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Humans are social organisms. Societies in which we live forces interactions, and interactions create relationships. We cannot live without interactions and relationships in this society. Business is indeed a collection of relationships - relationship with customers or clients, relationship among co-workers, relationship between suppliers and consumers, etc. Business is also about trades. Through the relationships developed, we create supply chains, resource allocations, and added values in our products and services.

Relationships dwindle in egotism and prosper through active two-way communication. Synergy allows a business to out perform its competitors with same tangible resources by enhancing the interactions and relationships between and within each processes.

Here are 5 ways to promote synergy at your work place:

1. Create Open Atmosphere
   Tear down all obstacles that impede the growth in work and personal relationships. Open-mindedness, fairness, transparency and diligence are the foundation of creating an open atmosphere. You need to clearly define the criteria for promotion, bonus and penalties and enforce them with fairness. Creating places for the employees to engage in conversations strategically located near high traffic paths for both the employees and customers can also enhance openness. Management must facilitate and promote open communication.
2. Transition from Defensive Mindset to Proactive Mindset
   A human relationship is initiated by one person proactively approaching another person. Dale Carnegie once wrote, “You can close more business in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” The person who approaches another has the upperhand to create a favorable impression. A successful synergistic leader is a person who he leads positive interaction along all those around him. 
3. Create Relationship Assessment Systems
   Reward those who are leading by example and educate those who receive negative scores. To ensure the fairness of the assessment, it is wise to have as many people participate as possible and to approach the assessments from various angles as General Electric has done. The method of assessment must be agreeable by all of the employees. It is more effective to pilot the assessments prior to adopting it as an official policy.
4. Gather Feedbacks and Analyze the Trends of the Assessments
   Fair assessment that is agreeable by all of the employees may differ from business to business as the interaction and relationship between employees may differ. Protected secrecy and non-retaliation of the assessment is imperative to accurate 360 degree view of relationships and work environment. “Keeping an ear to the ground” is a valuable asset to a successful synergistic leader. Being able to “feel” the electricty in the air allows the management team to analyze the assessment trend  accurately and decypher the real messages between the lines.
5. Promote Fair Reward System and Management must Become the Role-Models
   Reward system must exist to close the feedback loop and generate synergy. When giving rewards, the management must focus on the reasons for the reward and praise them in well publicized media for all of the employees to see and celebrate together. Negative scores must be addressed clearly as well. Recommended improvement methods, seminars or other constructive measures must accompany the criticisms for them to be meaningful. Negative feedback must be delivered in private manner for morale and should weigh heavier in action points than in punishments. The management team must understand all of the characteristics the company is promoting and digest them to eventually become role-models.

Following these 5 ways do not solve all of the problems in business envirmonments, but it is a good way to have the employees’ opinions be heard and promote frictionless interactions to prevent larger issues from developing below the surface.

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