In the world of customer experience (CX), we often hear the rallying cry to “break down the silos!” While this advice comes from a good place—the desire for seamless operations and unified customer journeys—it’s time to break down the “break down” call on silos. Not all silos are created equal for sure, but they can be necessary for organizational success. What Gary, are you crazy? Deep breaths out there, CX’ers…you will be fine. Think about it logically, without certain silos, to quote Bruce Temkin, “you will have chaos”! Instead of blindly demolishing every silo in sight, let’s explore how to optimize organizational structure and make silos work together more effectively, and be well, less “silo-like”.

The Reason Silos Exist

Before we dive into optimization, it’s crucial to understand why silos exist in the first place. Silos often emerge organically as organizations grow and specialize. Specialization can provide several benefits:

• Specialization and Expertise: Specializations allows teams to develop deep knowledge in specific areas, fostering innovation and excellence within their domains.
• Clear Accountability: With well-defined teams, it’s easier to assign responsibility and track performance for specific functions or products.
• Focused Innovation: Specialization can create environments where teams can concentrate on pushing the boundaries within their field.

When Silos Become Problematic

Of course, this can become problematic when these specialized teams start to hinder rather than help the organization, creating what we CXer’s view as “silos”. Common issues include:

• Conflicting Goals: When not collaborating through an effective CX program, differing objectives can lead to conflict and friction between the teams.
• Communication Breakdowns: When silos don’t communicate effectively, it can lead to misalignments, inefficiencies and more frustration.
• Inconsistent Customer Experiences: If silos operate in isolation, customers might receive disjointed experiences when interacting with different parts of the organization.

Optimizing Organizational Structure

The goal shouldn’t be to “break down all those silos!” but to find the right balance. Here’s how to optimize your structure:

• Identify Necessary vs. Unnecessary “Silos”: Evaluate each silo’s contribution to the organization’s goals and customer experience. Some silos might be redundant or counterproductive. Be very leery of over-functionalization. While specialization has its merits, too much functionalization leads to inconsistent customer outcomes and deliverables, internal confusion, and finger-pointing.
• Determine the Optimal Number: There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but consider factors like company size, industry complexity, and customer needs when deciding how many teams are appropriate and manageable.
• Learn from Success Stories: Study companies that have successfully optimized their structure. For instance, a large organization like Amazon organizes around small, autonomous teams (the “two-pizza rule”) while maintaining a customer-centric focus across the organization.

Strategies for Making Silos Work Together

In addition to working on optimizing your silo structure, most importantly, focus on improving collaboration amongst those silos!:

• Cross-Functional Teams and Projects: Regularly bring together members from different silos to work on shared initiatives.
• Shared Goals and KPIs: Align teams with overarching company objectives and customer satisfaction metrics to encourage cooperation.
• Technology Solutions: Implement tools that facilitate information sharing and collaboration across teams.
• Regular Inter-Silo Meetings: Schedule recurring meetings between what you consider silos and their leaders to discuss challenges, share insights, and identify collaboration opportunities.

Photo by David Ballew on Unsplash

The Role of Leadership

Leadership plays a crucial role in making this optimized approach work:

• Set the Tone: Leaders should model and encourage cross-functional collaboration.
• Incentivize Cooperation: Reward employees and teams that successfully work across silos to achieve company goals.
• Balance Specialization and Big-Picture Thinking: Encourage deep expertise within silos while fostering an understanding of how each silo contributes to the overall customer experience.

Impact on Customer Experience

When done right, this optimized approach can significantly enhance CX:

• Expertise-Driven Solutions: Customers benefit from the deep knowledge fostered within specialized teams.
• Seamless Handoffs: With better collaboration, customers experience smoother transitions between teams.
• Consistent Yet Specialized Experiences: Customers receive consistent brand experiences while benefiting from specialized attention where needed.

Implementation Tips

Ready to optimize your silo structure? Here are some tips to get started:

1. Assess Current Structure: Map out your existing silos and evaluate their effectiveness.
2. Gradual Optimization: Instead of a radical restructuring, make incremental changes and monitor their impact.
3. Measure and Iterate: Regularly assess the performance of your optimized structure and be prepared to make adjustments based on actionable feedback and data.

The Wrap Up

The key to better CX isn’t necessarily screaming “break down all silos!”, but rather optimizing your organizational structure and fostering collaboration between the necessary functionalization. By focusing on the right balance of specialization and integration, you can create an organization that leverages deep expertise while delivering cohesive customer experiences.

Remember, the goal is to create a structure that serves your customers best. Sometimes that means maintaining certain “silos” for their expertise while ensuring they work harmoniously with the rest of the organization.

As you reflect on your own organization’s structure, consider: Are there silos that could be optimized rather than eliminated? How can you foster better collaboration between existing silos? By asking these questions and implementing thoughtful changes, you can create an organizational structure that truly enhances your customer experience.