Tear Down Work Silos with this Approach

In a 1987 speech, Ronald Reagan famously stood before the Berlin Wall, the most powerful symbol of the Cold War, and demanded: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” This simple line turned out to be the defining moment in the ultimate unraveling of the Soviet Bloc.

You, too, can create a defining moment in your organization by calling out: “Tear down these silos!”

OK, perhaps not quite as dramatic as that, but dismantling silos is definitely an important step in ensuring the success of your movement. 

So, how do you effectively do so? 

Start by channeling Leonardo da Vinci, master of all polymaths and the ultimate Renaissance Man. Da Vinci rightly understood that great solutions, ideas and inventions happen by combining multiple disciplines.

Translation in the world of workplace wellness: Reach across department divides and bring together diverse minds and skill sets.

Here’s the thing: a da Vinci approach will lead to a greater infusion of well-being across the organization. It promises more synergy and integration. The more you can coordinate your efforts with others from different disciplines, the more you can foster greater impact within your organization - just the way da Vinci would have done it.

Here are three ways you can do exactly that:

1) Form unlikely partnerships – internally.

What are all of the departments in your organization? Now, wouldn't it be cool if you had representation from each of them? This is what it means to have not just a wellness team, but a da Vinci team! 

Having representation from each department is essential, not only in creating multidisciplinary solutions but also in generating buy-in across the organization. I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve witnessed other “jealous” departments sabotage well-being efforts, simply because they didn’t play a part.

The questions then become: How can you get each of these departments on board? How can you ensure that you have representation from each in your movement? You’ll need to construct a tailored pitch for each that will move them to join your awesome team. What’s their business case for well-being? What does well-being have to do with the work that they do? And, how are you going to present that to them? These are all questions you’ll need to consider. 

Let’s walk through one example of a team that you’ll definitely want to be part of your efforts: the organizational development team. 

Here are some ways that I have successfully gotten different teams on board when delivering our “Managers on the Move” (MOTM) program:

• I share how MOTM is a “wellness-meets-leadership” training program and ties to each of the organization’s leadership competencies.
• I invite the organization development team members to join me in facilitating the delivery of MOTM.
• I incorporate a few key snippets from their curriculum into MOTM, and help participants to “connect the dots.”
• I use their language in gaining buy-in and the delivery of the program. 
• And, perhaps, a simple element that is too often overlooked: I get to know them as people. 

Source: Laura Putnam, Workplace Wellness That Works

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2). Form partnerships – externally.

Now, put on your community hat. Who are people and organizations outside of your company who can help you to build your movement? One of my favorites is the American Heart Association. They offer a range of free resources – from on-site lunch n’ learns to a healthy eating toolkit to a healthy heart questionnaire.

There are really four big categories that I’ve identified (and maybe you can identify more!). 

• Health insurance carriers - Every single health insurance carrier now offers wellness, and in many cases, they have money to give you! You’ll want to make sure you find out what they’ve got, and use what’s going to help you with your movement. If they don’t have what you’re looking for, tell them what you are looking for, and they might be able to help out.
• Vendors - There are lots and lots of vendors out there. (And, yes, full transparency here, Motion Infusion is one of them!) Wellness is now the fastest-growing field. So, you’ll have lots of options to choose from. One of the key items to look for when selecting vendors is those that are able to demonstrate high rates of engagement. Also, beware of the vendors that overly rely on perks and incentives! What people want is something that is going to meaningfully enhance their quality of life. What people don’t want is another box to check!
• Brokers - Most likely your organization is working with a broker or brokers. In addition to serving as key connectors to both health plans and vendors, they are often a wealth of knowledge. Lean into that. At the same time, keep your eyes open to what you think is going to serve your organization best (and don’t just rely on your broker to give you all the answers). The key is having an ongoing conversation, in which both sides contribute ideas for moving forward.
• ​Community resources - There are a lot of low-cost, even free resources that are out there. American Heart Association (AHA) happens to be one of my favorites. They’re really good at partnering with other organizations, as well as thought leaders. I personally have worked with the Bay Area AHA for many years as a volunteer speaker, and serve as the Chair of their Bay Area 2020 Impact Committee. Another organization to consider tapping into is Playworks, a nonprofit that is dedicated to engaging kids in play (at school). In addition to bringing some of these “kid” games onsite (way better than your average team building activity, I can assure you!), they also have cool opportunities to bring your team members onsite (at an elementary school) to learn the games and then teach them to the kids when they come out for recess. Amazing! Obviously, this was easier to do pre-COVID. Let’s hope that we can get back to things like that soon!

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3). Finally, activate your managers.

Yes, you’ll want to garner support from senior leaders. They are the key trendsetters in the organization. They set the tone and allocate resources. But, managers are the key permission-givers. Every team member is looking to their manager to lead the way. 

Inside, employees are  asking themselves questions like:

Is it OK for me to prioritize my well-being around my manager? 
Will my manager think less of me if I ask for flexibility in my schedule so that I can make sure that my kid isn’t falling behind in their schoolwork? 
Is my manager expecting me to be ‘on’ at night, ready to respond to late-night emails?
What will my manager think if I share that I’ve been struggling to keep up?

These little micro-decisions add up for employees. The more they don’t have to guess, the better. The more they know that their manager has their back, the better. According to Gallup, managers likely account for up to 70% of the variance of their team members’ engagement with both their work and with their well-being.​

Here are the three essentials to activating your managers to become 
Managers on the Move, aka, “Multipliers of Well-Being”

​Tearing down workplace silos potentially can bring about some resistance, but the end result is worth the challenges to get there! I recently chatted with Crockett Dale, about the good, the bad, and the ugly of a well-being initiative we co-launched. Listen below and learn from our experiences as we share all (well, maybe not all, but as much as we could in 30-minutes)!
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Laura Putnam

Laura Putnam is a leading catalyst for well-being at work, an international public speaker, and author of Workplace Wellness That Works. As CEO of Motion Infusion and creator of the leadership training program Managers on the Move, she infuses well-being into the workplace to help employees, teams and organizations thrive. You can follow her on Twitter @MotionInfusion.