Thanks for your comments. Indeed, you’ve given us much to think about. I personally know of several association professionals who have read and forwarded this discussion on to their coworkers as a first step toward exposing the silo effect within their own work environments. It’s a huge issue out there.

Undoubtedly, I agree that a cooperative approach to achieving association initiatives should be modeled by the CSE and that staff at all levels should be encouraged to regularly collaborate with their coworkers on assignments; however, I think we’d agree this is often easier said than done.

In my opinion, more work should be done to promote clear and consistent communication among staff, as well as to reward instances of shared learning. Ultimately, as these practices become second nature, staff will work collaboratively, feedback will become vital and results will be celebrated as a team.

–aaron

My first association experience has tainted me forever, but we were a small staff (anywhere from 6-12 depending on the time) and we had a shared understanding that being “in charge” of something by virtue of your title really meant you were the point person who lead the staff ot collaboratively serving members in that area. The amount of involvement from other staff depended on the nature of the specific effort, but things like annual involved everyone.

Our daily 30-minute all-staff meetings reinforced this collaborative model as did other ways of doing our work each other: all major communications/publications had to be routed through all staff before final printing, some responsibilities rotated among staff annually so no one “owned” them permanently, etc. Changing the way the work gets done begins to change the mindset people bring to doing the work and it quickly becomes a self-reinforcing loop. Right now our loops self-reinforce the silo mentality in too many cases.

Create opportunities for staff from different departments (at all levels) to work together on meaningful projects or brainstorm/discuss issues and challenges. Not meetings for meetings sake but creative meaningful gatherings. Are there systems in place that discourage cooperation — budgetary, administrative? Are there personalities (in senior positions) that model anti-cooperative behavior, guarding territory, budget and staff, ignoring or disparaging other departments? Their direct reports will follow their example — I’ve seen this.

Social media may help break down these silos since it offers an opportunity for many departments to work together on common goals and encourages open communication between staff and members. Perhaps one of the reasons many associations are struggling to get their legs with social media is because their culture is still stuck in silo and control mode. Lots to think about here, Aaron!