EXECUTIVE UPDATE MAGAZINE
by Merianne Liteman and Jeffrey Liteman

Turf Battles

"All for one and one for all!" That was the motto of Dumas’ Three Musketeers, whose survival depended on working together to vanquish their formidable foes.

In contrast, "Every man for himself!" was a cry of desperation, blurted when the ship was about to go down or the regiment facing decimation.

Is your organization like a band of musketeers – everyone working together for the good of each other and the whole – or more like a collection of individuals, working to advance their own interests and protective of what they see as their own turf?

If you answered the latter, the successes your organization has enjoyed likely have come about in spite of – not because of – your organizational culture. In fact, it’s probably only a matter of time before interdepartmental competition leads to increased turnover and internal tension that will sap your organization’s momentum.

A Familiar Tale

Turfism – defined as loyalty to one’s own office, department, division, section, or self rather than to the organization as a whole – can dissipate staff energy, distort the organization’s priorities, and disrupt progress toward meeting your overarching goals. Lack of cooperation between managers has a multiplier effect: it filters down and poisons relations between their subordinates. This phenomenon occurs in small and large organizations alike.

There’s no question that loyalty to subordinates is a good thing. It becomes a problem, however, when loyalty to one’s department or a misguided sense of personal ambition blinds an executive to the needs of other departments or to the interests of the whole organization.

Turfism is not just an internal issue. It affects customers as well. A case in point: a marketing department decided to contact certain customers directly rather than work through program staff who had developed close working relationships with those customers. Marketing didn’t want the program staff to share the credit for increased sales. After all, "Marketing is our job," they said. But the marketing staff didn’t know the customers’ needs or speak the customers’ language, and their direct calls left the customers confused. When these customers called their contacts on the program staff, the staff knew nothing of the marketing department’s initiative and thus couldn’t allay the customers’ concerns or answer their questions.

The result: Customers perceived that the company was disorganized; program staff were angry that they had been bypassed by their colleagues and made to look foolish in the eyes of their customers; and the marketing department, rather than increasing sales, jeopardized sales by alienating customers.
And so the story goes.

The only positive result was that the ensuing storm alerted the CEO that there was a turf problem and she took steps to address it.

Turfism often manifests itself in overt ways (hence the term "turf battles"), but sometimes it’s more subtle and less apparent. Instead of disagreeing publicly, for example, a manager might simply withhold information another department needs. Because turfism is usually disguised as something else (such as a communication snafu), it is easy for corporate leaders to overlook.

Generally, turfism is a direct reflection of an organization’s culture, history, and leadership. Perhaps it’s generated by a chief executive who promotes competition among the senior staff as a means to "keep everyone on their toes" or "to divide and conquer." Turfism also festers when individual or departmental achievements are recognized as more important than organizational or inter-departmental accomplishments.

If the CEO is spending an inordinate amount of time and energy mediating disputes among and relaying information between staff, the organization may well have a problem with turfism.

How can an organization CEO eliminate turfism and refocus staff on the organization’s overall mission?

Some suggestions:

Have a vision of greatness for the organization. Creating alignment around a vision is critical to ending turfism. This vision should address how you want to work together, as well as what you want to achieve. (For more on developing a vision, refer to the article, "The Organization Balancing Act," in the April 1998 issue of Executive Update.)

Managers will not cooperate with each other to advance the organization’s overall interests if they are unclear about or indifferent to the vision. Let staff know why the organization’s work is important to you, how you view its unique contributions, what type of working environment you want to create, and where you see the organization going. Encourage department heads to develop their own visions of greatness in line with that of the organization. Look for ways to turn individual visions into a compelling joint vision that will be richer for its many facets than any individual’s vision can be.

Encourage department heads to meet regularly with each other without you. These meetings push colleagues to work together, think together, resolve problems together, share information, and to take collective responsibility for the organization’s success.

