5 Actionable Ways to Improve Communication Between Departments

Good communication, knowledge sharing, and collaboration across teams are what make a company greater than its parts. Cross-departmental communication skills are vital in preventing unproductive silos and encouraging teams to work toward shared business goals.

Maintaining effective communication across departments is a common business challenge. Departments can get too focused on their team’s tasks and objectives, losing sight of the big picture and how collaboration with other departments benefits the business as a whole. 

Communication failures can stem from a silo mentality (i.e., a reluctance or refusal to share information between departments), lack of communication channels, differences in communication style, or outright hostility between teams or team members. These failures and lack of communication can also be a sign of problems with company culture, employee engagement, or employee morale. 

Here are five actionable steps to avoid these failures and encourage positive cross-functional communication between departments.

Whatever the cause of poor cross-functional communication, business leaders and managers can take steps to build trust between departments and improve workplace communication. The following communication-enhancing strategies and actionable steps will help business leaders identify communication gaps, improve internal communication, and streamline collaboration across the organization.

1. Reduce and prevent silo mentality among team members.

There’s a fine line between tight-knit teams and organizational silos. While team building and teamwork are important, managers must create processes that foster cross-departmental collaboration to ensure smooth business operations. Silo mentality creates pockets of organizational knowledge and restricts team members from reaching out to other groups that might have valuable information. Teams end up out of sync, increasing the risk of miscommunications and delivering projects that don’t align with shared goals.

Combat silo mentality and increase collaboration with the following tactics:

• Increase knowledge sharing. Encourage managers to share information across teams and departments. Invite members from different departments to sit in on or present at team meetings and have shared Slack channels. 
• Democratize access to information. Create open communication channels and standardize collaboration and document storage tools so everyone has equal access to information.
• Make planning meetings inclusive. Include representatives from every team working on a project in kickoff and planning meetings so they can collaborate from the start. 
• Reorganize your office space. Place teams that work together in close physical proximity to one another. Create workspaces where people from different teams can gather for impromptu work sessions. 
• Remember your remote employees. Schedule larger cross-departmental meetings and activities that include remote team members. Record meetings so people can catch up asynchronously.

2. Set company-wide objectives. 

Set and communicate high-level objectives so teams can see how their work fits together to reach company-wide goals. This gives everyone a shared sense of purpose and a North Star to work toward. 

Use these tips to rally teams around a shared vision:

• Communicate goals company-wide. These goals are your North Star and should represent work done by all departments. Make sure they are easy to find and access. Cascade communications to all teams, encouraging questions and feedback.
• Align department goals with the larger strategy. Work with departmental heads to ensure department and team goals ladder up to larger company goals. Encourage departmental heads to find ways to support each other.
• Reconsider performance metrics. Key performance indicators (KPIs) measure progress toward a goal but can inadvertently cause teams to lose sight of the larger goal. For example, a marketing team with a KPI tied to the number of leads acquired might sacrifice quality for quantity, causing friction with sales teams.
• Reinforce a shared sense of purpose. Refer back to high-level goals in emails, newsletters, and regular messaging to reinforce a shared sense of purpose. Hold town hall meetings across departments. Share good news and individual or departmental wins to boost morale.

3. Review and standardize communication tools enterprise-wide.

In this era of electronic communication, the tools teams use directly impact how information flows across the organization. Okta’s Businesses at Work report found that large companies use over 200 tools to support their business. Each tool has its own notification settings and rules around how to communicate within the tool and integrate with other tools like email or Slack. Teams that use their own set of tools can end up in communication silos.

Break down silos and improve communication across the enterprise by evaluating communication tools with this advice in mind:

• Identify a standard set of business tools enterprise-wide. Evaluate the tools used across the organization to identify the ones that best support your business goals. Aim to reduce the number of tools and create a common toolset across teams. 
• Designate preferred tools for different types of communication. A recent study found that 47% of knowledge workers feel unsure about choosing the right channel to communicate information. Designating specific tools for specific tasks reduces the mental load of selecting a channel and ensures everyone knows where to find the necessary information.
• Leverage AI across teams. AI tools can sort through information in seconds, support writers, and automate many communication tasks. Used strategically, AI helps everyone communicate more efficiently. For example, integrating AI into knowledge bases helps teams find information faster. AI writing assistants, like Grammarly, use your style guide so everyone communicates in a common language. And AI can automate notifications so no one gets missed on project updates.
• Schedule regular meetings and events. The best way to break down silos is to encourage routine interactions. In-person meetings, Zoom presentations, daily stand-ups, company events, and opportunities to socialize outside of work foster camaraderie. Ensure everyone has access to shared calendars or scheduling tools that make it easy to connect.

4. Form cross-functional teams. 

Cross-functional teams are the linchpin of productivity and workplace satisfaction. These synergistic teams give employees the chance to get to know team members they may not normally interact with. Forming cross-functional teams for relevant projects and initiatives allows employees to broaden their skill sets while working together toward a common goal. 

Try these techniques to implement cross-functional teams within your organization:

• Choose team members from different departments. Diverse skill sets and different perspectives are the foundation of cross-functional teams. Pull together creative types, engineers, people in customer-facing roles, and people with project management skills.
• Establish clear roles for each person involved. Assign roles based on each person’s strengths and ensure everyone is able to make meaningful contributions. For example, someone with strong organizational skills might set up workflows in your preferred project-management tools, while another person might be responsible for visual design elements. 
• Schedule regular check-ins. Meet with team members to assess how the project is going, offer support, and avoid communication breakdowns. 
• Expect a learning curve. Working on a cross-functional team requires skill sets like diplomacy, compromise, and clear communication so that everyone’s contributions come together as planned. Give teams space to fail and schedule retrospective meetings to help teams identify communication gaps and learn effective ways to close them.  

5. Break down communication barriers.

Miscommunication is a frequent occurrence in the workplace, costing US businesses an estimated $1.2 trillion every year. Miscommunications happen when communication barriers prevent people from receiving the intended message. 

Communication barriers include:

• Lack of clarity and context: Unclear messages take longer to decipher and lead to misunderstandings. 
• Information overload: Too much information makes it difficult to focus on the most important parts or retain the information you need.
• Hierarchy and power dynamics: Power differentials and fear of repercussions can cause employees to withhold opinions, concerns, and valuable feedback and ideas. 
• Cultural and language differences: Different communication styles, norms, and values can lead to miscommunication or misunderstandings. 
• Poor communication channels: Information gets lost or delayed when there are too many communication channels or those channels are inadequate for your organization’s communication needs. 
• Noises and distractions: A noisy workplace and constant interruptions make concentrating difficult for some people.
• Emotional factors: Stress, anxiety, frustration, or conflict between team members can lead to disengagement or unwillingness to collaborate. 

Invest in effective business communication

Communication is how teams get work done. Improving the flow of information throughout your organization increases productivity and helps everyone be more successful. Effective communication transforms teams from clunky siloed parts into a well-oiled machine ready to take on ambitious business goals.

Take your workplace communication up a notch with the Ultimate Guide to Business Communication. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to break down communication barriers and build an enterprise-wide communication strategy that helps teams work better together.