Synergy is a common buzzword you hear from organizational leaders and consultants, but what does it really mean to organizations? Simply put, synergy is the exponential increase in output or value that occurs when resources (i.e human, physical, and financial) are all working together to accomplish common goals. Synergy is a byproduct of resource "alignment".
Throughout my career, I have always been frustrated when departments worked in "silos", meaning that leaders only focused on the performance of their department and didn't consider the impact of their decisions and practices on the organization's overall ability to service the customer. The term for this behavior is "sub-optimization". In my experience, silos evolve when organizational goals are set with individual departments in mind, and not from the perspective of how all of the departments work together, as a system or enterprise, to service customers. I refer to this as having an enterprise-wide or system-wide orientation.
"Synergy through Alignment" begins at the top of the organization, where the Vision is created. Leaders play the critical role of communicating the overall direction and goals of the organization to every member. To do so effectively requires an understanding of the "value stream", or how the individual functions and processes work together to meet the needs of customers - that is, using an enterprise-wide or systems-wide approach. Once each department and individual understands the role they play in adding value to the customer, then they can determine their role in helping the organization meets its overarching goals. The result is departmental goals that work in support of, and not against, other departments in helping the organization meet its overarching goals. This is the most basic form of alignment.
In the image above, the triangle represents an organization. The arrows represent the resources (i.e. employee, financial, and physical) available to help the organization meet its Vision. With all the arrows pointed toward the Vision, the image becomes a visual representation of "synergy through alignment". Most organizations, however, don't realize this ideal state. For most organizations, things like poor communication, office politics, and external influences cause many of the arrows to be directed away from the Vision, like below.
A lot of factors can affect the ability of an organization to keep all of its resources aligned toward completing its Vision. Perhaps the most important is the culture of the organization. Culture refers to the self sustaining patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that determine how things get done. These are typically unwritten rules about how people should act. The goals and strategies must be supported by the culture. If not, the arrows won't stay aligned. For example, if one of the organization's goals is to implement a performance improvement model based on employee feedback, but the culture is one where employees are afraid to admit problems or make mistakes, then the organization will not receive the necessary feedback from employees to develop an effective performance improvement program. The goal will not be achieved because the arrows representing employees will be misaligned.
Other factors the will affect the ability of the organization's resources to be aligned are forces that are driving change within and outside of the organization. Within the organization, things like disgruntled employees, changes in leadership, turf wars between departments, or the implementation of a new computer system can temporarily or permanently distract resources from their role in helping the organization meet it Vision. Outside the organization, things such as what your competitors are doing or the state of economy can also cause the use of resources to be misaligned.
Effective management is the key to "synergy through alignment". Managers must ensure that the culture of the organization supports the goals and strategies they develop. If not, it is up the senior leaders to begin the process of changing the culture. Managers must also monitor the environment within which the organization operates, and develop contingency plans to react to changes in the environment that could misalign resources. For example, if the organization's goal is grow its retail sales and the strategy is to do so by opening up new stores, the organization must monitor the new store opening plans of its competitors. It the organization ends up opening a store in an area where a competitor just opened a new store, the impact on sales growth would be less than if the organization's resource were used to open up the new store in a market where less competition existed.
The manager's role in support of its employees is most important. Managers must make sure that each employee understand the value they, and their unit or department, plays in helping the organization meets its goals. Managers must ensure that employees have the necessary support and training to be effective in their roles, and that compensation systems encourage behavior that results in employees acting in a manner that also supports the goals.
Synergy through Alignment is easy to understand, but very difficult to achieve. It requires effective communication, capable management, and an authentic collaboration between employees and managers. Organizations that don't embrace this model will always be exposed to influences that will detract from the organization's ability to be successful. Organizations that pursue this model of operation will achieve exponentially better results. Imagine the power of everyone in your organization focusing all of their actions, everyday toward helping the organization achieve its Vision.
"Synergy through Alignment" begins at the top of the organization, where the Vision is created. Leaders play the critical role of communicating the overall direction and goals of the organization to every member. To do so effectively requires an understanding of the "value stream", or how the individual functions and processes work together to meet the needs of customers - that is, using an enterprise-wide or systems-wide approach. Once each department and individual understands the role they play in adding value to the customer, then they can determine their role in helping the organization meets its overarching goals. The result is departmental goals that work in support of, and not against, other departments in helping the organization meet its overarching goals. This is the most basic form of alignment.
In the image above, the triangle represents an organization. The arrows represent the resources (i.e. employee, financial, and physical) available to help the organization meet its Vision. With all the arrows pointed toward the Vision, the image becomes a visual representation of "synergy through alignment". Most organizations, however, don't realize this ideal state. For most organizations, things like poor communication, office politics, and external influences cause many of the arrows to be directed away from the Vision, like below.
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| An Organization That is Out of Alignment |
A lot of factors can affect the ability of an organization to keep all of its resources aligned toward completing its Vision. Perhaps the most important is the culture of the organization. Culture refers to the self sustaining patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting that determine how things get done. These are typically unwritten rules about how people should act. The goals and strategies must be supported by the culture. If not, the arrows won't stay aligned. For example, if one of the organization's goals is to implement a performance improvement model based on employee feedback, but the culture is one where employees are afraid to admit problems or make mistakes, then the organization will not receive the necessary feedback from employees to develop an effective performance improvement program. The goal will not be achieved because the arrows representing employees will be misaligned.
Other factors the will affect the ability of the organization's resources to be aligned are forces that are driving change within and outside of the organization. Within the organization, things like disgruntled employees, changes in leadership, turf wars between departments, or the implementation of a new computer system can temporarily or permanently distract resources from their role in helping the organization meet it Vision. Outside the organization, things such as what your competitors are doing or the state of economy can also cause the use of resources to be misaligned.
Effective management is the key to "synergy through alignment". Managers must ensure that the culture of the organization supports the goals and strategies they develop. If not, it is up the senior leaders to begin the process of changing the culture. Managers must also monitor the environment within which the organization operates, and develop contingency plans to react to changes in the environment that could misalign resources. For example, if the organization's goal is grow its retail sales and the strategy is to do so by opening up new stores, the organization must monitor the new store opening plans of its competitors. It the organization ends up opening a store in an area where a competitor just opened a new store, the impact on sales growth would be less than if the organization's resource were used to open up the new store in a market where less competition existed.
The manager's role in support of its employees is most important. Managers must make sure that each employee understand the value they, and their unit or department, plays in helping the organization meets its goals. Managers must ensure that employees have the necessary support and training to be effective in their roles, and that compensation systems encourage behavior that results in employees acting in a manner that also supports the goals.
Synergy through Alignment is easy to understand, but very difficult to achieve. It requires effective communication, capable management, and an authentic collaboration between employees and managers. Organizations that don't embrace this model will always be exposed to influences that will detract from the organization's ability to be successful. Organizations that pursue this model of operation will achieve exponentially better results. Imagine the power of everyone in your organization focusing all of their actions, everyday toward helping the organization achieve its Vision.
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