In business, organizational silos refer to groups of employees or business divisions that operate independently and avoid sharing information.

The silo effect describes a lack of common goals, communication and collaboration between departments in an organization.

 

 
 

The word silo originally referred to storage containers for grain or missiles, but it is now used as a metaphor for separate entities that stockpile information and effectively seal it in.

 

Inner Enemies of Businesses

Enemies of Innovation

  

 
 

Losing Organization

Silos are created when the individual departments lose sight of the overarching goal of market success and instead focus on departmental goals. Silos impede knowledge sharing, cross-pollination of ideas, and innovation.

  

 
 

Breaking Silos: Good Practices

Nokia has an informal rule that no-one should eat lunch at their desk or go out for lunch. People are encouraged to eat in the subsidised cafeterias and to mix with people from outside their department. Such informal meetings across departments are beneficial in sharing ideas and understanding.

Oticon broadened the stairs to encourage spontaneous interactions between employees located on different floors  the multidisciplinary interchange.