Trust and collaboration go a long way
Tear down the silos!
I have to get something off my chest. I’m fed up with organizational silo-thinking. Instead of working together, different parts of the organization are at odds with each other. Think of sales making promises to customers the product teams can’t keep. Or the product teams throwing their features into productions, oblivious of the updated security regulations. Or Human Resources using individual appraisals, obstructing collaboration.
No one is happy with the situation. But at the same time, this often doesn’t trigger people to truly solve it. Any improvement initiative that only targets a part of the organization, ignoring the bigger picture, may help you to improve, but only up to a certain level. True success only comes when collaboration replaces silo thinking.
This is certainly not straightforward. Collaboration requires trust. This Dutch proverb tells the truth: “Trust comes on foot, but leaves on horse”. In other words: it isn't easy to build trust, but easy to break trust.
“Trust comes on foot, but leaves on horse” - Dutch proverb
In today’s article, I will discuss important aspects of collaboration and trust, why it matters and how to foster it.
Ensure everyone has the same objectives
Organizations that work in silos often have competing goals. Sales may have a target to grow their customer base. Product teams may have a target to simplify their technical landscape. Support may have a target to reduce downtime. While these targets may not necessarily be at odds with each other, they will not help the organization to focus.
They all have different expectations of the product they create, almost surely leading to misunderstanding and frustration. They will not agree on what needs to be done to meet their goals. They may even all work on separate things. As a result, they will have suboptimal results.
Before even thinking about collaboration, people need to have similar objectives. When people have the same objectives, they have a common ground which can be a start to having a common understanding. It is a means to have a conversation on what you wish to do to reach the objectives.
Collaborate to address the Complete Product Experience
This isn’t the first time I have discussed the complete product experience. And it will not be the last time either, I am sure of that! The core functionality of the product (called “Technology” in the below picture) is only a part of the complete product experience. But for the user, other aspects like support and sales are important too. For example, when sales and technology aren’t aligned, the user’s experience will suffer. The same applies to when policies delay or even obstruct the introduction of a promised feature.
Typically, only “Technology” works with approaches that foster collaboration )see below). But these teams don’t cover the other parts of the complete product experience.
The end result is … that the collaborating Technology teams are still part of a siloed organization:
To be successful and achieve mutual goals, the walls need to be torn down. Instead, people need to collaborate. There are many ways to do this. I want to highlight unFIX and Fluid Teams.
The Power of unFIX
unFIX centres on organizing people around a value stream or product experience. The core premise is the product. unFIX helps build the best organizational structure to allow the teams to collaborate towards their goals and be effective.
For more information, check out the unFIX website or read this article.
The Power of Fluid (Scrum) Teams
Fluid Scrum Teams organize into smaller teams to tackle a specific issue. Every time they will organize themselves differently because of the different nature of the issues at hand.
The beauty of Fluid Scrum Teams is that the team, called pool of people, can be bigger than a typical Agile team. 25 is very much possible. Every iteration, they divide themselves into smaller temporary teams around specific goals. The composition of these temporary teams differs every iteration, based upon the skills required to achieve the goals.
Just like unFIX, Fluid (Scrum) Teams is a way to foster collaboration.
The importance of trust
One common issue with siloed organizations that are at odds with each other is the absence of trust. However, trust is a key element to success. People need to trust each other to openly share ideas and concerns and to face challenges together.
Trust is the first dysfunction of a team in Lencioni’s model:
#1 Absence of trust
#2 Fear of conflict
#3 Lack of commitment
# 4 Avoidance of accountability
#5 Inattention to results
Lencioni says, that when there’s no trust, forget about the rest. Trust is the foundation of a team.
It is also one of the Agile principles:
“Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.”
In Scrum, the 5 Scrum Values (Commitment, Courage, Focus, Openness, Respect) exist to build trust:
“When these values are embodied by the Scrum Team and the people they work with, the empirical Scrum pillars of transparency, inspection, and adaptation come to life building trust.”
Google found that the most important aspect of successful teams is psychological safety. This is all about building trust as well.
How can we build trust? Obviously, this is not so easy. But Amy Edmonson, Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard, proposes the following:
Step 1: Set the scene. Ensure shared ownership of the trust issue.
Step 2: Lead the way. The best way to show you’re serious is to expose your own vulnerability. This is in line with Lencioni’s recommendation to build trust.
Step 3: Take baby steps. Building trust takes time.
Step 4: Share positive examples. “Put your marketing hat on and market psychological safety.”
Step 5: Be a watchdog. As a leader, be vigilant and push back when you notice employees let their team down.
Healthy conflict
When you start breaking down the silos, foster collaboration and build trust, you should not be surprised to see more conflicts. Often, this is years of frustration finding an outlet.
Conflict is good, as long as it is a healthy conflict. In fact, when there’s no conflict, this may be an indicator that people are not heard or that they fear retaliation for speaking up. It indicates an absence of trust.
People don’t seek conflict because they like to be at odds with someone else. They are passionate about their point and wish to be heard. And it allows the team to deal with the conflict and come with a resolution that works for all. Amy Gallo wrote an HBR article and mentions the following benefits of healthy conflict:
It leads to better work outcomes
It gives opportunities to learn and grow
Healthy conflict leads to improved relationships
It brings higher job satisfaction
It fosters a more inclusive work environment
So, be happy with the conflict. Don’t avoid it.
Four steps, a long journey
The break down the silos, I recommend four steps:
Ensure everyone supporting the complete product experience has the same objectives.
Organize the people around a value stream or product experience.
Build Trust.
Allow healthy conflicts to happen.
This is easier said than done. But if it would be easy, everyone would do it. Many organizations struggle with silos and fragmented product experiences. There’s a lot to win for organizations that take this seriously and turn their organization around.
Original release January 2024