In today’s fast-changing business environment, breaking down silos for collaboration is more important than ever to ensure everyone’s working together efficiently towards the same goals. Yet many organisations are held back because some departments are barely talking to one another – let alone working cross-functionally. And this disconnected, siloed style of working is particularly apparent when it comes to designing and operating physical access control systems.

Traditionally, these systems have been viewed as a security tool for preventing unauthorised access. But a modern physical access control system can bring so much more commercial value. Especially when integrated with systems, processes and procedures from departments such as HR, facilities management, visitor management and IT. No longer standalone tech, they have the power to sit at the heart of your ecosystem, providing valuable data and functionality for departments across your organisation. To realise a physical access control system’s full potential, however, you shouldn’t be working in silos.

 

What’s “working in silos?”

 

When a group of people, or an individual, is working in silo, there’s an unwillingness to collaborate or share information, knowledge or resources. Often, a silo mentality can lead to departments being ineffectual in how they work together – or not work together at all. A silo mentality can also affect how well people work together across hierarchies and geographical regions.

 

How can silos pose security risks?

 

When departments work in silos instead of breaking down silos, there are many general drawbacks, including:

  • Poor communication and lack of collaboration and alignment.
  • Reduced efficiency and productivity, including duplication of effort and inefficient use of resources.
  • Missed opportunities and hinderance to innovation, problem-solving and progress.
  • Limited perspectives that don’t consider broader organisational goals or other departments’ needs.
  • Conflict and power struggles, with teams prioritising their own interests.
  • Slow, uninformed decision-making and reduced agility and responsiveness.

 

Several security risks can arise when a security department operates in isolation and doesn’t collaborate effectively with other departments. These can include, for example:

  • Weaknesses in access control: If facilities management doesn’t make security aware of a new entry point, for instance, insufficient physical security measures can open the door to theft, vandalism, terrorism, and more.
  • Insufficient employee screening: Without coordination between security and HR, there may be gaps in vetting procedures, increasing the risk of insider threats.
  • Poor visitor access management: Those responsible for visitors need to work closely with security to ensure visitors only get access to the areas they’re authorised for.
  • Ineffective incident response: To prevent a security incident escalating, multiple departments must collaborate – often including reception, IT and facilities management, as well as security.
  • Data breach risks: Security and IT need to work in sync to protect against cyberattacks and unauthorised access that could lead to sensitive information being made accessible.
  • Compliance failures: Asking for help from the security team can be critical for many teams to ensure compliance with industry regulations and standards.

 

Why is breaking down silos key to collaboration?

 

There’s a reason that underdogs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk overtook serious competitors in business – they embraced the no-silo rule. In fact (and a fun fact), Steve Jobs famously positioned Pixar’s bathrooms centrally to increase the chances of employees interacting with people from other departments when they paid a visit.

Stepping out working in silos can present challenges; in the short-term, it can feel easier to work with your own team and there may be concerns about conflicts of interest. But it’s worth it because it brings so many opportunities to work more efficiently, creatively and effectively. And to, collectively, get further, faster.

Integrating physical access control with systems and practices from various other departments is a savvy strategic move that can yield widespread benefits. One of the biggest advantages of modern physical access control systems is the wealth of data they generate. Which can be harnessed by different departments to make informed decisions and drive improvements. HR can streamline employee management, facilities management can optimise space, visitor management can increase security protocols, and so on.

Tech has become central to today’s smart buildings, which means security and access control can take a greater role. This was clearly illustrated in the covid-19 pandemic when physical access control was being used to aid social distancing, implement temperature checks and hand sanitisation, track people’s movements and allow hands-free, emergency-only entry to selected parties.

For security teams that embrace working collaboratively with other departments, the rewards can be rich. By demonstrating the far-reaching value of security systems, policies, and practices, your team can step forward as a business function that deserves a bigger budget to invest in people and technology. So, let’s look at how to do that.

 

How to break out of silos for increased security

 

1.    Align on a shared vision and goals

The best way to begin breaking down silos is to start at the top, with all departments aligning on a shared vision and goals.

