Breaking Down Silos: Unifying Your Team and Deepening Connections

Siloes occur across departments, hierarchies, regions and varying groups. Pack mentality, distrust, competition for resources, harmful assumptions and knowledge hoarding are common siloed consequences that hinder organizational success and employee wellbeing.

This article is about siloed struggles and ways to work with them.

It's also a glimpse into how Mosaicli helps leaders foster human connection within and across teams. To start, the following video gives a glimpse into Mosaicli's unique approach to enhancing company culture globally.

What is the silo mentality?

Silos occur when employees work in isolated groups with a vision narrowed on their own goals and objectives. As a result, these working groups tend to overlook the big picture and the broader team efforts required to achieve organizational results.

Ultimately, poor communication, misunderstanding, and lack of cross-functional coordination delays projects, reduces efficiency, and increases tension. Consequently, employee wellbeing and belonging diminishes and organizational impacts include time and money wasted, higher turnover, diminished customer satisfaction and reduced competitiveness with organizations that ARE effectively addressing cross team and siloed divides.

Strategies to improve siloes

How can you address connection issues within and across teams? While every organizational context differs, the following strategies provide ideas for how you can improve siloes across departments, hierarchies and regions and design for a workplace culture where communication, trust and transparency thrives.

Ways to Connect Siloed Departments

​Reasons for department siloes Lack of familiarity	How Mosaicli helps reduce them Employees don’t reach out because there’s no face or feel behind the name and role. During a ToolKit kick-off event, cross-functional teams get to know each other as human beings unique and incredible stories. After their kick-off, ongoing activities and incentives encourage engagement and relationship building across teams. During our programs, employees report more instances of “picking up the phone” and reaching out to one another.
Reason for department siloes​: Varying internal comms preferences	How Mosaicli helps reduce them Across regions (especially countries) teams have varying ways they like to communicate. For your Mosaicli program you get to choose a channel to “activate.” Meaning, modules and activities encourage sharing and interaction across regions on one central channel. This promotes bigger picture visibility and fluency with one specific medium of communication that gets everyone on the same page.
Reason for department siloes​: Lack of understanding (functions)	How Mosaicli helps reduce them Have you ever seen someone run a red light? What a #$%$, right? What if that person was a distressed loved one? You probably have more empathy and understanding. While familiarity is key to improving understanding (and reducing assumptions), understanding one another’s challenges, priorities, pains, and aspirations are, too. If this is important for you, tell us and we’ll include a module that increases visibility and understanding across functions.
Reason for department siloes​: Competition for resources (budgets)	How Mosaicli helps reduce them Mosaicli programs enable coordinated yet autonomous cross-departmental engagement efforts, saving time and money for everyone while delivering a brand cohesive and company wide message of togetherness and unity.

How to Improve Siloed Hierarchies

Hierarchy silos are organizational structures that separate higher-level employers from front-line workers. This type of structure can be seen in large companies where processes and information are often fragmented and guarded. Lack of understanding, distrust and perceived (and real) lack safety are common issues that perpetuate silos across hierarchies.

Reason for department siloes​: Lack of familiarity	​How Mosaicli helps reduce them Have you ever thought, “wow, they have it so good.” It might be true, and up and down hierarchies we’re all human. No one’s life is as perfect and challenge free as we project. However, projections diminish curiosity and connection. Mosaicli modules reveal people’s humanity beyond their work roles and responsibilities by incorporating team building, storytelling and creativity throughout every module. For example, people don’t simply talk about integrity. They learn about the real life struggles, growth moments and experiences that have shaped what integrity means to them.
Reason for department siloes​: Lack of safety	It takes courage to bring forth divergent or potentially challenging perspectives to managers. No matter how much “safety” leaders create, 1:1 contexts feel inherently risky. If bravery and feedback are important growth areas, we’ll incorporate an associated module into your team’s engagement program. For example, ask us to include a module of four activities that motivate managers to reflect and act in ways the improve safety on their teams.
Reason for department siloes​: Care	​Did you know that care correlates with team cohesion more than any other metric? A balance of autonomy and direction is a close second. With increasing workloads, meaningful team building activities fall by the wayside. We provide managers with an overview of the ToolKit experience so they can deliver a meaningful message of care and invite their teams to participate. After a fun and connective experience, managers benefit from employee appreciation and everyone walks away with feel goods and ongoing opportunities that keep the magic going.
Reason for department siloes​: ​Avoidance of “other”	Managers tend to give feedback and opportunities to those who are most like them, leading to unequal growth and advancement opportunities. ToolKit kick-offs and ongoing challenges encourage employees to share their experiences and stories, building familiarity and empathy across teams. Optional bravery modules for managers can help them navigate discomfort and promote equitable opportunities within the organization.
Reason for department siloes: Company values gaps (dissonance)	ToolKits help organizations to align their actions with their inclusive values by improving community, connection, and recognition within and across teams. Ongoing challenges, incentives, and rewards instill these values through ongoing communication, employee stories, and a powerful metaphor (the Mosaic) that supports broader program objectives and socialization.

Ways to Unify Siloed Regional Teams

Geographical silos occur when employees work in different locations, aren’t connected to a broader global mission and purpose, and don’t share resources, innovations and information that can improve job performance, customer satisfaction and outcomes across all regions and teams.

​Reason for department siloes​: Familiarity (see a trend?)	​How Mosaicli helps reduce them: Enough said; however, time zones present an added barrier.
Reason for department siloes​: ​Time Zones	How Mosaicli helps reduce them: Mosaicli's ToolKit experiences help to create a sense of unity among global teams by combining creativity, interactive modules, and social sharing incentives. A dedicated internal communications channel allows for ongoing communication and sharing of progress and stories. Incentives can also motivate employees to engage with teams from different regions.
Reason for department siloes​:​ Language differences	How Mosaicli helps reduce them:​ Did you know that arts integrated engagement activities increase outcomes by an average of 10% for all learners? The benefits are greater for English as Second Language (ESL) learners. By providing both written and visual engagement and sharing opportunities, team members have equal opportunity to engage, express and connect.
Reason for department siloes​: ​Varying opportunities (shipping costs)	How Mosaicli helps reduce them: ​Physical products like (like ToolKits) are challenging to deliver globally. Every country has their own customs procedures and global shipping costs too much. For regional orders of 200 or more, Mosaicli provides consolidated shipping to central HQ locations. In March 2024 we plan to have dedicated shipping centers in APAC, EMEA and LAD.

At Mosaicli, we customize engagement programs for global enterprises that foster employee well being, improve team performance and result in better organizational outcomes that save planning time and preserve budgets across all levels. Schedule a 30-minute conversation with our customer solutions team and we'll ship your ToolKit pilot program within 2-weeks.