The world is currently experiencing digital transformation and a significant shift towards ecological sustainability and a green economy. Business conditions are changing at an incredible pace. The development of technology requires managers to constantly monitor trends and innovations to remain competitive. Growth alongside digital transformation necessitates adaptation, agile teams, and above all, an understanding of the purpose of digital technology.
At the same time, employee awareness is also changing. New generations bring new rules. The traditional hierarchical approach to management is becoming less popular, and agile methods that accelerate adaptation to changes are increasingly accepted, enhancing employee autonomy and fostering teamwork. Precisely because all these factors intertwine in modern business, managing a company is becoming increasingly challenging, and it is becoming clearer that one of the most important secrets to success is synergy.
Synergy, by definition, denotes a situation where the combination of different elements creates greater value or benefit than what each could achieve individually. This means that when different resources, knowledge, skills, or competencies come together and act in concert, the result is improved efficiency, productivity, or fantastic innovations.
Although long desired in the business world, it has never been as crucial for survival as it is now. The knowledge that is now sought exceeds the capabilities of any individual. Only teams of competent individuals who live their idea and are committed to common goals can succeed. While it seems utopian, it increasingly appears that this will be the only possibility for survival in the future. What synergies are most important today?
Synergy Among Teams/Departments
Companies traditionally still operate in silos (departments) that are hierarchically organized, each with their own plans and tasks. It is quite common for silos to not communicate with each other, leading to significant gaps between them (even among departments that are natural relatives, such as sales and marketing, procurement and production, and similar).
On the other hand, for companies to develop today and in the future, a different organization is necessary that implies teamwork across multiple departments simultaneously. Today, the closest model to this is a project organization. This is how silos between different functions are broken down, enabling more intense communication and thus countless opportunities that had previously been unjustly neglected.
Synergy Between Leadership and Employees
The fundamental characteristic of such synergy is communication. We have never talked more about communication, yet it seems that there has never been less of it. As a consultant for implementing controlling, I often find myself in a position to encourage managers: ‘Talk to people.’ And there is a good reason for this. Implementing controlling is a fantastic process of preparing for digital transformation because it equally requires the servicing of processes. In most cases, as soon as one scratches the surface, it becomes clear that processes are not agreed upon, are mostly random, and developed at the discretion of individuals rather than guided by the logic of synergy with other processes. Talking to people in this sense means gathering teams from various departments, debating, encouraging brainstorming about what we want to achieve, and agreeing on a common tactic.
Unfortunately, many managers automatically equate this with micromanagement, but it is far from the same. The goal of the conversation is not to lecture employees on how to do something, but to reach a consensus on the goals to be achieved and the ways to achieve them multifunctionally. Once a consensus is reached, the process is not established by decree but becomes an agreed-upon rule of conduct that is best written in a large format and placed on the wall as a common promise directed towards success. Management thus encourages employees to take responsibility for their work and supports initiatives and creativity, which certainly contributes to greater productivity and innovation.
Controlling – Key to Results
The synergy between managers and employees is also evident in providing feedback (feedback). Regular feedback from management helps employees better understand their strengths and areas for improvement, while management can better understand the challenges faced by workers. Caring for employee development, providing opportunities for training, improvement, and professional development demonstrates their importance to the organization and increases motivation and engagement.
We must not forget the importance of rewarding employees and recognizing successful work. In our practice, a quality reward system is, unfortunately, a true rarity. If it exists, it is often not good. The path to a quality reward system is paved with good intentions, but often leads to hell rather than a fair distribution of rewards. One reason for this is the lack of a quality and stable information system about results that comes from a single source of truth. In other words, there is no controlling.
