometimes disruptors, breaking down barriers between departments. They help teams establish shared goals, improve communication, and foster a sense of shared responsibility. Spotify's "Agile Coaches" exemplify this. They not only guide teams on Agile methodologies but also actively promote collaboration and continuous improvement. This approach has helped Spotify dismantle silos and drive innovation.

One thing I've found helpful when I worked for large (10,000+ people) organizations is a bi-weekly or monthly call. I once worked in HR for a global Fortune 500 organization with 100,000+ people. In an organization that size, it can be very easy to stay in silos. To break down silos, the HR organization held bi-weekly calls to share need-to-know information, like different initiatives happening, changes to the organization, legal changes, and more. This was a grassroots effort; people volunteered to join the hour-long call and presented for 5-15 minutes on their topic. It was a phenomenal way to leverage a global community and keep everyone up-to-date on what's going on.

Silos can create problems across many areas damaging organizational effectiveness and negatively impacting employee experience. In my experience, creating situations where employees can improve their understanding of what is involved in other people's jobs and how that relates to what they are doing is a game changer. We have done Department Open Houses where departments set up stations to educate the rest of the organization about what they do in a fun way. I also recommend internal internships giving employees the opportunity to learn about other jobs in the organization for a brief period of time whether it be on a consistent basis or a few hours when time permits. Collaborative sessions between departments is also very beneficial.

Leveraging knowledge management systems has been critical to our success at Historic (a nonprofit change agency). Our team has been remote/hybrid since day one and our health and effectiveness as a team is largely due to tools like Google Drive, Slack, FireFlies AI, Loom, etc. For those wondering ?? what a knowledge management system (KMS) is... any kind of IT or AI system that stores and retrieves knowledge to improve understanding, collaboration, and process alignment is a KMS. Here are two KMS our team LOVES. We use Loom to work asynchronously and to walk clients through various docs and ideas. We use Slack to for real-time updates and team interaction (it's a fantastic tool for remote culture building if used properly).

Uma boa prática é implementar sistemas de gest?o do conhecimento para facilitar o compartilhamento de informa??es dentro e entre silos. Ferramentas como Confluence ou MediaWiki podem ser usadas para documentar políticas e procedimentos, enquanto blogs como WordPress ou Medium s?o ideais para compartilhar insights e histórias. Repositórios como Google Drive ou Dropbox permitem armazenar e compartilhar documentos, apresenta??es e imagens de forma eficiente. Esses sistemas ajudam a evitar a repeti??o de trabalho, aumentar a eficiência e promover a melhoria contínua.

One thing I’ve seen work well to share knowledge across silos is to create a central knowledge repository where everyone can store and access information easily. Also, incentivize sharing and collaboration by recognizing and rewarding those who actively contribute. This not only encourages teamwork but also ensures valuable insights are shared across teams. When everyone knows their contributions are valued, they’re more likely to share and collaborate.

Recierdo una municipalidad en la que trabaje en que ningún area conocia lo que hacía la otra. Para solucionarlo, le pedimos a cada área que explicara a los demás los procedimientos mas frecuentes a su cargo, lo que ademas se transformó en un manual de procedimientos que se compartio con los usuarios y las demas áreas. Esto facilitó la orientación a usuarios, además de generar instancias de colaboración y mejora colaborativa de procesos.

Establish a monthly "knowledge exchange fair/event" where different teams set up booths to share their expertise through engaging presentations, creating a live and interactive platform for cross-silo knowledge transfer. Implement a rotating mentorship program that pairs employees from different silos, encouraging direct one-on-one knowledge sharing and relationship building. Introduce a company-wide internal blog platform where teams regularly contribute articles, fostering a culture of transparency and information sharing across silos in a written format.

One of my favorite and most impactful experiences are peer learning circles. Gather a group of people together who are all experts in an area or learning a similar skill. Naturally, they'll build cross-functional relationships and share best practices with one another.

Depending on the size and the nature of the organisation, I usually recommend setting up variations on the theme of "sharing sessions" where teams and individuals are encouraged to present a challenge they are working on, and their peers to provide honest feedback and recommendations in a facilitated environment. Over time, this almost always translates into the establishment of a culture of transparency where teams and individuals share their resources helping each other achieve their goals. At the same time, organisational leaders attending these events have the tremendous opportunity to learn from their people what their biggest challenges are and are therefore able to target them from a strategic, organisational perspective.

By fostering a sense of shared identity, trust, and accountability, you can encourage collaboration, communication, and cooperation across teams, ultimately working towards common objectives and fostering a more cohesive and unified working environment.

Three ways to mitigate siloes as early as possible are: - default to open - treat all information as public unless confidentiality is explicitly needed; even go as far explicitly educating every function about the role and impact of everyone in the organisation; - default to asynchronous collaboration - doing work in meetings is indeed the easier path, but having the discipline to make asynchronous work possible means that everything important can be found in the tools and wikis of teams instead of being shared in a meeting with just a few people - aim to structure goals, priorities and teams in a cross-functional manner to avoid siloed collaboration in the first place.

Leveraging my experience, the adoption of a robust knowledge management system and the promotion of a collaborative culture are essential in improving information sharing across different business units. Using platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, or other collaborative tools supports real-time communication and document sharing. Furthermore, hosting regular cross-functional meetings, workshops, or knowledge-sharing sessions encourages open dialogue and the exchange of insights. Setting up a centralised hub for documentation and knowledge resources, accessible to all relevant teams, also ensures a smooth flow of information across various divisions.

Se você n?o mexer na estrutura, dificilmente resolverá essa quest?o. Os silos surgem como reflexo de uma estrutura muito segmentada. Cada um no seu "quadrado" vai se preocupar com a sua fun??o e provavelmente, se comunicar com outros setores n?o é sua fun??o. A comunica??o precisa ser natural, consequência do trabalho do dia a dia. Ela precisa ser necessária para que o trabalho aconte?a. é por isso que equipes multidisciplinares funcionam t?o bem. Alguns exemplos estruturais: - Estruturas matriciais ao invés de piramidais - Espa?o físico aberto, com poucas divisórias (inclusive de nível hierárquico) - Gest?o transparente, com informa??es de fácil acesso - Ritos periódicos de conex?o e forma??o de equipes (multidisciplinares)

I think it is very important to remove obstacles for sharing. Two types: Physical: review your office plan, does it fosters isolation or collaboration. No need to go open space if you don't need it, but guarantee there are many spaces for sharing, especially informally (coffee shop, informal meeting spaces, etc.) Virtual: make sure employees have clear understanding on when it is productive to reach someone for a quick video-conference, and when not. Give your leaders the tools they need to work on hybrid spaces productively.