I find that it’s pretty cool that every few weeks I can apply one of the lessons learned in this course and tie it into a blog post about my current job. However, it’s equally extremely sad that it always skews toward the “what not to do” section of the lessons.
When I went through the interview process 3 years ago, an emphasis was placed on how well everyone at this company works as a team, and regardless of qualifications, they were really looking to ensure that I, and future candidates, would be the right “fit” with everyone so as to not interrupt that cohesive nature. The text states that synergy, in part, “involves joint action in which the total effect is greater than the sum of effects when acting independently” (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014), which is the path that I believe the interviewer was headed down. After my first few weeks there, I couldn’t refute her claims. Everyone in my department was very accommodating, and they were in constant communication with each other to ensure that goals were being met, and everyone had a role to play. But it wasn’t until I started getting involved in interdepartmental meetings that I realized the proverbial buck on synergistic culture, stopped there.
A few months ago they created a meeting area behind my cubicle that they dubbed the “War Room”, which is a concept in Project Management circles that adapts the war-time strategy function to project development (Kijko, 2017). In theory, it serves as a safe space amongst a team to strategize, communicate, plan, and problem-solve instantly, with all team members present and on the same page to eliminate flaws or mistakes that other forms of communication (like phone calls or email) are susceptible to on their own. And for the first few weeks, it worked like a charm. It created a team-building environment that seemed like it was pulled straight out of our textbook, promoting an, “openness to change, innovation, group consensus, team decision-making, and creative problem-solving” (Moran, Abramson & Moran, 2014). However, once Q4 was getting to the late stages, the tone quickly switched from collaborative to combative. Everyone one was stressed and tired, so no one was willing to help on projects that they deemed out of their scope. When a problem went up on the board previously, there was a true sense of getting to the bottom of how it happened and brainstorming ways to prevent it in the future. Now, it seems to be 30 minutes of the “blame game”, trying to deflect responsibility and action on every adjacent department. As a result, several of our machines did not ship on time, hurting our reputation, sales numbers and client relationships, which resulted in us falling out of favor with several investors.
What was once an outlet to drive action and solve problems, became an outlet for inaction that created problems (which could also be pitched as an impromptu game show where contestants compete to throw as many of their colleagues under the bus in 30 minutes…only instead of winning a car or a trip to Italy, the prize is low employee morale and millions of dollars in sales down the drain). Hopefully the next VP that we hire will be more open to employee concerns and get this format back on track to do what it was originally intended.
Works Cited:
Kijko, P. (2018, August 22). The War Room Concept in Project Management. Retrieved February 20, 2019, from https://www.timecamp.com/blog/2017/01/the-war-room-concept-in-project-management/
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences: Leadership skills and strategies for working in a global world. New York: Elsevier.
amo33 says
But apart from the creative name, I also like how you tied the concept of synergy with your current work environment. It’s such an important concept, that to be honest, can also be kind of mindless in a way? None of us realize when it’s negatively impacting our work situations because we are so far past the common goal that we all should be thinking about, instead we are stuck focusing on the fact that no one is working together as much as they possibly should be. On the other hand, it can sometimes take a little bit to realize how great synergy in the workplace is until you accomplish something, look around, and think to yourself, “wow! we all work so amazing together.” I currently work for a company that I truly cannot even put into words what the environment and culture are like. They are like nothing I have ever experienced before! We have about 35 employees and all of us are so accommodating and helpful, as you stated, and also we all want to see each other succeed as well as ourselves. I think synergy is so much more than just working together and accomplishing the goal to benefit yourself. It’s also accomplishing that goal and working together but making sure that it is benefiting everyone equally. If you do great, then you all do great. If you do poorly, then you all go down together. The thing about synergy is it all begins with who you hire … so I definitely hope for your sake, that the next VP has a fresh set of eyes, ears, and a mindset that will benefit your company the way it should be.
Great work!
Alaina
amo33 says
Hello! First and foremost, love the title of your blog post.
Morgan Clyne says
I really like how you have been able to apply synergy to you work environment. I would agree with you that it is great we can see how the topics we are studying on global leadership come full circle with our own reality in the workplace. I appreciate your comment about your real life experience and what had happened.
Synergy is an incredible concept that really has the potential for significant impact either good or bad. Although it seems like synergy should be a basic understood leadership must do, it seems as though it may be overlooked by some as you have noted from your own experience.
Moran, Abramson, and Moran (2014) are giving global leaders the recipe book to be successful in their role by ensuring that they are creating an environment that has synergy. Would you agree? The other component highlighted by Moran, Abramson, and Moran (2014) focused on how well the global leader should be listening to employees. In your example, it sounds as they listening was not done but instead people were being blamed. It would be interesting if you were able to interview the next VP candidate and ask them to tell you how they view cultural synergy and what their experience has been; just a thought.
Thanks again for sharing your experience. I hope you get an engaged VP who wants to listen and brings people together so you all can achieve organizational success.
Reference
Moran, R., Abramson, N., and Moran, S. (2014). Managing cultural differences, 9th edition. New
York, NY: Routledge.