How to Break Down Organizational Silos to Reduce Redundant Work

Many thought leaders emphasize driving transformations through the lens of people, which I wholeheartedly agree with. People remain the heart of how an organization operates. How do we achieve this? One often overlooked aspect is high-quality procedure documentation.   Procedures are detailed instructions for completing tasks. They are crucial because they: - Improve productivity by eliminating the need to decipher unclear documentation - Break down silos, enhancing team collaboration - Facilitate scalability and growth by simplifying onboarding of new employees - Are the key to consistent and great customer experiences - Manage risks and ensure regulatory compliance - Foster problem-solving and continuous improvement   I’ve seen many organizations struggle with maintaining quality procedure documentation. In one of my consulting projects, we cleaned up a disorganized repository that was a massive pain point for the company.   What’s the key to success? Defining a consistent structure aligned with the business context. The best practice is to organize procedure documentation according to your complete inventory of processes using the Process Inventory framework. This approach offers several benefits: - Scope Definition: Clearly defined boundaries ensure no overlaps in documentation. - Ownership: Assigning a Process Owner for each process ensures accountability for creating and maintaining high-quality documentation. - Employee Alignment: Provides clarity on which employees execute processes, making it easier to close knowledge gaps. - Risk Management Alignment: Helps the risk organization verify that procedures provide the right risk and compliance controls.   This is only possible if an organization inventories every process they perform through the Process Inventory framework. To learn more about this framework, check out my book 'Digital Transformation Success' https://a.co/d/bmYf0oG   #Transformation #PeopleFirst. #ProcessInventory #BusinessScalability #ContinuousImprovement

This year at #RSA, I found some kindred spirits—passionate AppSec people who are doing amazing things with their security program. We had a bunch of long and energetic talks that really got me thinking. Let’s start by talking about security/developer relationships. When it comes to security and developer relationships, two big—and arguably connected—talking points emerged: communication issues and silo issues. When I asked if any developers were working on the security team, most of the security people I spoke with said no. I got the same response when asking whether critical findings were reviewed by the AppSec team before talking with developers. I then followed up with, “Do general security personnel understand the application security tool findings?”. Most said (and I’m paraphrasing here), “kind of, but not really.” The common theme is clear. For a program to be successful, you need to break down those silos with increased cross-functional sharing. That also means increasing communication and understanding within the security team itself. Security executives need to understand that application security is a specific area of expertise that can’t be staffed with a network security resource. A few ideas to get you on the right path: 1.Shared goals. Application security is about building trust, not roadblocks. Work with the development team to build actionable goals that will improve your security posture while enabling developers to work through their backlog.  2. Communication. Work with the development team to find a dev who can review application security tool scan or penetration test findings/results? results and share actionable items with the development team. 3. Build knowledge bridges. Breaking down silos starts with building goals based on cross-functional knowledge. For instance, I once created an API coding and security best practice document based on feedback from both devs and the AppSec team. I worked with software architects to outline coding best practices and to incorporate security best practices. This built a relationship between both teams that is still active today.  4. Integrate application security education into development processes. Without this, you can’t improve your security posture. Put a plan together that starts at onboarding and continues bi-yearly. There are great programs out there that help teach what vulnerable code looks like and the proper coding resolution to resolve them.  5. Hire passionate people. They will drive your program to success.  6. Know you can’t hit 100% coverage or remediation. It’s an impossible goal. Plan for the worst, aim for the best, and hope to hit 90%.  7. Build a security champion program. I’ll get into this in more detail in my next post, but it’s worth mentioning here as a great way to energize your program. Please share your thoughts in the comments below, I would like to hear what you’re doing that could help others be successful. As always, stay secure my friends.

I've had three conversations just this week with clients talking about how to break down silos and promote cross-department collaboration - with both fully remote and hybrid teams. Collaboration isn't a new concept, it's been around as long as humans (300,000 years?), but with the rise of remote work the conversations are constantly evolving. One of the ideas we discussed (and one that is being implemented at the next all hands) is a day in the life exchange. Have a members of different teams pair and share their day-to-day activities with one another. In office? This can be done via an in person tour. Completely virtual? Maybe a series of videos. At a conference? It's can simply be a conversation. There are so many times I hear "I don't even know what they do." A glimpse into someone else's world where you learn their responsibilities and challenges can completely change perspective and improve communication. What is your favorite way to break down walls and increase collaboration? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Surrounded by Silos? Thinking about challenges and opportunities in terms of business drivers can help! When you take a broader look at developing solutions or capitalizing on opportunities you benefit from the collective wisdom of the company and help employees realize that everything is connected and everyone has a role to play. Say you want to reduce the amount of employee turnover in the customer service division. In addition to the traditional areas to explore (leadership and culture for the department, training, accountability and expectations)... Look at the bigger picture: ✨ Are customer complaints being listened to and acted on by production/service delivery? (If not, customer service reps may be getting burned out.) ✨ Do customer service reps have the authority to take some level of action to assist customers? (If not, customer service reps could feel a lack of control and lose motivation to help.) ✨ Is the job description and ideal candidate profile in keeping with the realities of the job? (If not, the people hired might not be the right fit for the position.) ✨ Is the ideal client profile accurate and is it being used by sales? (If not, the customers acquired may not be the right fit for the product or service.) This is one of the Catipult strategies I use to help my clients breakdown silos, connect all work to KPIs that impact the value and strength of the company, and increase employee engagement/satisfaction. What strategies are you using? #SecondinCommand #COO #CEO #Entrepreneur #Catipult