Farm Silos

I drove by the dairy country in Virginia, and the silos to every farm reminded of me a customer that I worked with to the time - a change of subissement of industrial successful business. They had silos organisationnels - a lot of harder to treat than the one on the farm. But they divide certain characteristics.

The business had been succeeded for a lot of years, but of new competition and of new technology forced the change. Their silos organisationnels were big obstacles changer.ils were firmly to his place, and while their occupying were convinced need for the change, they were just as the firmly convinced change was necessary in all the others silos, but not in it them. When the to call the increased productivity, the problem that redsout and the collaboration took out, every silo individually replied - while working harder - more of hours - more of volume. It obtained a lot done more occupy, but not a lot more effective one.

This was not until the silos were changed that the true change and the true growth could intervene.

The CEO went counts that all the silos have two things in common - first, they keep things in - and second, they prevent to enter things.

There is a something else the vast majority of silos divides - the only means to obtain does not import what in are them by the summit -, or sometimes by the bottom. Nothing enter by the sides.

To unique direction for that to change is to reverse the silos, but the longest one they were at his place, the hardest one that is to do. And they have the true value to most of the businesses - they are not necessarily bad. And when they are reversed, all the hell escapes - if it is not done very often.

My customer placed a high value on their silos - they were structures that had been effective and furnished the type of organization and the order type that converged of the people on their work. This order type has a high value - as it has. And the silos were a lot of of good and experienced people that knew their jobs, and was to trust them. But when the silos organisationnels create barriers to the collaboration, to outside the can (or has say us the silo) thinking, to look at new and innovative the solutions to the competition and the innovation, then they must be treated.

My customer chose a strategy that kept the structures, but the pushed holes in the sides - leaving of the ideas and the communication and problem resolution circulate by the different levels - and create the occasions for the peer to examine and to cross functional activities to arrive. This not to be easy, but it was effective.

The key walks take to do to arrive this were:

The CEO communicated hopes. It did it very clear in the communications and the actions that the manner matters internal were directed had to change if the matters were to survive and to prosper. It communicated the urgent need for the change. It communicated while it saw as the structure that would be developed to do that arrives.

The first one 5 objectives for the matters were made known to every one of the 1500 employees.

The business and the execution of functional sector to the first one 5 objectives all was been under the authority of on a monthly basis.

Cross functional and the problem that redsout of the teams was established and was induced in the team development, the dynamics and the communications.

An analysis close of chains of approval was done with the objective to eliminate as much low value - the additional steps as possible - and putting as much of responsibility as possible to most operating most effective levels.

Every functional head was demanded to do the party of functional activity upset of every responsibilities of employees. Or as the party of a team, or by the temporary tasks, or by the transfer to the other functions.

Every functional head was demanded to communicate their contribution and their problems to the entire organization. This was done the teleconferences of usage and the meetings, an internal Ezine, and the face to do facing meetings

The effect was that the silos grew more near to each other - and became interplanetary. It worked well enough that the matters found solutions that it kept competitive and growing. And they found them in the organization - the place where 95% of the responses to the problems organisationnels can be found. And just as in an important way, it created a new series of behaviors between the silos that allowed competences, the experience and the capacities to be used on an interplanetary basis. The a lot of higher effects of lever of human capital was created.

The silos must not be reversed. While "the silos organisationnels" most often is spoken as a negative term, it must not be. Respect and estimate structure while creating occasions to use the talent in the organizations can be the only one more effective that can be done to win the advantage in terms of competition