Slowly, you realize that the root of all your problems is that your organization is working in silos. No one knows who\u2019s working on what. Worse \u2014 you\u2019re not sure how to solve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a young age, we’re taught that \u201csharing is caring,” but what happens when teams stop doing that? What issues does it lead to, and how do we avoid them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s dive in.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"Dangers](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Dangers-of-working-in-silos-cover.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nWhat does it mean to work in silos?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Working in silos means resources are not shared either between individuals in a team, or between teams in an organization.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n This can refer to \u2014 either purposefully or accidentally \u2014 failing to share information, physical resources, or even the team\u2019s capacity and workloads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The teams or individuals don\u2019t communicate effectively, so they\u2019re unaware of what others are working on. That, in turn, can lead to several problems, like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s focus on what exactly working in silos looks like. For this purpose, we\u2019ve contacted professionals across various industries who\u2019ve experienced this before. They\u2019ll tell us what issues it created, and \u2014 more importantly \u2014 how to overcome working in silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our first example comes from Margaret Ricci<\/a>, founder and CEO who specializes in building strong resilient teams. Her team was trying to create an integrated app that combined around 4 different areas of the company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, she was part of a cross-functional team, without clearly defined leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo one had assigned a project manager who had overall leadership of the team. We all had good intentions and were actually friends, but so many of us were super-silo-ed that we kept trying to wrest leadership away from everyone else and give it to ourselves. We worked this way for 3 YEARS to get this app over the finish line, but since no one wanted to give power to anyone else, we just kept going around and around in circles!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Building an app like this is quite demanding on its own, but without the organizational skills of a project manager, it\u2019s no surprise that Margaret\u2019s team had a rough time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, not every instance of working in silos is purposeful \u2014 we\u2019ll see this in other examples, too. But, an overly competitive company culture can lead to this, as is evident in Margaret\u2019s example. This kind of culture leads to poor project collaboration<\/a> \u2014 and with it, silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was very frustrating. Finally, someone alerted the head of the Project Management department of what was going on, and they stepped in. With that person’s help, we finally finished the project in the next 6\u20139 months (testing, roll-out, and all). But when I think of all the person-hours, emotions, and wasted efforts in the initial 3 years of that project, I want to cry! And think of all the money the company wasted \u2014 all because we wanted that power \u2014 the siloing was ingrained in each of us!\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Evidently, team leaders can be a key part of breaking down silos \u2014 especially the kind seen in this example. The cross-functional team Margaret was working on stopped withholding information and focused on the task at hand once the leadership shoes were filled and the silos were broken down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using project management software is by itself a large step toward combating silos. Our PM tool \u2014 Plaky<\/a> by CAKE.com<\/a> \u2014 ensures project information is clear, and more importantly, accessible to everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, how could a tool like Plaky help with this specific issue where there\u2019s no clear leader steering the project?<\/p>\n\n\n In Margaret\u2019s example, there was a leadership issue, and everyone was isolating themselves as a result. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To solve this problem, Plaky offers you the option to have clear leadership roles established \u2014 so when creating items in Plaky for your project, take advantage of its versatility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you can use several \u201cPerson\u201d fields \u2014 one can be labeled \u201cAssignee\u201d, establishing task responsibility, and another labeled \u201cTeam leader\u201d, signifying clear leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, you can eliminate the frustrations of all team members through Plaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Create a free Plaky account<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our next example showcases the issues that silos can create due to a lack of accountability, and it was shared by James Taylor<\/a>, an SEO consultant with over 7 years of experience in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He says that silos aren\u2019t just the result of teams simply not knowing what others are working on. Instead, it\u2019s the unwillingness to take responsibility for issues that arise in the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen it many times on client projects where the client will give feedback requesting changes. But, because teams are working in isolation rather than as one integrated team, instead of working together to make changes, they will try to pass the work on to another department. Of course, the other department does the same, and it ends up resulting in an ongoing back and forth with each side claiming the work is the responsibility of the other team.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n Operating in silos often leads to a lack of structure within teams and a large division between them. Therefore, it\u2019s easy to avoid task accountability<\/a> and pass it on to another department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWith no one willing to add to their workload and take responsibility for finding a solution, it causes delays, wastes time, creates animosity between teams who each feel that the other one isn\u2019t pulling their weight, and ultimately ends up being detrimental to the project.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n The issue James is talking about isn\u2019t uncommon, and it creates a giant scheduling mess. As long as a task is being passed from one team to another, it creates bottlenecks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using a project management tool is the simplest way to boost your team\u2019s accountability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In Plaky, you can easily use the Assignee field to track who\u2019s responsible for each item. