The Importance of Synergy

Synergy is defined by Harris and Moran as a cooperative or combined action, and occurs when diverse or disparate individuals or groups collaborate for a commoncause. The objective is to increase effectiveness by sharing perceptions and experiences, insights, and knowledge. (Harris, & Moran, 2011, p.233). People think of synergy as something within an organization. It is usually when two parties collaborate and create a culture of excellence that is mutually beneficial. This can be broadened outside of an organization.

An example of synergy can be illustrated by a car wash. Let’s suppose you own a car wash. You have been ordering soap from a manufacture that is based far away from you and is charging you a premium for their soap. This is a major expense for you as you are obviously looking to lower your expenses. Now let’s say another distributor moves into town and offers you a 25% discount if you put a sigh out front advertising the product you use. This is a mutually beneficial situation because you save 25% your major expense of soap and they receive advertising at a minimal cost (Hoback, R. (n.d.).

You can see that synergy can happen at a macro level. Businesses making decisions that help promote each other. But synergy goes way beyond the macro level. It can happen between two individuals within an organization. When two people begin functioning at a new level because of the support and collaboration they are sharing with each other, synergy is present. With good synergy comes an effective team. Even if the team doesn’t have the brightest or most talented people, they will be able to work as a team to accomplish things beyond their individual skills. This is a major reason why synergy is so important and critical to the success of a team. If people are functioning as one cohesive team, they will be able to move an objective forward.

Synergy makes a team stronger. It makes them more effective. When everyone is benefiting from a relationship it is healthy and prosperous. That should be the goal of any individual, organization, or team. Synergy is the goal and achieving it is critical to success.

 

 

Sources:

Moran,R., & Harris, P. (2011). Managing cultural differences global leadershipstrategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.). Burlington, MA:Butterworth-Heinemann

Hoback, R. (n.d.). Synergy Business Consultancy. Retrieved February 22, 2015, from http://synergy.ph/en/the-use-of-synergy-in-business/