Staying competitive in the face of increasingly accelerated disruption can be a challenge to 21st century organizations. Many organizations have started to rethink and retool their offerings and operation. This kind of Transformation, however, requires a collaborative effort from all parts of the organization, no matter how different their processes, systems, and cultures have been in the past.

Often, the Transformation effort falls flat due to problems that arise when disparate parts of the company fail to work together with a shared sense of mission. Most large companies have divisions, or even groups and functions within divisions, that operate in silos. This can be for a good reason. In the Knowledge Economy, professionals need to work with people who possess similar professional skills to fulfill specific mandates. Silos can exist to harness knowledge-based skills, or specific job functions, or they can be geographic. In many industries, silos are vital to productivity. But when organizational Transformation is needed, it is a different story.

Silos, during Transformation, mean that the very parts of our company that must work together are unaccustomed to doing so, and are even unable to communicate with one another. They are culturally misaligned, inherently mistrustful, and territorial. These problems can complicate Change efforts, or delay or derail delivery of their benefits.

This framework highlights 7 critical strategies when breaking down silos become essential in achieving successful Business Transformation.

1. Align leaders
2. Create cross-functional teams
3. Create clear roles and responsibilities
4. Co-locate teams
5. Create Joint Incentives
6. Create a "two in a box" Leadership
7. Clarify decision rights

These 7 critical strategies will help organizations harness the right mix of knowledge and skills needed to bring about large-scale change.

This deck also includes slide templates for you to use in your own business presentations.

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