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But what if the items keep getting shuffled through the teams and individuals? What if they use the Assignee field to continue avoiding work, by re-assigning tasks to others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In that case, your notifications will show any changes to the item you created or are subscribed to. At that point, you can contact the appropriate team members\/teams to get to the bottom of the item shuffling. <\/p>\n\n\n Try Plaky for free<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Our next example shows how silos stunt collaboration across teams. We spoke with Joe Amaral<\/a>, a Founder and COO with more than 16 years of digital marketing experience. His SEO and content teams worked independently \u2014 the SEO team focused on technical fixes, and the content team posted blog posts on various topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAfter months of work, our client’s rankings hadn’t improved. We then discovered the content lacked keywords the SEO team was targeting. By merging the teams, aligning priorities, and improving communication, we turned things around. But much time and money had been wasted.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n For a project to be successful, you need to observe all teams as one whole \u2014 not as separate entities. This is why silos create such an issue \u2014 and how Joe realized his teams need to work in sync.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt my agency, we now emphasize collaboration through weekly meetings, shared KPIs, and an open culture with feedback. Our teams now avoid rework, identify new opportunities, and operate more efficiently. Overall, eliminating silos comes down to communication, shared vision, and valuing different viewpoints. Tearing them down pays high dividends, even if the initial investment seems high.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n So, it\u2019s beneficial to spot silos as soon as possible \u2014 just like Joe did. Look for signs like miscommunication, repeated tasks, and information availability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAn integrated, collaborative approach is the only real way forward.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n As seen in Joe\u2019s example, the best way to unify teams is through open communication and a unified vision. Both of these can be implemented with Plaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we look at Joe\u2019s example, in Plaky, both the content and the SEO team could have a shared board, where those teams collaborate on tasks. This clarity with task assignment can be improved with multiple assignee fields \u2014 one for the content team, and one for the SEO team.<\/p>\n\n\n They can use the File sharing or a Link field to share documents that they\u2019re working on and collaborate efficiently. What\u2019s more, the teams can use item descriptions and comments to communicate any task-relevant info.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boost team collaboration with Plaky<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, silos don\u2019t just affect your organization \u2014 they affect the other organizations you work with, too. One such organization is led by Soumya Mahapatra<\/a>, a technologist and product leader in the healthcare industry, with over 18 years of experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He frequently deals with siloed work \u2014 a frustrating experience, as their decision making is done at a glacial pace because of all the red tape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile we have a much more open organizational structure, many of our customers in the medical device field use a more siloed approach, separating their research team, regulatory team, manufacturing team, and marketing team. These companies are always a headache to work with because the process of getting a device through the FDA approval process ultimately involves frequent input from all of these players.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n As we can see in this example, one of the biggest issues silos produce is stopping the flow of information \u2014 one approval request needs tons of input, and therefore time before it\u2019s returned to Soumya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’ll usually recommend that our customers create dedicated teams for the products they want to get approved in order to cut down on communication issues.\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If there\u2019s an issue with multiple people across different teams needing to work on the same task, that task usually deserves its own team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to heed Soumya\u2019s advice and create a separate team for specific tasks \u2014 you can use the \u201cTeams\u201d page in Plaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply hop on the page, add a team \u2014 choose a team name and add the team members \u2014 and you\u2019re done.<\/p>\n\n\n You could create a team without the use of a PM tool \u2014 assemble the team in a meeting, maybe sit them together in the office. However, this still leaves room for individual silos \u2014 which can lead to even more frustrations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But, in Plaky, silos quickly become unraveled. This is due to its many task management<\/a> features, most of which allow for everyone to be clearly notified of the tasks they\u2019re assigned to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can add teams as an Assignee to an item, and you can @mention the whole team in relevant comments. With this, you can rest assured that no one is ever left out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Furthermore, you can use the summary row to track the progress of a task\u2019s status or timeline \u2014 and be on the lookout for any signs of silos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The experiences of professionals who\u2019ve worked in silos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#1 Lack of leadership<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Margaret](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Margaret-Ricci-headshot.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nHow Plaky by CAKE.com solves a lack of leadership<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Establishing](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Establishing-leadership-in-Plaky.png\")
#2 Lack of accountability<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"James](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/James-Taylor.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nHow Plaky by CAKE.com solves a lack of accountability<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Using-notifications-in-Plaky.png\")
#3 Lack of collaboration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Joe](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Joe-Amaral.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nHow Plaky by CAKE.com solves a lack of collaboration<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Using-Plaky-to-enable-cross-team-collaboration.png\")
#4 Lack of decision making<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Soumya](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Soumya-Mahapatra-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nHow Plaky by CAKE.com solves a lack of decision making<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Creating](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Creating-a-team-in-Plaky-min.png\")
![\"Using](\"https:\/\/plaky.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Using-a-summary-row-in-Plaky.png\")