On Breaking Down Silos

This Week’s Topic: Shadowing

1 Strategy 🎯 

As I was preparing to lead my first big process improvement project, I ran into an issue.

The team I was supporting was in another state.

When I asked the team’s manager if there would be value in me traveling to visit the team, his response was, “That won’t be necessary. We have comprehensive process docs that you can review to get up to speed.”  

He was right about the process docs. They were immaculate.

Nonetheless, I pushed back on the initial resistance and got approval to come shadow the team for a full week - and I’m so glad I did!

It was an incredible learning and relationship building experience. I returned from the trip with a mountain of helpful information that would ultimately contribute to the success of the project.

The simple act of observing the team in their element and asking a few questions was instrumental in helping me understand the team’s processes and dynamics in way that never would have been possible, had I relied solely on reviewing the team’s process docs.

Because no matter how perfect an SOP is, it won’t help you answer questions like:

• How do team members interact with one another? 🤝

• What are the most common distractions? 😰

• How do team members feel about the work they’re doing? 💚

• What gets team members excited? 🥳

Job shadowing programs are an effective (and underutilized) strategy to enhance learning, break down silos, and promote a collaborative organizational culture.

The 3 Types of Job Shadowing

Job shadowing refers to any activities where one professional (the shadow) partners with another professional (the host) for the purpose of developing new knowledge or skills.

It can take three forms:

1. Observation 👀

   With this method, the shadow and host align on a mutually agreed-upon time for the shadow to observe the host while they perform their work.

   This form of shadowing aims to help the shadow gain a holistic understanding of the host’s day-to-day responsibilities, and typically takes place over a consecutive period of hours or days.

2. Regular Briefings 🗓️

   Compared to the observation method, this form of shadowing is more structured and task-specific. The shadow observes the host over multiple sessions while the host performs a specific sequence of activities (e.g., setting up a new vendor).

   The benefit of this approach is that the host can better plan for upcoming activities, and even assign homework in-between sessions to help facilitate faster learning.

3. Hands-On 👩‍🔧

   With this approach, the shadow gets in the driver’s seat and performs the host’s tasks while the host provides feedback and coaching in real-time.

   While this approach can be more time intensive, it’s also highly effective. In keeping with the driving metaphor, if my goal is to learn how to drive a racecar, I could opt to observe a racecar driver for months and take extensive notes on how they drive. But only by sitting in the driver’s seat will I begin to fully appreciate the complexity of the task.

Your job shadowing method, or combination of methods, will vary based on you and your team’s development goals, and the benefits are many:

• Cross-training helps the company better leverage existing talent

• Hosts enhance knowledge and skills through the process of teaching others

• It supports a Peer Coaching culture

• Makes training more dynamic, interactive, and customized

• It provides opportunities for employees to explore potential career paths

• It frequently results in innovative ideas for improving existing processes

• It equips shadows and hosts to collaborate more effectively on cross-functional initiatives

In Closing

By encouraging employees to shadow their colleagues on adjacent teams, you can uncover new skills, knowledge and insights, while fostering stronger cross-functional relationships.

If your strategic goals rhyme with improving team performance, accelerating innovation, and building a more collaborative culture, a job shadowing program can be an effective method to get you there.

Did this week’s topic resonate with you? Hit ‘reply’ and let me know!

Want some help designing a job shadowing program? Book a free consultation and let’s talk about it!

See you next Wednesday,

Darin

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