The Synergy Circle: the invisible layer where collaboration begins

The layer that everyone experiences, but almost no one names.

Everyone wants to collaborate effectively. Yet, many teams see the same recurring pattern:

• conversations that get stuck

• irritations that remain subcutaneous

• decisions that do not land

• consultation that costs energy

• patterns that keep repeating

Not because people don't want to. But because collaboration isn't a separate skill: it's a system.

Underneath every conversation move three invisible layers:

1. Consciousness (undercurrent)

What people experience, expect, interpret or avoid: tension, assumptions, triggers, reflex behaviour.

2. Structure (the system in which people move)

Roles, mandate, agreements, rhythm, information flow, exemplary behavior, decision-making.

3. Communication (where everything comes together)

How tension is regulated and how decisions are made.

When these three layers align, collaboration feels light and predictable. When one layer falters, disruption arises, no matter how good the intentions. Teams rarely get stuck on behavior, but almost always on the layer below.

Why many interventions do not work sustainably

Organizations often resort to isolated solutions. Valuable, but too limited if the system doesn't adapt.

Communication training

Learns how to say something, but not why tension arises. Without an undercurrent and structure, people revert to reflexive behavior.

Individual coaching

Increases self-awareness, but does not change the system that someone returns to.

Team coaching

Strengthens interaction and relationships, but rarely addresses the structural cause of tension:

• unclear mandate

• role confusion

• clashing expectations

• information that sticks

• inconsistent leadership behavior

• meaningless agreements

It feels better for a moment, but it doesn't work any differently.

Team building / team building days

Good for the atmosphere, not for lasting collaboration. Behavior only changes when the system changes along with it.

That's why I developed Synergizing — my own method for sustainable collaboration

Synergizing is not training or coaching; it is an integrated system that demonstrates:

• what people experience,

• why that is so,

• and how conversations can be structured differently.

The method behind Synergizing is called the Synergy Circle: my framework that shows how undercurrent, structure and communication influence each other.

The three pillars of the Synergy Circle:

1. Consciousness — how collaboration is experienced

Made measurable via the Synergy Index , my own evidence-based instrument.

2. Structure — why collaboration is experienced this way

Mapped with the Synergy Diagnostic , my model based on COSO but fully translated to team dynamics.

3. Communication — How Conversations Actually Change Things

Teams learn this through SPACE , my conversation method based on mediation principles.

Together these three pillars form one system: the Synergy Circle — the method behind

Synergizing .

The two instruments that make the system visible

Many teams sense something is wrong, but can't see what or why . That's why I use two tools that break through precisely that:

• Synergy Index — how collaboration is experienced

Safety, trust, excitement, energy, role clarity, motivation, team standards.

• Synergy Diagnostic — why collaboration is experienced this way

Structural patterns, mandate, agreements, rhythm, decision-making, information flow, leadership.

Together they give teams exactly what has been missing all these years:

• insight into the experience (Index)

• insight into the cause (Diagnostic)

The difference between:

“We have a problem” and “We finally understand why.”

Why Synergizing Works

Without an integrated view you mainly see symptoms:

• “We need to communicate better.”

• “We need to speak to each other.”

• “We need to make clearer agreements.”

But only when undercurrent, structure and communication become visible will lasting change occur.

Synergizing makes:

• tension understandable

• structure workable

• conversations effectively

Not a temporary improvement, but a lasting change in collaboration.

Do you want to know which layer in your team is causing tension?

Schedule a no-obligation consultation: https://calendly.com/connect-tjo/kennismaking