Managers may be reluctant to hold regular meetings with one another, believing they have little in common with – or even disliking or distrusting – their peers, seeing them as competitors for scarce resources and for the CEO’s attention. They may argue that they are too busy to have yet another meeting. They may unconsciously fear the consequences of making decisions in collaboration with their peers; what if they make mistakes?

However manager may resist such meetings, making this an organization policy may be the single most important thing a CEO can do to put an end to turfism. Tell managers it is a top priority that they meet regularly and take collective responsibility for progress towards the organization’s goals. Ask them to resolve interdepartmental issues at their level whenever possible and to turn to you only on matters that are beyond their joint scope of control.

While it can be initially unsettling for subordinates to discuss and even resolve problems without your input, imagine the benefits to your organization once you’re liberated from the need to deal with the countless small issues that take up your days. In addition, staff are more effective when they are informed about what is going on throughout the organization and not just in their own departments. Fresh ideas can be incubated in such an environment.

Have department heads develop "ground rules" for working together. As managers get to know each other, they begin to break down artificial barriers among their departments and can make recommendations or decisions that benefit the whole organization. They are also likely to grow beyond the suspicion, mistrust, and competition that can hobble an organization. But better relations don’t happen automatically; department heads must make a commitment to address explicitly not only how they would like to work together but also what currently hampers effective collaboration.

Relationship-building is an important element in working together effectively. Managers must create a climate of trust that fosters open dialogue about how they can support each other, how they wish to handle disagreement and conflict, and what they want to achieve individually and collectively.

Model collaborative behavior. Subordinates will be guided more by your example than by anything you say. Model trusting your employees. Delegate whatever and whenever possible. But don’t just dump responsibilities on them that they are ill-prepared to meet. Provide timely, helpful, supportive coaching and any training that they need to master these new responsibilities. You may need to teach your managers new skills, encourage them to try something new, or address their concerns as they grapple with how to get something done without your telling them what to do. Your support will create an environment in which everyone, including you, can do his or her best.

Break down barriers between departments. Joint task forces comprised of employees representing different specialties, disciplines, and departments encourage staff to see one another as members of a larger "we," rather than in terms of "us" and "them." Moreover, putting people with different backgrounds and experiences together with a problem to solve, recommendations to make, or a task to carry out often can stimulate new ways of looking at things and generate creative solutions to challenging problems.

It’s important to help department heads find constructive solutions, but don’t solve their problems for them. Coach them in working things out for themselves or set up peer coaching networks to help vest employees in one another’s success.

Foster social interactions among managers and other employees. Getting to know coworkers outside the confines of an office setting can break down barriers of mistrust and open up channels of understanding. People who have worked side by side for years may not know each other at all, and this can cause them to focus on their differences. Get things started by hosting a party or reception or even an ice cream social (preferably during office hours so employees don’t see the event as an unwelcome obligation); you might involve them in planning it. These types of events can help colleagues come to appreciate what they have in common and find things they like about each other.

Reward collaborative behavior. In addition to recognizing individual achievements, begin honoring collective accomplishments as well. Highlight collaboration with others in employees’ performance goals and make it as important as individual achievement in determining their overall ratings. Reserve some of your bonus and cash award money for the best collaborative efforts among departments.

Happily Ever After?

Taking some or all of these steps will help eliminate turfism in your organization. Turf problems aren’t likely to disappear overnight, however. Old habits of thinking and working die hard, and managers used to one way of doing business – particularly those who lack the communication skills required – might benefit in the beginning from working with a professional facilitator and trainer to guide them and help them sharpen their skills.

And they’ll need continued solid commitment from the chief executive and other key leaders. The tendency to backslide in the face of change is strong, and leaders must be equally strong in their support of new ways of doing things.

Breaking down barriers and creating bonds among people and departments is not a "New Age" theory or a millennial fad that will fade with the dawn of the new century. In The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner call such collaboration "the key that leaders use to unlock the energies and talents available in their organizations."

The effort and energy devoted to defending one’s turf holds an organization back. Put a stop to turfism, and you’ll harness that spirit of "All for one and one for all!" that will move the organization forward.

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