Synergy comes from the greek word synergia, meaning joint work and cooperative action. Synergy is when the result is greater than the sum of the parts.

Synergy is created when things work in concert together to create an outcome that is in some way of more value than the total of what the individual inputs is.

“Synergy is not just an activity confined to achievement of targets but an act of group thinking towards the beyond and converting the ideas into a series of processes then putting the same into innovative practices for accomplishment of organisational goals”.

In other words, “Synergy is the ability of a group to outperform even its best individual member”.

When certain goals are difficult to achieve, instead of changing the goals, synergy is an act of changing the course of action or game plan by coming out with innovative strategies through group thinking by way of encouraging and  taking every one in the group into confidence.

A simple example of Human Synergy in an organisation is  :-

If there are 9 key persons in an organisation and if all the decision making is centralised then the number of ideas generated will be restricted to only 9 good ideas.

i.e., 9 Key personnel with 9 followers who in turn have 9 followers = 9 good decisions

As against this in a synergy activity where everyone are allowed to participate in the decision making

i.e., 9 X 9 X 9 => 729 ideas

These ideas can be classified into commonality and other unique ideas. further classified into safe, medium risk, and high risk.

In Management, there are no perfect solutions for a problem and whenever there are hundreds and thousands of ideas, most of these ideas generated will be of common nature and other ideas which are different and sometimes highly experimental in nature. All organisations should spend some amount of their revenue on Research and development of these ideas may be in a controlled environment with a stop loss arrangement. Some of these ideas may be the one that promises better results with lesser efforts and in the right direction.

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As quoted by Tom Peters, a renounced Management Professional “There are risk you cannot afford to take and there are risk you cannot afford not to take”.

Why Synergy:

“Synergy is an act of minimising the efforts or simplifying the efforts of the people in an organisation but at the same time maximising the results or productivity of an organisation”.

As quoted by Woodrow Wilson “ I use not only all the brains I Have but all I can borrow”.

“There are no problems we cannot solve together and very few we can solve by ourselves”.

                        - Lyndon B. Johnson (1908-1973) , 36^th President of United States

How Synergy:

“Nothing at all shall  be attempted unless and until all possible objections put forth by the group to the group shall be handled”

                        - Dr. Samuel Johnson(1709 -1784), An English Author

Before starting an activity, small groups shall be formed and the problem shall be put in the forum for discussion. Everyone in the Group shall be given full support and encouragement to share their opinion and also freedom to criticise and as a consequence encourages conflicts amongst the participants in the early stage of discussion but helps to get better solutions at the end.

Synergy usually arises when two or more intellectuals with different complimentary skills cooperate.

Knowingly or unknowingly, Synergy happens in an organisation when high skilled persons cooperate and compliment with each other towards accomplishment of goals.

Types of Synergy:-

1. Positive Synergy
2. Negative Synergy

1. Positive Synergy :

Involved people contribute more and to involve them, they should be given a feel of process ownership and allowed to contribute and participate in the decision making. This fosters a sense of belongingness and security in the minds of the employees that all the decisions taken by the Management are transparent to them.

1. Negative Synergy:

Negative Synergy is an employee unrest, which left unattended may lead to like a forest fire highly damaging which may be a result of lack of confidence or trust among the employees on the Management and needs to be addressed immediately i.e., instead of just addressing the Symptoms of the problem i.e., Unrest, an in-depth study on the root cause as how to curb it from the beginning. This can be done through employee engagement activities, Employee Suggestion Schemes  etc.

Conclusion:

Below are some of the Methods of introducing Synergy among the employees in a work environment:

a)    Brain Storming: Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.

b)    Professional Networking : Professional networking is networking conducted with a specific plan, or goal, in mind.  That plan, or goal, is specific to the individual doing the networking but will vary, depending on the nature of the networking event that is taking place.

c)    Employee Engagement: Employee engagement, also called worker engagement, is a business management concept. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests. According to Scarlett Surveys, "Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organization which profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work". Thus engagement is distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organisational culture.

d)    Employee suggestion Scheme: Employee Suggestion Scheme is a  System in which people who work for an organization suggest ways in which it could be   improved and are given rewards for useful suggestions