The pandemic that started in 2020 was devastating to team morale and miscommunication. Team members had a lot of fear. Everyone was unsure about what was happening and what the future would bring. What made it worse, though, was that since everyone was remote, the number of silos increased. (They increased dramatically!)
The Pandemic of 2020 Caused a Huge Number of Communication Silos to Develop.
For instance, let’s say that a company only had 20 employees in 2020. This company had an administrative team with a handful of people. It also had a sales team with about the same number of team members. The remaining employees were in service and marketing.
Prior to the pandemic, the group was already seeing miscommunication between their four silos. Marketing and sales might create a promotion that increases service calls. However, they would often forget to tell the service manager. So, even with just four silos, challenges occurred.
Then, in 2020, the company had the entire team work remotely. Now, instead of four silos, the company had 20. Over time, the company replaced some team members and add new ones. The new team may have never even met their coworkers face-to-face.
So, fear is at an all-time high. And at the same time, trust is at an all-time low. People that were hired during the pandemic have no sense of teamwork with their coworkers. They have been in their silo for a year or two.
To break these silos and get your team back to a cohesive group, you want to do three things.
This process has a specific order, by the way. If you just add a pool table to your office, but the trust level is low, it is a waste of money. Work to develop the trust first. Then, create the collaborative environment. And only then do you focus on the fun part. (It will be even more fun when you get to it.)
Show Notes: Team Building Ideas to Tear Down Communication Silos (https://www.leadersinstitute.com/effective-team-building-event-ideas-will-tear-down-communication-silos/)