Say it like this
- break down silos
- work in silos
- eliminate organizational silos
- silos between teams
Use it at work
Raising problems
- The teams work in silos, so nobody sees the full picture.
- Let's break down the silos between product and support.
Explaining
- The data is stuck in silos across three tools.
- Knowledge silos are risky. Only one person knows this system.
Fixing
- Let's share updates across teams to avoid silos.
- A shared channel helps reduce silos.
Don't say this
Silo describes problematic isolation that happened unintentionally, not a planned separation.
Practice
Try it
4 quick exercises
1. Your company has poor communication between teams. What do you say in a meeting?
2. Leadership wants to _______ organizational silos so that teams collaborate more effectively.
3. Which sentence uses 'silos' incorrectly?
4. Rewrite using 'silos': 'Different teams do not talk to each other and do not share information, which is a problem.'
Say it out loud
Phrase 1 of 4
"break down silos"
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More about silo
Real examples(3)
- in a retrospective
"Our biggest issue is that engineering and product work in silos, so we miss critical feedback."
- in a team meeting
"We should reduce silos by having designers sit with the development team."
- in a company all-hands
"Leadership wants to break down departmental silos to improve communication across the company."
More mistakes(2)
Handle with care. Avoid confusing organizational silos (bad isolation) with intentionally isolated features or deployments (which may be necessary). Silo is typically negative when describing team communication barriers.
- ✕The team is siloing information.✓The team is working in silos.
Silo is typically used as a noun, not a verb in modern tech English. Use 'working in silos' instead.
- ✕We have silos because teams communicate too much.✓We have silos because teams don't communicate enough.
Silos result from lack of communication and collaboration, not excessive communication.
Other forms(3)
- silo noun
"The company has too many silos between departments."
- silos noun (plural)
"We need to break down these organizational silos."
- siloed adjective
"The teams are too siloed and do not collaborate effectively."
Often used with(5)
- break down silos · To reduce or eliminate barriers between teams
- work in silos · When teams operate separately without collaboration
- organizational silos · Communication barriers that exist within a company structure
- departmental silos · Isolation between different departments like HR, engineering, and sales
- eliminate silos · To remove barriers and improve cross-team communication
Similar words(3)
- isolation · More general term; silo is specific to organizational or team separation
- compartmentalization · Similar meaning but more formal and often implies intentional separation
- information barrier · Describes the lack of information sharing that results from silos
Opposites(4)
- collaboration
- integration
- transparency
- cross-functional
Questions(4)
- What does silo mean in tech companies?
- A silo in tech refers to a situation where teams or departments work independently without sharing information or collaborating. For example, if the backend team and frontend team do not communicate, they are working in silos. Silos are generally seen as a problem because they reduce efficiency, cause duplicate work, and slow down decision-making.
- How do you use silo in a sentence at work?
- You can say 'We need to break down silos between teams,' 'Our company has too many organizational silos,' or 'Engineering and product are working in silos.' The phrase 'break down silos' is the most common way to discuss reducing these barriers.
- Is silo a negative term?
- Yes, silo is almost always used negatively in tech. When someone says a team is working in silos, they mean it is a problem that needs to be fixed. The goal is to break down silos and improve collaboration.
- Can silo be used as a verb?
- In modern tech English, silo is primarily used as a noun. You say 'working in silos' rather than 'siloing.' However, the adjective 'siloed' is sometimes used, as in 'The teams are siloed.'
