Cities largely follow an organizational chart that divides employees into divisions, departments,

and offices. While this allows organizations to collectively pool expertise and resources to

achieve goals and deliver services, the down side is the silo effect. Silo behavior can have a

detrimental impact on knowledge sharing, performance, efficiency and morale. And in an

economy that has placed ever-increasing demands on a leaner workforce; maximizing

resources through collaboration can have a tremendous impact on productivity. How can social

networking technologies transform silo-based thinking into a more symbiotic mindset that

helps maximize the potential of the entire organization?

This case study examines the City of Palo Alto’s experiment with Salesforce Chatter, a social

networking platform, and the lessons learned today about the challenges and opportunities of

employing social networking platforms in a public agency.