Be a Boundary Spanner–For You, Your Organization, and I-O Psychology!

I’ve worked with organizations in most major industries, as well as in government, the military, and academia. Regardless of the locale, a consistent complaint I have heard over the years is about working in silos. Leaders complain about how employees and teams aren’t collaborating, while employees bemoan the barriers that impede their ability to connect with others.

We can “muddle by” while working in silos, but it is only a matter of time before it limits our success. Individuals, teams, and organizations (including professional societies!) that work in isolation are at risk. Fortunately, boundary spanning can help bust silos. For example, a recent meta-analysis (Leicht-Deobald et al., 2025) confirmed that teams that engage in better boundary spanning (vs. boundary protection) are more effective. On a personal level, being a strong bridger or connector is career enhancing.

Boundary Spanning

Boundary spanning refers to actions that connect or bridge distinct groups, for example, across teams, functions, industries, or professions. Sometimes it is done to meet an immediate need, for example, to exchange information, overcome a problem, coordinate work, seek advice, clarify roles, or negotiate expectations. At other times, it serves a longer term purpose: to build a relationship, increase agility, stimulate creativity, or perhaps open a future door. 

A Challenge

My challenge to you is to continue strengthening your boundary-spanning capabilities and expanding your network in 2026. Relevant capabilities include demonstrating empathy, showing diplomacy, translating your expertise, building trust, resolving conflict, and representing your team or organization. Honing these will make you a better bridger and a more valued collaborator.

Of course, you should continue to connect with your core group: your grad school colleagues, coworkers, and people with whom you share work and/or research interests. They are your core group for a reason! But in 2026, I encourage you to cast a broader net as well. Look for opportunities to be a bridger or connector, and build a few new cross-functional, cross-unit, cross-company, cross-industry, or cross-profession connections. Building and sustaining a deeper, wider network makes it easier to be a bridger when needed. Your network can be a force multiplier for you, or a limiting factor. In some ways, “you’re only as strong as your network.”

Within SIOP. Reach out to members with whom you usually don’t interact. This can be at the conference, through our website, via social media, or by email. If you are a researcher, engage with a few people who use different methods or study an adjacent topic. If you are a practitioner, reach out to people who do similar work as you but in a different industry, or who work in your industry but perform different work. And I challenge all of us to add at least three SIOP members to our networks who have chosen a career path different from our own, whether in research, teaching, or practice.

Outside of SIOP. Let’s all be ambassadors for I-O psychology! When you span boundaries beyond our profession, it benefits our field and can pay dividends for you personally. Engage with people in adjacent fields such as human resources, talent analytics, learning and development, and human factors. Look for opportunities to connect with people from other disciplines, such as finance, legal, technology, customer service, R&D, marketing, and manufacturing. Engage with researchers from different scientific disciplines.

To be an effective bridger, ask about their work, listen intently, and learn what keeps them up at night. Be on the lookout for ways that you, your company, or I-O psychology can help or partner with them. As an I-O ambassador, explain what we do and how we can help. Translate what we do into their “language” and describe situations where I-O psychology can make a difference. When you find out what resonates with them, offer evidence-based advice using their terminology.

A Final Thought

I leave you with this final thought. There are two types of companies. Those who need I-O psychologists and know it, and those who need us but don’t know it yet! Let’s reduce the number of people in the second set by being great boundary spanners, expanding our networks, and sharing our message. As a bonus, it might just create a future opportunity for you or another SIOP member!

Until next time…

Scott

Reference

Leicht-Deobald, U., Backmann, J., de Vries, T. A., Weiss, M., Hohmann, S., Walter, F., van der Vegt, G. S., & Hoegl, M. (2025). A contingency framework for the performance consequences of team boundary management: A meta-analysis of 30 years of research. Journal of Management, 51(2), 704-747.