'Silo' is one of those management buzzwords that always seems to have a seat at the table—and for a good reason. A business plagued by silos is usually an inefficient business, one that has a shortage of trust, morale—and actively works to reduce productivity.
If you're new to the term, a 'siloed workplace' is one in which departments or sectors don't share information with each other. By not sharing information, you truly can't be sure that everyone is rowing together. This can lead to departments working on competing goals—or even employees in the same department not working on a common goal.
Departmental silos are a growing pain faced by businesses of all types—and property management companies are no exception.
Of course, you don't want to work in silos and have your productivity reduced. More visibility, collaboration, trust, and accountability are always a good thing, right? So, what causes silos? Generally, as a business grows, it can be hard for leadership to give up old systems and structures—and the control and comfort that comes with them. That fear can lead to silos.
You don't have to give up all of your processes to combat silos. Sometimes it's as easy as creating a unified vision, setting SMART goals, engineering incentives, measuring performance, and continuing to work as a team through these steps to continue to grow and improve.
We think that using a Property Management Operating System (PMOS) or other property management ecosystem to run your business makes all of this easier, so we'll set some examples of how it can help as we work through what all of this means for your company.
It is no surprise that EOS is popular among property management companies, HubSpot agencies, and businesses of all sizes. This is because it works. Knowing your core values and core focus makes it easier for you to set that big, hairy, audacious goal that actually makes sense for your business.
When you take the time to figure out these elements and then share them with your organization, it gives everyone a road map. Employees at every level of the business will now not only understand what the goal is but why it is important—and ultimately how meeting it can benefit them.
If you want everyone to row together, then as a leader, you have to be good at steering the boat—and sharing that vision with everyone. Adding these plans to a company handbook or knowledge base is a great way to keep them accessible to your employees—so they can get a refresher whenever they're interested.
Work past the silo mentality by showing each department of the company how the goals you set for them translate to meeting the larger goal. Show your teams how working together will help reach the vision, and you'll see how much more willing your team members are to collaborate and share information—both with you and each other.
Using a platform where everyone can work together in one property management ecosystem is a great way to encourage this.
We keep saying it because it's true.
We've had a lot of marketing clients come to us and start to worry when their actual leads and performance ratios are measured in HubSpot: 'It can't possibly be that low!' When your BizDev team is only reporting the leads that they're winning, it can seem like they're doing a killer job. When you see that number drop because all leads are measured—not just the ones that close—you'll start to see pretty quickly where some coaching needs to come into play.
Enhanced reporting that gives you a bird's eye view of what is happening in your business can give you the transparency you need to see and fix the silos in your business. We have to show you this kind of epic functionality 'in person,' so book a meeting and let us give you the bird's eye view of what PMOS can do!