Syndrome

The word ‘syndrome’ comes from the Greek and means, among other things, ‘facilitating’, ‘meeting’ and ‘together’. Applying the term in the conflict context, a syndrome includes several negative features that occur simultaneously. These features influence working relationships and the results of collaborations between two or more parties.
Productivity declines while the tendency to breakdowns increases. If these features occur in an interpersonal relationship and if a collaborative relationship moves away from the benefit level, we term it a ‘symbiosis syndrome’. When a well-attuned, functional, reliable business relationship sours, with colleagues feeling they are getting on top of one another and restricting each other, the working relationship is approaching a symbiosis syndrome. Power struggles and antagonism are not the only factors that lead to conflicts; they can equally be caused by restriction, lack of trust and lack of autonomy, on one side at least.
It is easy to spot a syndrome during a group or individual facilitation process as well as during system work in coaching and consultation sessions; then it can be eliminated as part of an awareness-raising process. When working with businesses, enterprises, clinics and companies of all sizes, syndromes are recognisable from the dynamics alone. INSTITUT SOMMER also resolves these dynamics in the course of team development and team-building workshops and incentive sessions, both indoors and outdoors.