AT9 Concurrent Session 11/14/2013 3:45 PM 

     

"Lessons from Busting Organizational Silos"

   

Presented by:

Tricia Broderick Santeon Group

         

Brought to you by:  

  

340 Corporate Way, Suite 300, Orange Park, FL 32073 888‐268‐8770 ∙ 904‐278‐0524 ∙ sqeinfo@sqe.com ∙ www.sqe.com

Tricia Broderick Santeon Group

Passionately focused on facilitating high-performance software development environments, Tricia Broderick brings sixteen years of experience including the last six years of focus with an agile mindset. Tricia leverages and openly shares work experience stories and examples to inspire people, especially managers and leaders, to reach new heights through continuous reflection, both as individuals and as members of innovative teams. A highly experienced leader, coach, mentor, presenter, trainer, and speaker, Tricia recently joined the Santeon Group’s Learning team. Contact her at tricia.broderick@santeon.com or @t_broderick.

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Lessons  from    <trying  to>  Eliminate    Organiza2onal  Silos  

What  words  

come  to  mind  

when  you  hear  

the  word  

‘Silo’?  

Tricia  Broderick  @t_broderick  

tricia.broderick@santeon.com  

²   Mo8vated  by  helping  people      ²   Focused  on  soAware  dev  for  16  years      ²   Striving  to  be  a  chameleon  between              many  roles  ²   Always  trying  to  reflect  and  laugh  

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Around  2009,  Silos  are  formed  

because  people  are  worried  about  

C.Y.A.

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Background  

Web  Applica8on  

PM  Role  

S21  

Size  10  

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Impacts  from  Silos  

6  

Silo  Bus2ng  

Adjust  Team  Makeup  

Knowledge  Sharing  

Pair    Program  

Expect  Failure  

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7  

Silo  Bus2ng  

Adjust  Team    Makeup  

Knowledge  Sharing  

Pair    Program  

Expect  Failure  

Success

Eliminate  all  silos  by  crea8ng  an  environment  where  people  don’t  

worry  about  

C.Y.A.

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Then  around  2011,  Unhealthy  silos  are  

formed  because  people  are  lacking  a  

Shared goal.

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Background  

Web  Services  

Development  

Director  

Size  70  

One  Dept  

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Impacts  from  Silos  

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Silo  Bus2ng  

Adjust  Team  Makeup  

Knowledge  Sharing  

Rota2ons  Expect  Failure  

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Silo  Bus2ng  

Adjust  Team    Makeup  

Knowledge  Sharing  

Rota2ons  Expect  Failure  

Failed

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What  next?    

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Silo  Bus8ng  

Tom  Perry  

Agile  Conf.  

Perfectly  2med…  

My  Ah-­‐Ha  moments  ü Silos  are  necessary  &  natural  ü There  are  many  types  of  silos    

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Source:    agiletools.wordpress.com  

Silo  Bus8ng  

Tom  Perry  

 

ü Provide  the  appropriate  superordinate  goal  

 

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Silo  Bus2ng  

Vision   Leadership  Team  

Ownership  Expect  Failure  

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Silo  Bus2ng  

Vision   Leadership  Team  

Ownership  Expect  Failure  

Success

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Create  healthy  silos    by  providing  a    

 Shared Goal in  a  safe  environment  

Then  in  2013,  Organiza2on  silos  are  formed  because  people  

are  not  

Evolving together.

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Background  

Lean  Organiza8on  

Director  

Size  250  

12+  projects  

My  organiza2on…  President  

Marke8ng  

Marke8ng  People  

Sales  

Sales  People  

Engineering  

Services  

Services  Engineering  

Products  

Product  Engineering  

Execu8ve  Team*  

*  En8re  execu8ve  team  not  depicted  

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First  priority  

1st  Priority:    My  house  in  order.  

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But  we  hit  a  

ceiling…  

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Silo  Impacts  

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Silo  Bus2ng  

Halt  Current  Effort  

Combine  &  Iterate  

Invite    Others  

Expect  Failure  

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Silo  Bus2ng  

Halt    Current  Effort  

Combine  &  Iterate  

Invite    Others  

Expect  Failure  

Failed

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Not  Just  Fail.  

EPIC  FAIL.  

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•  Stop  sub-­‐op8miza8on  of  one  area  •  The  team  was  eager  to  work  on  next  set  of  problems  •  Con8nue  on  exis8ng  success  •  Increase  shared  ownership  

In theory…

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Reality…

•  Different  stages  of  learning    •  Different  embraced  values  •  Different  problems  •  Different  pace  •  Too  many  cooks  in  the  kitchen  

Strengthened Us vs Them

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•  Understand  value  stream  for  en8re  org  •  Align  cultures  at  one  8me  •  Con8nue  on  exis8ng  success  •  Increase  shared  ownership  

In theory…

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Reality…

•  Different  stages  of  learning    •  Different  perceived  values  •  Different  expecta8ons/problems  •  Different  pace  •  Leadership  not  in  sync  

Strengthened Us vs Them

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In theory…

The  one  expecta2on    that  remained  consistent    

all  of  these  years    is  the  one  

 I  should  have  been  best  at.  

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Reality…

•  Wanted  faster  results  for  the  org  &  people  •  Seemed  so  logical  &  obvious  •  Didn’t  want  to  take  steps  backwards  •  Felt  like  broken  record  •  Started  seeling  •  Started  being  disappointed  in  others  •  Started  pufng  too  much  weight  on  myself  •  Slowly  stopped  modeling  what  I  believe  

I wasn’t!

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ü Safe  Environment  ü Smart  &  well-­‐inten8oned  people  ü Crisis  ü Acknowledging  silo  existence  ü Authority  demanding  teamwork  ü Leadership  desiring  teamwork  ü A  vision  ü A  superordinate  goal  

The  following  was  not  enough  to  create    

Healthy  Organiza2onal  Silos:  

In  hindsight,  

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A  group  will  never    become  a  team    if  they  bypass  the    

journey  of  learning  and  evolving  together    

no  maeer  the  goal,  the  inten8on  or  even  the  urgency.      

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Tomorrow,    Organiza2on  silos  are  formed  

because  people  are  not  

Evolving Together and ????

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So  what  now  comes  to  mind  about  your  workplace  

silos?  

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Tricia  Broderick  @t_broderick  

tricia.broderick@santeon.com    

www.santeon.com/services/training