Cross-Functional Collaboration: Tools and Skills for Working Across Silos

Redundant efforts, unwelcome surprises, an inability to come together and achieve common goals…the negative consequences of silos are well-known.

Despite widespread frustration and multiple efforts to “bust” silos or break them down, siloed action persists in higher education. Why? Because “silo-busting” is the wrong approach. The real solution is “silo-bridging”, working between and collaborating across functions.

This course will help you develop key skills necessary for cross-functional collaboration. You’ll learn to identify and communicate interdependencies, navigate cultures, and build understanding and empathy across silos. You’ll leave with knowledge, advice, and tools that will help you make interdepartmental coordination more streamlined and more effective.

Combining interactive face-to-face sessions with asynchronous learning, this course emphasizes strategies and peer-to-peer learning through interactive activities. You will share best practices, learn from each other’s experiences, and lay the foundation for successful cross-functional collaborations.

What You’ll Explore:

• Unpacking the challenges of cross-functional collaboration.
• Identifying interdependencies between units and communicating those interdependencies to others.
• Understanding the influence of organizational culture on a unit.
• Conducting a cultural assessment to enhance collaboration.
• Improving communication and reducing misunderstandings across silos.
• Surfacing insights about another unit’s work and day-to-day realities.
• Building empathy and understanding between units.

Workshop Outcomes:

• Identify and visualize linkages between teams and departments to better understand operational interdependencies and ensure the right collaborators are at the table.
• Assess cultural norms in other units and anticipate how those norms might impact communication and collaboration.
• Clarify differences in language between units to improve cross-functional communications and prevent conflict.
• Build your understanding of another unit’s context— priorities, realities, and responsibilities—to facilitate smoother, more effective collaborations.
• Improve collaborative relationships by facilitating an activity that builds empathy and understanding between units.

Workshop Schedule:

Our face-to-face online meetings will take place on Tuesdays in February from 12:00–1:00 PM (Eastern):

• February 10
• February 17
• February 24

In addition to the live sessions, you’ll complete weekly asynchronous activities (plan for about 1–2 hours each week).

Attendance at all face-to-face meetings is expected. If you anticipate a conflict, please contact registration@scup.org.

Dr. Alison Handy

Higher Education Professional

Registration

Workshop Cost

Schedule:

Our face-to-face online meetings will take place on Tuesdays in February from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM (ET):

• February 10
• February 17
• February 24

Participants will also complete additional learning activities asynchronously between meetings.

Registration will close on February 6 at 12:00 PM Eastern.

Please contact registration at registration@scup.org with any questions.