Synergy, we all know that buzzword, but do we actually know what it means in the modern workforce? According to Martushev, synergy is “classical in origin. It comes from the Greek roots ‘sun’ (meaning ‘together’) and ‘ergon’ (meaning work)” (Martushev). But if we really look at synergy, how does it apply to our everyday lives in this modern day workforce?  Looking at the working environment of today most everything is based around a team. Teams work together to accomplish a common goal and advance the directive of the company or organization. Synergy and teamwork are synonymous. You cannot have one without the other. Within team forming there are a few steps to get a highly effective team. Forming, storming, norming and performing are all part of Tuckman’s model for a high-performance team (MTC). Synergy occurs throughout this process. “When every team member understands his or her role, the role of other members of the team, and the mission, each individual’s task fits into the overall goal much more easily, as there is no redundancy or loss of efficiency. That efficiency then allows members to work on refining and improving the process so that the whole becomes better than the parts” (Penn State). That final performing stage of Tuckman’s model is this aspect of synergy we see here. 

Looking at this through a personal lens, working in an organization such as the YMCA synergy is really quite important in performing as a highly effective team. The organization is made up of so many smaller parts that it necessitates everyone works together to accomplish goals and tasks. The YMCA is a high-synergy culture environment. Team members work together, different departments cannot function without one another, and everyone is there for the same reason. 

Within organizations, as the leader, it is important to be able to recognize the talents of your individual employees and work on bringing them together with other individuals to perfect the performance of the said organization. Being unable to understand and appropriately combine traits and talents of members will lead to a much rougher group and work environment. Looking back on Tuckman’s model of team formation, every team struggles at one point or another before hitting that performing stage. That is not to say that synergy is non-existent. Everyone is still working it out and learning how to effectively function as a team yet the common goal never gets lost.

As another personal example within the summer camp workplace, team effectiveness is paramount to the success of the summer and the joy and learning that our campers get out of it. Within the summer camp that I primarily work at we have a very structured hierarchy of leadership extending from a regular counselor all the way through a minimum of 4 layers up to our executive director. Bringing 120+ staff members together to create a safe, fun, and learning environment for 2,000 campers is no easy task. We spend a full 2 weeks in staff training and going through Tuckman’s model of effective team formation. There are high moments and there are low moments and we really do not even manage to make it to the performing stage until partway through the summer yet once we do, it is quite obvious how well everything is working. It is similar to a well-oiled machine. Everyone knows their individual tasks and everyone is mostly content with the work they are producing. And most importantly, the main thing that contributes to our synergistic success, is that everyone is there for the same reason. Summer camp is not a glorious job and it certainly does not pay well, so having the one common goal of giving our campers the best possible experience is really what keeps the team functioning at such a high level. Having been on the administrative side this past summer with upwards of 15 staff and 60 campers that I was directly responsible for, seeing the team function at such a high level was very rewarding for me.

People often overlook synergy as ‘just a buzzword’ and think that it is not relevant. But looking at today’s modern work environment shows that having a high functioning team is essential to producing good products in an effective manner. Without the synergy found at the performing stage of group development, teams would be nowhere near as effective as they could be. 

Martushev, C. (2020, February 26). Teamwork: How to create team synergy. CMOE. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from https://cmoe.com/blog/teamwork-how-to-create-synergy/. 

Pennsylvania State University. (2021). Lesson 06: Cultural Synergy. Cultural synergy. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847646

Team, the M. T. C. (n.d.). Forming, storming, Norming, and performing: Tuckman’s model for nurturing A team to high performance. From MindTools.com. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_86.htm. 

As we learned from lesson 3, diversity is a huge part of the professional setting. This includes diversity in a number of different facets including race, age, gender, heritage, and more. In a professional setting, having an inclusive and diverse workplace is the key to overall success. Having different sets of opinions is really what we look for when it comes to innovation and new ideas in general. When building a team or joining a group you certainly want to be aware of both the surface-level diversity (essentially demographics and easily distinguishable traits) and the deep-level diversity (core beliefs, attitudes, etc).

Looking back at one of my most recent work experiences at the summer camp as a mid-level manager (2 steps up from the bottom and 3 steps down from the top), the diversity of my leadership team played a major part in our overall success throughout the summer. Most of our surface-level distinguishers were pretty much the same, we were all early 20’s white students that mostly came from the same background but we all had different life experiences when it came to school, family, friends, and more. Our core belief systems were inherently different and this is what helped us work so well together and allowed the summer to run extremely smooth.

Having the ability to add differing opinions to a group setting is not something that should ever be overlooked. Too often, corporations are stuck in a rut of stale ideas and it usually stems from a lack of diversity within the team. Looking back at another one of my former jobs in the game development industry as a community manager, the one primary development team I worked with got stuck about 6 months into the project because everyone on the team (3 members) were burnt out and had very similar life experiences, beliefs, and just overall outlooks on life. These three folks all grew up together and had known each other for multiple years. We decided to bring another member on the team as sort of a project manager. Compared to the other team members, this person was from an entirely different location, a different phase of life, and gave the project a breath of fresh air.

But diversity is not only important for new ideas. Having a good, diverse leadership team shows your employees that effort is being made to be inclusive. Strongly pushing job applications for the LGBTQ+ community is one of the main things I have seen nowadays with one company I follow proudly touting that over 80% of their staff is part of the queer community and I personally think that this is a great push. Lots of changes are happening in a number of industries and a lot of it is revolving around diversity and inclusivity. This is a wonderful move towards a more welcoming and better overall working environment for everyone.

 

 

Penn State University World Campus. OLEAD 410: Leadership in a Global Context. Lesson 3: Diversity. Retrieved from: https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2146712/modules/items/32847666