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Silos don’t make sense in a social media world
By Justin Goldsborough | February 18th, 2009
Justin case you were wondering…I’m getting really tired of answering the question: What department do you work in? Yet when I meet someone new inside or outside Sprint, that question undoubtedly comes up in the first two minutes of conversation without fail, often followed by the trading of business cards. Dissect any company and you’re going to find silos. We call them departments — corporate communications, marketing, customer service, product development, etc. Talk to the people in those silos and you’ll find more silos. We call them jobs or responsibilities – “I’m responsible for internal communications,” or “I manage customer account issues.” Silos breed ownership, which breeds control, which leads us down the road of labeling everything and everyone. John Smith isn’t John Smith anymore. He’s the direct mail rep for the southern region. And Sally Jones isn’t Sally Jones. She’s account number 58764.
Does your company have silos? Most do for organizational purposes or to set job expectations for employees. But in my opinion, silos offer more problems than solutions. The companies that win will lose the labels and set one expectation for their employees – engage with people and build relationships. That’s where social media comes in, because social media can be the silo killer if company leaders will let it.
Note: This post was written as a guest post for Rodney Rumord’s (@Rumford) and Beverly Macy’s (@beverlymacy) Gravity Summit (@gravitysummit) blog. Read the post in it’s entirety and make sure to check out what Gravity Summit is all about!
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