Recently I talked about collaboration in the workplace and the importance of camaraderie.
This week I want to extend this out to working with other businesses and how to make your workplace a safe place. If we work with others, the “whole is greater than its parts” as Aristotle says.
So What Does This Mean?
This means that the synergy we create by working together will bring greater results.
That is… Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts according to Wikipedia.
How Synergy Works
So what am I talking about and how does this work? Well it is simple really.
If we all work together, whether it is in your own workplace or working with other workplaces then everyone wins. A collective action takes place that is picked up by the energy forces that can only create good and more for all.
Ok, so you think I am off my rocker? That’s okay! All I want you to do is expand your thinking.
And instead of looking inward in your business, look outside of it to see who you can work collaboratively with to create a synergy.
Synergy In Action
In 1909, Lester F Ward said “struggle is essentially destructive to social order and that social synergy, which is a form of cosmic synergy, the universal constructive principle of nature”.
An example of this co-operative power of nature is water. It is made up of two compounds that work together to create one of the essentials of life, water.
They are of course hydrogen and oxygen. This is synergy in action.
Synergy With Competitors
Now there are many such examples with nature. So if we are one with nature, why can it not work for us?
A synergistic partnership with your so called competitors can relate to all of you winning – the whole is great than the sum.
Synergy is the ability of a group to outperform even its best individual members. A cohesive group working as a team will get better results than one person working on their own.
Ask Yourself…
Are a leader in your organization that puts your people first?
Or are you an authority that puts yourself first?
Have you created a team that is willing to work with you or do they see themselves as working for you? Do you make your staff feel safe or so they fear you?
If you looked at your staff as if they were your child, would you fire them or even want to fire them? Do you sacrifice the people to save the numbers or save the people to save the numbers?
You Can’t Do It Without Your Team
The reality is that your people are your greatest asset.
All great leaders put their people first. They build an environment where people are safe and when they break the rules or make a mistake, they know they are not going to lose their job.
They know they are going to be coached and their job is safe, they are safe, their family is safe because they know they are going to be fed.
Take a look at this Ted Talk to see what I mean:
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe
(11mins)
Local Synergy
Group homes know this. The power of working together sets up a collegial environment, but this can also work locally.
Meeting with others from your area on a regular basis creates synergy, or an energy that works for everyone.
But are all managers in these groups’ leaders? Do you trust them or fear them? Do you feel safe or unsafe?
It is the leaders in your group or community that sets the tone that does the extraordinary in ordinary everyday situations.
The groups that meet do not have to be from the same organisation or industry. There is nothing to say that homecare organisations, residential care organisations, disability facilities/organisations, mental health, educators or health agencies can’t all meet up.
You all have something to contribute to the group. It comes to the power of the leader who sets up the group that is the key to its longevity.
Are you in a group like this? I am. It keeps me in touch with what is happening in the industry and I meet up with old friends too. So why don’t you get in touch with those around you and work together. You just never know what may eventuate from them.