Silos are the bane of any business. When departments become territorial and defensive, it makes it almost impossible for everyone to pull together to hit the company's goals. When the business is trying to forge partnerships with other companies that need everyone to be on board, the negative impact of silos is close to exponential.
So what can be done about silos - to recognise them, to prevent them and, if you do find yourself in one, to get out of it? This was a subject I explored at impact.com's recent iPX 2024 event in London, with Lydia Perrin, Affiliate Specialist at B&Q, Glosinda 'Glossy' Goes, APAC Affiliates and Performance Partnerships Manager at Skyscanner, and Maria Milenkova, User Acquisition Director at Bitpanda.
I kicked off by putting it to Glossy that perhaps the perception of the partnerships industry, which to date has largely been built around affiliates, and also, more recently, influencer/creators, is in itself a silo. It's a point she agreed with.
Different challenges
"There is a misconception of the affiliate channel," she told delegates, "that it's just cashback and vouchers. But we do a lot more, including email, PR and advocacy, and as a result, that involves lots of different teams with different challenges and objectives.
"There are also regional challenges for a global business like Skyscanner, working with a lot of partners in different countries, which presents language challenges and understanding different processes that people use in different places," she added. "And there's sometimes an awareness gap as to what the partnership channel does and how it contributes to the bigger picture. We overcome these challenges by fostering collaboration between all the regions and the teams we work with."
Perhaps half the battle is to appreciate the danger that silos may be emerging within a business, and to recognise when you are in one. So what are the tell-tale signs?
"It's the knowledge that you have to go through lots of steps to make progress, to make a change, to onboard a partner," Lydia said. "If you experience hostility from other teams, a lack of collaboration, territorial behaviour from other teams, and you don't know why things are not progressing, because there's a lack of communication. Those are sure signs."
In the partnerships space, the silo issue has come to the fore in recent times as teams that have traditionally only dealt with affiliates have been tasked with taking influencers and creators under their wing. It's a process Maria has been through at Bitpanda, so what advice can she offer?
"It's not the right fit for every business, but for performance businesses it probably is," she said. "Maybe you have some affiliate managers and do not currently run any influencer marketing, so start small. We started with two or three creators, saw results, built the business case, explained why we should put more focus on them. They require commitment and investment, but with the proof of concept in place, the business case is almost complete.
"If, on the other hand, you already run affiliates and influencers in two teams, the business already sees the value of influencers, so then you should focus more on the transferable skills and knowledge. Ask yourself, are there efficiencies and economies of scale if they sit in the same team? Even for something as simple as briefing some sort of competition or incentive, it will likely be the same process; or maybe something worked well with this partner, so you might want to test it with another. There are lots of economies of scale, efficiencies and transfer of knowledge that are lost when teams don't sit together."
Start small
The notion of starting small is something Lydia has also experienced at B&Q. When she was looking to bring on board a new CSS (Comparison Shopping Services) partner, there were concerns from other teams, that the CSS partner would disrupt or cannibalise their activity. So how did Lydia and her team overcome this?
"We proposed a 3-month test and asked the relevant teams for their input," she said. "We recommended a low-risk category, Tools and Hardware, then reviewed the performance, and it showed that it had delivered a huge benefit. So then, once all teams were aligned on the value they were delivering, we went to a full-scale roll-out on all products, as well as an evaluation of other CSS partners."
This kind of cross-team collaboration and support is what every company aims for - so how do you make it work?
"Communication is key, making people aware of why you're doing what you are," said Lydia. "Have a project plan that outlines the right stakeholders, timelines and deadlines. Keep people updated on progress and have regular meetings. Take their concerns on board and make it collaborative. And lead by example - if you want support from other teams, you need to lead by example in how you work with them, in the information that you give them, in how clearly you explain why what you are doing is important."
And who do you choose to lead a cross-team project? Is it always the most senior person involved?
Definitely not, said Maria. "You have to align skill sets to the task. Senior people are okay if they have the best skill set but only when they add the most value. You have to lead with the business objective, that can then be broken down and contributed to by different teams and departments. A senior person that does not have the right knowledge and skill set can be a blocker."
To conclude, I asked our panellists for their final takeaways for avoiding or overcoming silos.
"Education is key," said Glossy. "Keeping internal stakeholders informed about the partner type and its value, while managing external expectations through transparency on internal processes. Aligning all parties is vital, and that's achieved through catch-ups that define shared goals and highlight the unique benefits each team gains from collaboration. Finally, leverage the power of data by implementing impact.com tracking to measure success. This ensures everyone is working towards a common objective, and celebrates measurable wins."
For Maria, it's important that teams learn each other's 'lingo'. "A lot of silos are built on the back of, say, a marketer having a mental barrier in communicating with the product team, because this is engineering, it's complicated," she said. "If you can get a base-level technical knowledge and show an interest in what they are doing, learn how to brief your requirements, this will build respect and a relationship. The fear of not knowing another team's world and how to collaborate with them is bigger than the skill set barrier."
And Lydia's advice? "Take a step back, review the strategy and consider a lower-risk, short-term trial that does not disrupt the status quo - to prove the concept and get buy-in from other teams."
Copyright 2024. Article made possible by James Bennie, Area VP, Customer Success at impact.com.