Communications with other silos take the form of messages thrown over the wall into the next silo in the work flow. Success is measured by the individual success of each silo. There is too much remanagement. Each person in the silo passes work up the administrative chain and, to some extent, supervisors redo the work, wasting time and energy and underusing staff talents. Communication with other units is stifled.
Staff have more incentive to communicate within their silo than with people in other units.
There may even be sanctions within the unit that discourage cross-functional communication. Issues that need quick responses pile up at the top even though they could be resolved through cross-functional communication at lower levels. Success of the unit is emphasized over success of the whole. Institutional processes such as administrative evaluation and salary determination often focus on individual rather than team or institutional achievement. Units are not aligned to the vision, mission, and goals of the whole college.