Breaking Down Silos in the Workplace: A Framework to Foster Collaboration

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Public Health Manag Pract
• Personal Author:
  Jones, Anita A. ; Uhd, Justin ; Kabore, Charlotte D. ; Cornett, Kelly A.
• Description:
  Introduction:
  
  Employees are often placed within an organization based on their respective roles or duties, which can lead to vertical and horizontal organizational silos. Organizational silos may restrict information, resources, and stymie progress and innovation. This analysis presents a framework to mitigate silos and overcome communication barriers within an organization by increasing collaboration.
  
  Methods:
  
  The project team examined results from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) 2020 Employee Viewpoint Survey Results and conducted 19 key informant discussions with NCCDPHP employees. Participants were asked to provide feedback on (1) understanding silos in the workplace and (2) best practices for reducing silos and fostering collaboration. A thematic analysis was conducted to understand organizational silos, the motivation to reduce silos, and identify best practices and strategies.
  
  Results:
  
  Respondents felt that siloing exists at the division and branch levels; however, 95% of respondents were motivated to reduce silos. Fifty-eight percent of respondents identified that institutional factors such as the organizational structure (n = 8) and red tape/bureaucracy (n = 3) contribute to siloing. Additional behaviors and actions that perpetuate silos were identified, and efforts to reduce silos were categorized to propose a model: Framework to Foster Collaboration for improving organizational collaborative efforts.
  
  Discussion and Conclusion:
  
  Key themes included inclusion, shared goals and vision, bi-directional communication, and relationship building and developing trust as critical elements for improving collaboration and creating synergy across teams in efforts to reduce silos in the workplace.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cooperative Behavior Humans Organizational Culture Qualitative Research Surveys And Questionnaires United States Workplace
• Keywords:
  Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's Disease Sequencing Project Antiviral Agents Collaboration Framework Communication Herpes Simplex Human Papillomavirus Knowledge Sharing Silos In The Workplace Torque Teno Viruses Whole Exome Sequencing Whole Genome Sequencing Workplace Culture

  More +
• Source:
  J Public Health Manag Pract. 30(6):E306-E311
• Pubmed ID:
  38936357
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11419935
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  30
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7519061dea1a3f1e1e7de8a2b75acb5a04f7d026ed38f6eeea255743bba5f3d255a1480cff6bf77bba0be3ae64178b0467233f6d992094f464c7b243c59384e4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/162460/cdc_162460_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 288.32 KB ]