“Boundary spanning” is known in management as situations where an employee seeks advice or knowledge from colleagues outside their immediate group as a way of building their personal information base.
Eric Quintane is part of a team, led by assistant professor Julija Mell of RSM, that recently completed a research looking at the potential pitfalls of boundary spanning. The research, involving roughly 300 participants mainly in the UK and the US, found that although turning to external colleagues for advice can be beneficial, some leaders don’t or won’t encourage it while others will go so far as to actively undermine any members of their team who cross departmental lines.