One article about why we should foster synergy within our Product Teams

It may be about soccer as well, who knows?

Photo by rawpixel on Burst

Imagine being a soccer coach capable to hire the top 11 soccer players in the world and bring them together in the same “dream team”. Just imagine you could have the best goalkeeper, the best defenders, midfielders, forwards, etc. In theory, you’d win every championship, wouldn’t you? Now pretend they hate each other and they can’t stand being together in the same room. Too much? A simpler example, then: imagine that they don’t collaborate with each other in the matches or are trying to solve it all by themselves. Or let’s imagine they just don’t have the right guidance, where to go, or what to do. What are the chances now of winning every league?

Now, let’s bring that example to a product development world. It doesn’t matter if we have the best engineers or the best designers on our staff. If we have no synergy, we will not release a good product (we may not release a product at all!). Synergy is the key to deliver successful products, mainly because people will work to their best.

“Synergy is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. One plus one equals three, or six, or sixty–you name it. ” — Dr. Stephen R. Covey.

This definition of synergy from Dr. Covey introduces the idea of it working as a “glue” that connects all parts in an engine, helping them to work together and achieve better results. In other words, synergy helps the team to bring different perspectives and, as a result, different solutions to the same problem. Here are a few other benefits in my opinion:

1. High sense of trust — if I’m connected to my team, it means we respect and trust each other. If I feel this environment of trust, I’ll speak more and bring more ideas to the table, as I know those will be valued.
2. High sense of belonging — we like to be part of something bigger. If I understand the purpose of my work, that will motivate me to keep contributing to my team.
3. Doing the right thing at first — if we work together to solve the same problem and coming up with a (possibly) best solution, what are the chances to avoid rework? Trust me, they are higher than having one or two people working on the same issue by themselves.
4. More innovation — different perspectives and opinions brings different ideas, which contributes to innovation.
5. New team members ramping up faster — in a highly connected team, the sense of collaboration is also higher, which helps new team members to be up to speed faster.

It’s important to highlight that “foster the synergy” is really not a mechanical thing where you could apply a framework or techniques. It really depends on basic human behaviors like Respect and Value the Differences. If you (truly — from the heart) do that, then it’s already a great step towards fostering the synergy. And if you believe in leadership by example, then you are even closer, as you will influence others to do the same.

Photo by Janosch Diggelmann on Unsplash

I spoke about synergy using a soccer metaphor and co-related it to a product development world. Well, mainly because I’m a Product Manager who is a soccer fan :). But in reality, we could (and should) foster synergy in any situation, including our family and friends. I truly believe synergy helps collaboration and communication overall. We will get nothing but good things with that.

If you want to read the second part of this article, where I speak about behaviors that helps foster the synergy within the Product Teams, check this link:

One article about behaviors that helps foster synergy within our Product Teams