The buzzword “synergy”, which was initially a snide term for corporations, has now returned to the forefront of conversation as businesses seek ways to work across departments in remote or hybrid environments for example. This time it’s not used as a derogatory corporate term, but rather to describe the process of collaboration which is highly sought-after.
Synergy refers to the notion that a unit is greater than its individual parts. This positive synergy helps teams to accomplish more than they would be capable of on their on their own. It also gives team members a chance to express themselves with their own perspectives, skills and communication styles.
On the other side, a negative synergy may bring teams down and cause them to produce subpar outputs despite everyone’s individual competencies. This is usually because of miscommunications or conflicts regarding roles, responsibilities and schedules.
To avoid these issues, it is important that teams create solid foundations of trust and collaboration by clearly defining the goals for the project and clearly defining each team member’s part in this. The most effective way to accomplish this is by using an interactive role mapping process, where each team member works passi per diventare with their counterparts to establish a clear and concise record of who’s responsible for what and when. This helps reduce confusion and saves time, energy and tension for teams. It also makes it easier for managers to be able to coach and assist at any time.