Breaking Down Silos: Why Cross-Team Communication Matters

Different teams speaking different languages? Your organisation might have a translation problem.

My career journey has rarely been a straight line. Over the past 20 years, I've hopscotched from marketing to communications, leapt into digital teams, landed in delivery and product groups, and finally parachuted out to become an external trainer and consultant. This career pinball has given me a unique vantage point into how different teams operate – and yes, the stereotypes often hold embarrassingly true.

I've been that lone digital content person sitting among developers, all of us wearing headphones, communicating via instant messaging. Suddenly, everyone starts laughing at some meme shared in the chat while visitors from other departments stare bewildered. I've equally thrived in marketing and comms teams where social skills were currency, office banter was constant, and team bonding often resulted in collective hangovers.

Being something of a workplace chameleon, I've adapted to each environment and frequently found myself serving as a translator between these different corporate tribes. This has highlighted a troubling reality: certain teams simply don't have natural communication channels between them.

The Sales-Delivery Disconnect

Take the classic sales-delivery team relationship. I've lost count of the times I've been part of a delivery team handed a project where the sales team has sold a beautiful, incredible idea that's utterly impossible to build with the allocated time and budget.

When we push back: "This isn't deliverable." Their response: "Well, it's been sold. You've got to do it."

This fundamental disconnect creates internal silos that make it nearly impossible for people to perform their best work. When you say, "We can't do this," and all sales hears is "You're not trying hard enough," you've got a translation problem.

Beyond Sales and Delivery

This issue isn't unique to the sales-delivery dynamic. I've witnessed it between various technical teams, between different project phases, and across product teams. The challenge of getting specialists from different disciplines to effectively communicate is universal and persistent.

For L&D professionals, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Your carefully designed learning programmes often struggle to deliver full ROI precisely because departmental silos prevent the cross-pollination of newly acquired skills. When teams can't communicate effectively, the knowledge transfer that should happen post-training simply doesn't materialise.

Breaking Down the Walls

So how do we dismantle these silos? There are several approaches that don't necessarily require formal training interventions.

1. Rethink your workspace

I'm a strong advocate for organising teams by project rather than specialty. Instead of segregating all sales staff in one corner, delivery in another, and design in yet another, group people working on the same projects together. Simply sitting people near each other naturally breaks down barriers. It's not instantaneous, but it works.

2. Shake up the floor plan

If project-based seating isn't feasible, consider rearranging office layouts to encourage more movement and cross-team interaction. Physical environment shapes communication patterns more than we often realise.

3. Create knowledge-sharing opportunities

Arrange lunch-and-learns or similar sessions where teams can discuss their challenges. One of my favourite meetings ever was dubbed "The Mess-Up Meeting" – a forum where people shared their worst professional mistakes. Beyond its educational value, it served as a powerful bonding activity. Everyone left understanding that mistakes are universal and that vulnerability creates connection.

These informal learning spaces often yield insights into skill gaps that formal needs analyses might miss. They're also excellent opportunities to identify potential internal trainers and mentors who can help extend your team's reach.

4. Crisis as opportunity

Working through difficult situations together forges stronger bonds between teams. (Though I must emphasise – don't manufacture a crisis just for team building!)

5. Training with a twist

For remote-first organisations where physical solutions aren't viable, consider communications training – but with a critical difference.

Don't send just the tech team or just the sales team. Send mixed groups to in person training sessions so they can collaborate on something outside their direct workload for a few days, and learn to speak each other's languages in a neutral setting.

When teams exist in isolation, they develop their own dialects, values, and working styles. These differences aren't inherently problematic – they often reflect what works best for specific functions. The trouble starts when these specialised groups can't effectively translate their needs and constraints to others.

Breaking down silos isn't about homogenising your workforce. It's about building bridges between distinctive but equally valuable professional cultures. Because when your teams can actually talk to each other, that's when the real magic happens.