Due to the United States being such a melting pot of cultures, there is a higher probability of cultural synergy intersecting with team synergy inside of our organizations.  Synergy is a cooperative or combined action, and occurs when diverse or disparate individuals or groups collaborate for a common cause. The objective is to increase effectiveness by sharing perceptions and experiences, insights, and knowledge. Moran, Abramson, & Moran (2014, p. 266).  Cultural synergy and team synergy must be in sync in order to support the goals of the team and the organization.  One cannot exist without the other in order to create a high-performing team.

I can think back to my experiences on teams and how some deeply embedded cultural synergies within the team members influenced the team synergy as a whole. I currently work on a team that has a large Hispanic membership, including the 2 main leaders of the team. Though this is a work team, it is a lot more familial than other teams I have been a part of as there is high-value placed on the emotional connectedness of the team members and working together to accomplish company goals.

Hispanic cultures are, generally, known to be more collectivist or synergistic than the individualistic nature of the United States. (The CDC provides a wonderful list that provides insight to Hispanic culture). Synergistic cultures are described as more cooperative for mutual advantage, leadership fostering sharing wealth and advantage for the common good and an open system of people who tend to be more helpful and friendly. Moran, Abramson, Moran (2014, p. 266-267).  The natural synergistic nature of the Hispanic culture and the influence it has had on the leaders and majority population of the group has positively influenced the team synergy as a whole since the general idea of a team as described by Moran, Abramson & Moran (2014, p. 269) is a number of people associated in some joint action, while teamwork is described as a cooperative or coordinated effort by people working together.

The team I previously mentioned works well together, are very giving of their time to support the team objectives and enjoy helping other members of the team.  This promotes a positive work environment on the team which was aided by the positive cultural synergy intersecting with the team synergy.

References:

Moran , R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Global Teams and Global Leadership. In Managing Cultural Differences (pp. 266-291). New York, NY: Routledge.

CDC. (n.d.). Building Our Understanding: Culture Insights Communicating with Hispanic/Latinos. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dch/programs/healthycommunitiesprogram/tools/pdf/hispanic_latinos_insight.pdf