Breaking Down Workplace Silos

To contact our Admissions Office, call

1.866.684.7237

Breaking Down the Walls: Promoting Collaboration &

Communication in the Criminal Justice Field

Online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

Allison Crowson, MJA

Program Manager

To contact our Admissions Office, call 1.866.684.7237 Online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

Arthur Amann, EdD

Professor

Meet Our

Panelists

To contact our Admissions Office, call 1.866.684.7237


Agenda

• Breaking Down Workplace Silos and Building Partnerships

• Overview of Norwich’s Online Criminal Justice Program

• Admissions Information

• Q&A



What Is A

Silo?

• Daniel Webster (who would not lie about this) says it is:

An airtight pit or tower, OR a large underground storage area of ballistic missiles (4th ed., p. 1335)



What Is Silo

Thinking?

• A practitioner's definition of a silo:

A silo is a person, group, or organization focused (almost) exclusively on matters of concern to an entity and (generally) resistant to authentically cooperating with others unless doing so is beneficial for them

Examples: - Iran

- FBI under Hoover

- North Korea



How Silos

Grow

• Competition: Departments vie for funding & resources

• Agency leader(s) fear collaboration

• Perception of not enough time for cooperation

• Apathy towards collaboration

• Egos do not allow for partnering

• Departmental jealousies

• Ignorance of partnering benefits—others



What Does

A Silo Look

Like?

• An important official that has little/no time for work you think is critical

• Agencies that do not participate

• Frequent late arrivals for meetings

• Promises to do something but little or no follow through

• Passive aggressive toward you or your organization’s activities

• Covert & overt hostility toward the “issue”

• Others?



Practitioners

May Encounter

Multiple Silos

According to Cushman (2002),

conflicts between agencies over

turf is one of the three biggest

killers of cooperation (sic). The

other two were lack of funding

and staff reductions.



Two Major

Types of Silos

1. Organizational: Some agencies, due to their “working personality,” are disposed to silo thinking: prisons, police, children & youth, probation, courts, victim agencies—in short: most public safety agencies!!

2. Individual: Organizations are made up of individuals—we all know the people in the above organizations who are collaborators and those who are not.

Suggested Approach: Eat the apple one bite at a time…work on individual silo-busting and the organization may follow



How To

Break Down

Individual

Silos

A Galilean Shift in thinking by the “silo keepers”:

With Galileo’s ideas we gained education to move from thinking about ourselves as the center of the universe to seeing our place in a much broader pattern.

So, let’s consider silo keeping to be a negative behavior and “treat” it accordingly…



Approaches To

Silo Breaking

1. The TREATMENT Approach

2. The COMMON SENSE Approach

3. The EDUCATIONAL Approach

4. The MEDICAL MODEL Approach



Treatment

Strategies

• Do an intervention: Get individuals the person knows and trusts and have a meeting (in a non-threatening environment) and tell the person what impact their lack of participation has on the whole system.

• 302 ‘EM!”: Force involuntary cooperation by going over their heads to their boss.



Treatment

Strategies

• Fuhgetaboutit until the timing is right. Wait for another election, the person retires, etc.

• Cognitive therapy: Talk to them about their reluctance—what can be done to help all do better?

• Classical conditioning: Carrot & Stick — see also 302 ‘em.



Common

Sense

Strategies

• Appeal to the ego: “Bob, we really need you on our team otherwise BLANK won’t be represented at the discussions…”

• Stress your “products”: Everybody likes a winning team and wants to be on one…

• Land some other “big fish” who this person might enjoy swimming with…

• Have a press conference and ask this person to say a few words…



Common

Sense

Strategies

• Ask the person to do a presentation at a meeting.

• Ask them why they do not participate and what can be done to get them to the table.

• Move the meeting locations around and ask them to host one of the sessions.

• Create and maintain a collaborative practitioner environment — keep decision making “flat” — remember that overly hierarchical structures breed silo keeping!



Educational

Strategies

• Educate yourself first: Given that we are ALL creatures of habit, Silo Keeping is a human condition — check your watch’s location!

• First Silo Keeper: “Cain, just ask Abel…”

• Might be harder to break silos in government due to the fragmented nature of the work.

• Expect silos— they exist in almost every organization.

• How about a role model?



Medical

Strategies

• Diagnose: Why is the person a silo keeper? What are the symptoms? What can be prescribed? How about:

– Appeal to their outside interests

– Send an emissary they trust and respect

– Take a thorn out of their paw: write a grant

– Get them on a business trip (the NIC model)

– Clearly I.D. what you want the person to do



Choosing The

Best Strategies

Many of the strategy approaches are similar and overlap, so you can use:

• The Force Field Analysis Model

– Driving Forces (what helps)

– Restraining Forces (what hinders)

Pick the most logical strategies, and then analyze them to determine which will be the most effective.



Why

Collaborate?

• Without a culture of collaboration, the best processes, systems, tools, and leadership strategies fall flat (Rosen, 2007, p. xii).

• To avoid “The Tragedy of the Commons” where those within a system use up the resources, or commons, available without consideration for others (Chawla & Renesch, 1995).

• Isn't it logical? If you work together, you should end up with something better than if you work apart? (W. Edwards Deming, as cited in Koehler & Pankowski, 1996, p. 67).



Summary

Remember NEMAWASHI, Japanese for consensus building – literally to go around the roots of a tree and meticulously prepare it for transplanting.

We are trying to transplant the Silo Keepers into fertile soil that will make them Silo Breakers who partner readily with others.



B.S. in

Criminal

Justice

• Combines Norwich’s deep legacy of public service and expertise in the CJ field

• Develop readily applicable skills that can help prepare you for your career

• Expert faculty will invest themselves in your success

• Flexible online classroom fits your busy schedule

• Extensive alumni community across all levels within the field



Program

Design

• Trimester structure with three start dates per year

• 63 credits needed to earn your bachelor’s degree

– Tailor studies to meet career objectives

– Includes five sections of study

• Complete in less than two years, entirely online



Supportive

Community

Remember, you are not alone…

We are here to help you every step of the way by providing a dedicated support system

• Admissions Counselors

• Student Services Advisors

• Program Manager

• Faculty

• Library Staff

• 24/7 Technical Support



Admissions

Information

• An Associate degree or a min. of 60 credits

– Credits can come from prior college courses, professional or military training, CLEP exams

• Program eligible for federal financial aid and military benefits Next Start Date:

January 12,

2015 Learn more at online.norwich.edu/cj

http://online.norwich.edu/cj-criminal-justice-bachelors/overview



Transfer

Credits

At Norwich, we value your experience and want to help you get the most out of your education

• Evaluate prior education and professional experience

• Transfer up to 84 credits

• Partner with community colleges to allow for seamless transition

Talk to our admissions team about an unofficial review of your transcripts and experience to see how close you are to earning your bachelor’s degree!

Next Start Date:

January 12,

2015

To contact our Admissions Office, call 1.866.684.7237 Online Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice

Phone 1-866-684-7237

Email [email protected]

Website www.online.norwich.edu/cj

Questions?

http://online.norwich.edu/cj-criminal-justice-bachelors/overview

Breaking Down Workplace Silos

Education

Transcript of Breaking Down Workplace Silos