This could, for example, be your organisational vision and goals. Highlighting the link between corporate and departmental goals helps each team understand how they can contribute and support other teams.

Alternatively, you could bring siloed departments together to create a collective vision and goals shaped around your security systems and practices. Focusing on the four Ps of purpose, people, platforms and processes can give a good structure to this work.

You could also use Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) to set the way forward collaboratively. ESRM is a strategic approach that links a business’s security operations to its vision and goals using globally trusted risk management principles. By its nature, it demands that different teams work together.

 

2.    Enable knowledge sharing

One of the key characteristics of siloed working is the reluctance or failure to share information and experience across departments. Here are some ways to avoid that:

  •  Create a central location for data and information that’s populated by, and accessible for, all departments.
  • Encourage regular communication across teams with devices such as a monthly newsletter, weekly cross-functional check-ins, and regular all-team meetings.
  • Use straightforward, non-technical language when communicating with other departments so everyone can understand quickly and easily.
  • Build understanding by encouraging people to spend time with you in the security team, and you spend time in their departments.
  • Run cross-functional training and quizzes on scenarios faced by security and other departments.
  • Set up team-building challenges to encourage bonding and improve collaborative skills.

 

3.    Establish clear governance and a sense of shared ownership

One of the reasons for removing siloed thinking is to encourage more and better integration between systems for physical access control, HR, facilities management, visitor management and more. The greater the level of integration, however, the more important it is to be clear on who owns and governs each system. Because a lack of strong governance can seriously weaken security, efficiency, compliance and accountability.

While it’s important for people to be accountable for their individual and team contributions, it’s also crucial to foster a collective sense of ownership and accountability. This helps to pull departments and teams together, rather than competitiveness pushing them apart.

As part of this, it’s vital to create an open, transparent culture, so people can feel comfortable making suggestions, highlighting concerns, and challenging the status quo.

 

Read more about clear governance for your access management

 

 

4.    Ask other departments for help and advice

Often, even when people like the idea of collaborating and can see the benefit, they continue to resolve challenges or issues in their own teams rather than involving others. A simple way to help break this tendency is to get into the habit of asking other teams for help.

Security can ask IT for help with cybersecurity issues. Hospitality can ask HR for help with visitor management challenges. Facilities management can ask security for help with controlling people flow. And so on.

To really maximise the benefit of asking for and accepting help, remember to share the results with other teams and departments, so they’re motivated to ask for help too. Breaking down silos depends on chains of events, both big and small.

 

5.    Execute collaboratively and measure the results

To get the full benefit of collaboration, take it beyond consultation and set up cross-functional project teams to implement initiatives. Choosing and designing a new physical access control system, for example, is best done by a team with representatives from a variety of departments. This lets you take a design-first approach, with interdepartmental input from the very early stages.

Or you could home in on a smaller project as a test ground for more collaborative working. Say, for example, you want to allow people to use their smartphones to gain access. This requires input from several departments, so it’s a good opportunity to begin navigating how best to work together.

As part of your project planning, remember to prepare for measuring the results after execution. Make sure you understand what data is important to different departments and plan for how to measure it, so everyone has the information that matters to them. Then, collectively, you can address any issues, make improvements and take learnings into other projects.

Read more about taking a data-driven approach to physical access control

 

Helping you create a future without siloed working in security

In today’s business environment, where efficiency and productivity are vital to success, an integrated physical access control system offers a competitive advantage. But, to realise that opportunity, security teams must focus on breaking down silos and encourage collaborative working. In doing this, you can begin to demonstrate that security is far from a cost – your team can contribute to making savings, improving the visitor experience, ensuring business continuity, and much more.

Thankfully, while leading the way in access control innovations, Nedap Security has built extensive expertise in implementations. Having worked with many large organisation, we’ve seen up close the pitfalls and best practices for implementing access control at the heart of your physical security system—including breaking down silos.

Using our Enterprise Professional Services, we can help you identify and coordinate integrators, in-house installers, IT network teams, IT application support teams, and your local facilities teams. Abandoning silo mentality with our help, you’ll be guided to ensure a smooth deployment. We can’t wait to hear from you! 

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