How to build team synergy

It's well documented throughout the sports world how important teamwork is to success, and how detrimental a lack of it can be. Look no further than the recent World Series Champion Boston Red Sox for an example of the former; the synergy displayed by this team transcended any talent deficiencies and left it holding the big trophy. As for the latter, consider what's happening to the Miami Dolphins, where an apparent culture of discord has led to key players leaving the team, resulting in embarrassing losses and increasing disharmony.

What can business leaders learn from this? Quite a bit. Most of us are familiar with the well-known physics concept: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Understanding the importance of creating synergy — the interaction of multiple elements to produce an effect different from or greater than the sum of individuals' efforts — can be critical in your leadership role. As a leader, even if you consider yourself to be a superlative problem-solver (the best at your organization), a collaborating group is likely to outperform you. This demonstrates the need to create synergy within your team.

Creating Synergy
Undoubtedly, there are a myriad of management decisions that impact the creation of a phenomenal team that can execute flawlessly and drive results. Research on teams corroborates that a critical leadership skill is not only the ability to create synergy, but utilizing that powerful combined effect of the group wisely to achieve your goals.