Toby O’Rourke is the President & CEO of Kampgrounds of America, Inc. and a thought leader in outdoor hospitality and travel.
Teams cannot be agile, fast and responsive without working together. Withholding information between teams—even if unintentional—or failing to seek input from other departments creates division in a company.
But leaders cannot simply tell people to collaborate more. I’ve found that for many leaders, cross-functionality does not come naturally. Therefore, it can help to actively seek creative ways to build cross-functional teams as a mechanism to break down silos and build mutual trust.
Collaboration across internal boundaries not only improves efficiency and innovation but also boosts staff morale by helping people see where they fit into an organization’s bigger picture. Employees are then better positioned to make the mental shift and recognize that the organization is one large cross-functional unit.
For leaders, it is not enough to only create opportunities for collaboration. Breaking down silos requires that cross-functionality is constantly modeled from the top.
One useful trick is to visualize an empty chair at the table during meetings—this can help us remember the points of view not in attendance. Who is not being represented in this meeting? What voices are we not hearing? Fewer are left feeling forgotten when an organization is committed to seeing projects from all sides, including all disciplines, in the process.
Breaking Down Silos From The Top
The biggest job of a CEO is connecting the dots. If one person on the team has information that another does not, it is our job to connect them. Look to facilitate discussion between different teams and extract the information needed to get them to share with each other.
Leaders must continuously work to reduce the tendency for silos to form in organizations. Be intentional about creating specific projects for cross-functional teams. Make sure they are addressing real priorities, and incorporate them as a core part of each member’s job—otherwise, in my experience, the work will be treated as a side project.
Another issue is that collaboration for most people—including leaders—does not come easily. Sometimes we need to engage facilitators to lead teamwork sessions that create a safe space where people learn to trust each other. Company awards can also be updated so teams are recognized for their accomplishments, not just individuals. All these efforts can pay off over time as people learn the value of collaboration.
Building Teams With Names That Stick
Naming a cross-functional team can be a powerful way to unite people and remind them of the larger mission. For example, my company’s owned properties division was very operations-driven in the past. As we grew, we added marketing, revenue, accounting, acquisitions and development functions. To give these diverse teams a visual identity to rally behind, we rebranded the whole division as OAK (owned assets of KOA).
We now refer to OAK not just as operations, but as a cohesive unit. A common title can help expanded teams work together to manage multiple aspects of a company more effectively. I believe that this rebranded division demonstrates how cross-functionality is able to extend the concept of DEI to include a diversity of thought—bringing toether the skill sets and experiences that people from across divisions can bring to a multidisciplinary team.
Another example of how we used internal branding was by naming our company-wide monthly meetings. We were inspired by the idea of a grocery co-op and adopted the moniker to stand for cooperation—with the idea that we are all owners of this business.
Our richest co-op meetings tend to be when one team presents for input from multiple departments in the early stages of their process. Instead of proceeding in isolation, teams can benefit from expertise across numerous disciplines for more aligned outcomes down the line.
The Benefits Of Cross-Functional Teams
Research shows that silos are the biggest obstacle to successful collaboration (with 67% choosing this), but senior managers maintaining control was also cited as a significant barrier at 32%.
Overall, leaders are well advised to remain humble, because if they do not work well with others or refuse to let in people’s ideas, they are limiting their own effectiveness. By contrast, CEOs who rely on their senior team, composed of different discipline leaders, can look at the big decisions through many different lenses. Asking for pushback to your ideas can help you make better-informed decisions.
Take the example of priority decision-making. The marketing and the franchise teams may both make great business cases about a particular topic, but you have to weigh their proposals against the relative costs. By taking in all perspectives, you can make the best decision. This also raises the need to leverage skills and technologies between teams to avoid having to wind back progress on a project because someone introduces new information in the middle of a process.
Another main benefit of collaborating across boundaries is more innovation. I saw this play out after my company changed the approach to our annual hackathon, a one-day event designed to inspire ideas about the campground of the future. In previous years, people tended to ideate by business unit. This year, however, we set out individual topics that were cross-functionally oriented and then allowed individuals to choose where they’d like to sit. It completely busted down the silos of groupthink and encouraged an open exchange of ideas.
Keeping Everyone Informed
Engaging employees in this way helps them feel valued, make connections across the company and see how they are contributing to something larger than themselves. And communicating the corporate perspectives and how they break down into individual team priorities helps get everyone invested in the central goals of the company.
In the end, reinforcing top-down and cross-functional communications is the key to making collaboration work, so consider stepping back at the end of every meeting and asking: Who needs to know what and when? Who is not here?
By taking the time upfront to plan properly and ensure everybody is included, you can move faster, smarter and more efficiently as an organization.
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