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Love your silos!

Rigid silo structures, struggles over power and budgets, and an unwavering we’ve-always-done-it-this-way mentality are all too common symptoms of communication barriers within an organization. The causes can often be attributed to the human factor: Everyone wants to contribute to success – if it weren’t for “the others!”

This article was originally published in tcworld 2/2018.

Organizations are responsible for creating and nurturing a culture and infrastructure that facilitates smooth communication. If their attempts are only half-hearted, the result will be half-hearted as well, leading to communication barriers and frustration: Employees huddle together in ad-hoc units – silos – where they are among themselves. This may feel good for the moment, but in the long run, silos lead to decreased productivity, loss of motivation and resignation.

This article addresses technical writers who regularly tear their hair out over “those guys in marketing and sales”. It might also be helpful for marketers who think that technical writers are those pale green aliens typing away in the basement. As a manager, you will gain some insight into moving your group or department towards a more collaborative and communicative culture; for the leaves on the hierarchical tree I am providing suggestions to advance solutions using “bottom-up management.”

Read the full article on the tcworld website.