When companies try to scale up experimentation, they often find that corporate culture is the biggest obstacle. Existing behaviors, beliefs, norms and values make it difficult or impossible to achieve a culture of experimentation.

This is the second of four articles on the requirements for achieving a culture of experimentation.

1. Three mindsets to achieve a culture of experimentation
2. Organizational structure for an experimental culture
3. How leadership creates a culture of experimentation
4. Centre of Excellence versus other organizational models

Cross-functional teams versus silos in your organizational structure

The structure of an organization can hinder or encourage a culture of experimentation.

In the ideal situation, cross-functional teams work together on the same goals, sharing information and resources freely between teams. This setup promotes innovation and increases productivity. It also improves decision-making because the necessary information is accessible to all teams.

However, silos hinder communication and collaboration. We see these structures especially in large corporates. Silos are divisions between people or groups. These divisions can be tangible and intangible.

In a silo, teams may work on their own goals and KPIs, which may even conflict with the goals of other silos. There is often poor communication and exchange of information between silos.

Why organizational structure hinders experimentation.

Silos are a bad thing for experimentation. For example, when CRO starts in the marketing department, it is too far away from the IT department. This makes running complex, innovative experiments impossible and reduces speed.

When this problem is not addressed, the marketing team continues to run small front-end experiments. At the same time, major changes and new product features are made and published elsewhere in the organization without being tested as experiments.

Breaking down the silos in the organizational structure

To achieve a culture of experimentation, you will have to break down these silos. There are several ways to do this.

First you want teams to make a meaningful contribution to business goals. Determine together what the team's part in this is. Instead of working on their own goals, teams will work together toward a common goal. If you are a high-level manager, make sure all departments are aligned with the company's vision and goals.

Secondly: bring people together. Make sure they get to know each other, share information and work together. You can do that in meetings, brainstorming sessions, inspiration sessions, workshops and presentations, or you can put marketers, developers and product owners in one room and have them look at a usability test together.

Third, conduct experiments that are cross-departmental. For example, find a new feature that will be launched in three months. Then decide with the product owner, development team and marketing team that you will set up this feature through an experiment, with several iterations to ensure it best fits the target audience.

Fourth, remove barriers. Make it easy to communicate by using Slack, for example. And remove physical barriers. If marketing and IT need to work together more often, make sure they see each other. Restructure the office, have marketing and IT sit closer together and make it feel more open. You can also purchase a shared coffee maker.

In conclusion you can celebrate successes together and offer appropriate rewards.

Experimenting step by step

Fortunately, silos are slowly disappearing. Especially in newer companies, a silo structure is seen less and less. However, if you find yourself in an isolated organization, this can hinder experimentation. Then align goals, bring people together and break through silos step by step.

Resources

• Experimentation Works - Stefan Thomke
• Growing Happy Clients - Daphne Tideman
• https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/breaking-down-silos