There’s no ‘I’ in team. It’s more than a motivational cliché. In a complex operation, it’s a reminder that success doesn’t come from one department alone — it comes from how well your entire business works together.
“If team members don’t cross over what office they interact with, the company will not reach maximum success,” says Donna Funk, lead biofuels business advisor at Pinion.
When teams stay in their own silos — when production doesn’t talk to finance, or marketing doesn’t understand grain procurement — things fall through the cracks. Decisions are delayed. Costs creep up. Energy gets wasted.
It’s important for operations to proactively seek to improve alignment between departments — so teams communicate better, leaders make smarter decisions, and the business performs more efficiently.
But alignment doesn’t start at the top — it starts with how each team understands their role in the bigger picture.
It’s Not Just Your Job — It’s Everyone’s
Unless your organization has less than five employees, consider how many departments or team members directly or indirectly support what you do — from HR and logistics to accounting and customer service. The same is true in reverse: what happens on in the plant directly affects the numbers, the schedule, and the production output.
“You don’t have to do someone else’s job — but you do need to understand how your work connects to theirs,” states Funk.
The challenge? Different shifts, different buildings, or job functions often keep teams apart —even when their success is deeply connected.
Pro tip: Set up reoccurring connections with department heads to share updates, surface concerns, and stay aligned.
Zoom Out: Look at the Whole Operation
In ethanol production, there are a more people and decisions involved than we think about as we each do our daily tasks in producing the final products that are sold to your customers — from grain receiving to fermentation, distillation, and shipping. But the process extends far beyond the plant floor. Accounting and risk management track costs down to the gallon to protect margins. Safety staff monitor compliance and safeguard operations. Marketers focus on getting the best price available, while leaders oversee risk and make capital decisions that shape the company’s future.
Each role brings value. Yet when even one team falls out of sync, the ripple effects are felt across the entire business.
Pro tip: Ask yourself — if I don’t do my job, can others do theirs?
What Top Teams Have in Common
Output and revenue are important, but they’re lagging indicators. The true drivers of long-term success in high-performing operations go much deeper. It starts with people — employees who feel positive, safe, and engaged in their work. Clear communication between departments keeps everyone aligned, while strong leadership and a shared vision set the direction. Efficiency isn’t just about optimizing one function at a time, but about making the entire operation run smoothly as a whole. And underlying it all is a culture where people are willing to ask questions, share ideas, and speak up — because that’s where innovation and progress take root.
Pro tip: If you’re not seeing these things in your business, it’s worth asking: Are your people working with each other, or just next to each other?
Common Barriers to Collaboration
Even the most well-intentioned teams can struggle to stay connected. Different shifts or schedules can make it hard to overlap. Physical separation — whether in different buildings or even different parts of the same facility — creates distance that slows communication. Roles and responsibilities aren’t always clear, leaving teams unsure of who owns what. And to complicate things further, each group often speaks a different “language,” using its own KPIs, tools, and goals. These are real challenges, but with awareness and a little structure, they can absolutely be overcome.
Start Asking These Questions
Want to break down silos? Start with curiosity. Ask your team (or yourself):
- Who do you interact with most often — and who don’t you interact with at all?
- How well do you understand what other departments do?
- What do you wish other departments understood about your work?
- How does your role affect the customer experience, even indirectly?
“Sometimes the best way to solve a problem in your own department is to ask someone outside of it what they see,” Funk adds.
Even a few intentional conversations can reveal blind spots, reduce friction, and spark new ideas.
Bringing It All Together
You don’t need a company-wide overhaul to improve alignment. Start small: shadow a team you don’t know well, invite someone to a meeting, or simply ask another department how your work impacts theirs.
These conversations send a powerful message: we’re on the same team — and we work better together.
Contact a Pinion biofuels business advisor for assistance aligning your teams and connecting your business strategy and goals with day-to-day operations.
