Ambode, Unilag VC harp on teamwork, synergy among civil servants

Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday emphasized the importance of teamwork and synergy in achieving corporate objectives, declaring that synergy held key to maximum and ultimate performance as it represented “our way” rather than “my way or your way.”

According to Governor Ambode, it also represented the commitment of his administration to assist the state civil service to appreciate and acquire the benefits that training bring to bear in the attainment of the strategic objective of government and the effectiveness of the institutions of the state civil service.

Governor Ambode said this while declaring open a 2-day training programme for top civil servants in the state with the theme: “Team Building and Synergy Workshop for Peak Performance,” organized by the Lagos State Ministry Establishments, Training and Pensions.

The governor, who was represented by the commissioner in the ministry, Dr. Akintola Benson Oke, said teamwork on it own could be likened to two compounds essential to life, adding it was a glue that kept a team together and a bond which promotes strength, unity, reliability, and support.

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“Teamwork is also the oil that makes the teamwork. It can enable smoother movement towards targets, can prolong forward momentum, and can help teams to overcome obstacles.

“Teamwork has the potential to underpin so much of what is valuable in work. In fact, maximized performance cannot be achieved without the teamwork synergies that are essential for effective organizational growth,” he said.

Making references to different authors, including Carlos Ghosn and  Babara Max Hubbard, among others, Ambode equally contended that synergies were not only about cost reduction but can also be access to markets, exchange of products, avoiding overlaps, and exchange of best practices.

According to him,  it is also not about the loss of individuality like Hubbard tried to allay people’s fear in his book, arguing that synergy does not mean giving up what one wanted but joining to co-create so that each would be able to receive even more.

“It is on this note that it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to this 2-Day Training Programme tagged, ‘Team Building and Synergy Workshop for Peak Performance.’

“The facilitators of this programme have proved their mettle time and time again. I am confident that the resource persons lined up for this programme will ensure that all participants appreciate the value of synergy and teamwork for maximum organizational performance,” the governor said.

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Speaking with newsmen, the Vice- Chancellor, University of Lagos, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the training was about teamwork and synergy to enable civil servants to increase their productivity and become result-oriented.

“You know the purpose of this training is for the civil servants to have the teamwork, the synergy and to be able to increase their productivity. And this is very important, not only teamwork within themselves but teamwork between one person, teamwork between a group and another group.

“The main purpose is to improve the working quality, the productivity and to be result-oriented,” he said.

Earlier in his remark, Director of Training, Lagos State Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions, Mr. Deji Haruna, said the state governor,  Mr. Ambode, was committed to ensuring that the state civil service was fully prepared for the job as the engine room for development and, therefore, the need for regular training and retraining of members.