Breaking Down Silos Workshop
Product, operations, project teams, leadership
Improve collaboration between teams, surface cross-functional misalignment, and build shared ownership of priorities that span team boundaries.
Workshop Goal
The Problem
Improve collaboration between teams, surface cross-functional misalignment, and build shared ownership of priorities that span team boundaries.
What You'll Achieve
- Lower the social barrier between teams who rarely interact
- Surface cross-team misalignment and silo patterns
- Reveal shared dependencies and tradeoffs
- Generate ideas for improving cross-functional collaboration
- Align on the top cross-team priorities
Facilitator Value
Safe For The Office™ handles the technology, timing, and participant experience. You focus on the conversation.
Workshop Timeline
A step-by-step structure for the full 75-minute session.
- Icebreaker Experience 10 minLower the social barrier between teams who rarely interact.Cross-functional groups often feel like strangers. Start with something personal, not work-related, to build human connection first.
- Team Polls 12 minSurface cross-team misalignment, silo patterns, and shared dependencies.Polls are the diagnostic core. Pause on splits — they reveal where teams have different assumptions about shared work.
- Networking Bingo 10 minGet people from different teams meeting each other.Bingo is the social anchor for cross-functional sessions. Give it full time. The goal is cross-team conversations, not just card completion.
- Idea Storm 15 minGenerate ideas for improving cross-functional collaboration and breaking down silos.Keep discussion focused on systems, processes, and shared priorities — not team blame. Long-standing frustrations may surface; redirect to: "What would you change?"
- Priority Poker 18 minAlign on the top cross-team priorities and collaboration improvements.After reveal: "This is what the group said matters most. Who owns each of these across teams?"
Facilitator Guide
Key Notes
- Cross-functional sessions often surface long-standing frustrations. Keep discussion focused on systems and shared priorities — not team blame.
- Bingo is the social anchor. Give it full time — the goal is cross-team conversations.
- Polls surface misalignment. Splits in poll results are the most valuable data in this session.
- Priority Poker output should name cross-team owners, not just priorities.
- Close by asking: "Who owns each of these across teams?" Ownership is the output.
Discussion Tips
- What assumption does another team make about our work that is most often wrong?
- Where does the handoff between our teams create the most friction?
- What would better cross-team collaboration look like in practice?
Closing Prompts
- "What's one cross-team commitment you're making after today?"
- "Who is one person from another team you want to stay in contact with?"
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Ready to run this workshop?
Safe For The Office™ guides you through every step. No facilitation experience required.