Team Building Tips

We brought a couple new team members on board a couple of months ago and now it appears that because of their specialized knowledge the team is forming some silos around them. What's the best way to deal with this?

We recently worked with a 60-person company in which the people in the Accounting Department were not permitted to use the laser printer “owned” by the Marketing Department. While these printers sat side-by-side, each department treated the other as if it were the enemy infringing upon its territory.

Individuals need to learn to reduce friction and "turf wars" between organizational levels and departments. People must generate collaborative approaches to getting results despite geographic or functional separation and establish true lines of communication between the boxes on the organizational chart.

I would recommend an exercise in which the team members have the opportunity to share their knowledge and collaborate on a project.

I had this happen on my team and agree with Andy on what action to take. Make a concerted effort to ensure that these team members are assigned to projects where they have to work cross-functionally on the team. That will help them build relationships with other team members and will help break down the silos.