Working in a Multi-Faceted Business is like Living in a New City!
I've been fortunate enough to live or spend significant time in several cities across North America and Europe. When you are new to a city, you quickly become acquainted with the area surrounding your apartment, the area that you study or work, and the area that you spend your leisure time.
If you're in a city, you have the great option of public transportation to get you where you need to go. You know to get on and off at a certain subway/underground stop but when you take the subway, you are often underground. You don't get to see the route, the surrounding areas, or the scenery along the way. You miss out on all of the quirks, people, and businesses each neighborhood that you pass through has to offer.
When I move to a new city I often take public transportation or Ubers exclusively for the first large chunk of time. Eventually, I'll get more settled and comfortable exploring different routes, means of transportation, or areas of a city.
After living somewhere new for about six weeks, something magical happens. One day you decide to venture beyond an area that you're familiar with. You decide to continue down the road and ultimately run into another area that you're familiar with. You have this moment of realization where you suddenly understand how the city is connected and everything makes way more sense.
The same magical realization occurs after working at a company for a few months. There are several departments, but you've so far only focused on the work in your department. You will have heard about Hannah in marketing or Paul in account management. About the CRM that's integrated with the marketing department's email funnel or about the content team that somehow delivers updated copy on time regularly.
The sooner an employee can understand how multiple departments (both people and processes) work together, the better. When an employee has this realization, they will understand the company's vision, systems, and deliverables more clearly. Most importantly, they will understand on a higher level how they fit into the company and why their responsibilities are integral to the overall success of the business.
I prefer to stumble my way through a new city exploring on my own, but at work I'd prefer to have a guide book! It's the responsibility of the employer/manager/team lead to provide a guide book, a tour, and a support line. The sooner your team understands how they fit into the company's operations across the board, the sooner they will have clarity and perform their responsibilities with a vision.
Image by Joshua Earle on Unsplash