Knowledge Silos are usually experienced between departments in traditional organizational structures,

but they also form within teams when information is not passing freely between individuals.🆓

Knowledge Silos form when a group of engineers only review each other’s work.

Imagine two or three engineers who review all of each other’s PRs, and don’t review anyone else’s PRs on their team.

Other engineers on the team who aren’t part of the silo don’t have that same level of information.

If these engineers only want to work together because everyone else is slow🐌 to review their code, consider setting expectations around Time to First Comment, and Reaction Time.

Reviewing a select group of engineer’s work for a long time can lead to less substantial reviews

because they trust that each other’s work is good enough.

It can turn into bug🐛 factories: Work pushed without adequate evaluation.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE IT

In co-located staff, spot where they sit🪑 in an office along with.

WHAT TO DO

Cross-train outliers on a specific area of the code that an engineering within the silo is working on.

Make outliers review the work of the silo people, and have the silo people work outside their silo.