“You know, something big shifted for me after that session last month,” said a friend over dinner. She is a manager who has recently gone through four rounds of layoffs and is struggling with the increased workload, conflict on her team and a boss uninterested in the day-to-day challenges. “Things are still tough, but I have a bigger perspective, so I can see and use the freedoms I do have. I’ve altered my approach, which is leading to better interactions with my boss and less pressure to take home. And it all really stemmed from that two-hour session!”

What did we do for two hours that made such a difference?

In the last post on Team Synergy, we explored the fact that teams often waver in deciding whether to invest in real teamwork.  We often fail to recognize the ways our work is already interdependent and how we can disrupt each other if we do not actively manage those connections.

There are certain words that are used so often and so vaguely that they can mean almost anything. “Teamwork” is clearly one of those words… and “synergy” is another.  Some of you may remember the film In Good Company, where cut-throat tycoon Teddy K. (played by Malcolm McDowell), speaking after a series of arbitrary layoffs, folds his hands together almost like a priest and incants the mystical virtues of synergy.