Posted in: 12/21/2022
The second meeting of “ Bate-papo com Maria ” took place in Nova Lima , Minas Gerais (MG), on November 24th . Around a beautiful breakfast table , filled with the delicacies of Minas Gerais cuisine , collaborators of some of Synergia’s projects in MG had the opportunity to get together and spend the morning in a relaxed conversation with Maria Albuquerque , founder and CEO of Synergia Socioambiental.
Held in the Nova Lima office, located just a few kilometers from the center of Belo Horizonte , the meeting also had the participation of leaders , invited to tell a little about the challenges of the projects, the experiences in the territories and the importance of dialogue and the joint and continuous construction of relationships.
The event had the participation of Alline Elizabete de Jesus (social development analyst), Amanda Moreira Fonseca (social development analyst), Daniel Parisotto (agronomist), Dario Campana de Moraes (project coordinator), Guilherme Fernandes de Sousa ( socioeconomic analyst), Juliana Rocha Gonçalves (social development analyst), Richardson Miranda da Silva (production engineer), Viviane Martins dos Reis (socioeconomic analyst), Felipe Galuppo Fonseca (project coordinator), Patricia Vasconcelos de Oliveira (civil engineer) , Thiago Salis Lott (civil engineer), Everson Jose de Paula (project coordinator) and Gustavo Guilherme Oliveira Nápoles (project manager). Juceli Lima and Clarissa Age, representatives of the People Management team, were also present and followed the chat.
As in the first “Chat with Maria”, held in São Paulo , the pandemic , social isolation , the necessary adaptations to the remote work model and the anxieties of working in the field, which could not always stop, were some of the themes that permeated the conversation.
The mix of work and everyday life , in addition to the change in perspective on remote work , which can impact different people in different ways, yielded stories of different experiences. Some raised the issue of commuting , the stressful routine and the cost of maintaining an office as disadvantages of face-to-face work. Other people pointed out the absence of exchanges and contact as the reasons that most made them miss working at offices.
It is important to highlight a point that the participants brought up: much of the work carried out by Synergia can be done remotely without losing efficiency . But working with communities – fundamental in the company’s day-to-day life – essentially requires relationships, contact, active listening and a lot of sensitivity . “We don’t work with an assembly line, but with lives and people. Our reason for existing is them, so we need to hear what these people and communities have to say,” said Maria.
The return after social isolation , especially for employees who work in the field, has led teams to rethink some ways of working and keeping in touch and active communications.
The Rural Productive Restructuring team , whose reference is the office in Sete Lagoas (MG), brought to the chat a good example of how leaders can motivate teams and closely monitor processes through more regular face-to-face meetings .
Felipe Galuppo, project coordinator, points out that face-to-face meetings help to avoid accumulating doubts and provide important moments of interaction . “We had the opportunity to meet, including with the client’s team. It was a great interaction between our team and them. We have already proposed holding a monthly face-to-face meeting, in addition to our weekly online meeting, for this class interaction. It was super valid and the intention is to continue ”, he comments.
The new face-to-face meetings and memories of daily face-to-face work time were also pointed out as important moments for mental health care and welcoming in the most difficult times.
Juliana Rocha Gonçalves, social development analyst, has been working at Synergia since 2019 and shared her testimonial of overcoming cancer with the chat participants. For her, the support and hospitality of the company and its team were fundamental to overcome the challenges of the period.
“1 year and a half ago I discovered breast cancer at the beginning, but I had to have 4 surgeries, the last one being a mastectomy, and then chemotherapy and radiotherapy. During this whole process, I had full support from Synergia. This was very rewarding because it gave me strength and I know that later I was able to help other people as well, like in the Pink October Campaign, by being able to talk about it and help other women, both in the preventive part and in the part of empowerment, of self-esteem. The welcome from the team and colleagues was sensational.
Another thing that helped me a lot was Yoga. I took a training course and do weekly work yoga with the team with a meditative part. I do this because it helped me a lot in the disease process and made me a lot stronger. I think it collaborates not only with the team, but as a mental health care proposal for employees, because meditation helps us to take care of ourselves”, points out Juliana.
Valuing people , good experiences and gratitude for Synergia were also commented on by almost everyone present. Viviane Martins dos Reis, socio-environmental analyst, gave her testimony about the importance of the company in her life : “Working at Synergia is very good, I am very happy to work here. It is a very welcoming company, which seeks to train people. I learned a lot and I’m developing more and more. I really wanted to thank Maria personally for everything she provided not only for me but for my whole family” she comments.
Richardson Miranda da Silva, production engineer, also made a point of thanking and sharing his vision of the meeting : “After this chat, I saw that the posture that Synergia has is reflected in the posture of the leaders. Maria, who is the personification of the company, showed me a lot of coherence. What the company seeks as a goal is also her vision as the CEO. I saw coherence, alignment and agreement between where I am, what I want to achieve and what is the message I want to convey to all employees, which flows in a very practical way. It provided the vision that whoever is ahead, who conducts the business, is also an example for society”, says Richardson.
In addition to the testimonials , which left the participants with tears in their eyes, the “Chat with Maria” in Nova Lima also featured topics that stirred up breakfast , such as the World Cup (and the fans against Argentina ), the expectations for the new political framework in Brazil, the differences between the territories , the importance of the Project Forum meetings so that collaborators get to know the services that Synergia is running and, of course, the adventures of the always mentioned animals pet .
Among the relaxed conversations, two questions asked directly to the CEO deserve to be highlighted and will probably solve the doubts of other employees. Check out Maria Albuquerque’s questions and answers:
“Maria, why the name Synergia?”
“Because I’ve always believed that nobody does anything alone, we have to work together. You need to count on a lot of people and add up, in every way. That’s why I always bring the community too. Leave a legacy in the territories, treat the population with respect and promote autonomy and a critical view. Sometimes, the legacy is not just material. Synergia also comes from Latin, and I really like using words that come from Latin.”
“Where is Synergia looking in its future?”
“The concern is with day-to-day innovation at Synergia, new businesses related to the economy of the future, which will be closely related to the climate issue. We need to rethink the existing production and consumption model. The climate crisis is not a theory, it is a concrete fact, a reality. An example of this is the importance given to the issue of loss and damage at COP27 . Poor countries will suffer the consequences of the climate crisis and Synergia is looking a lot at this environmental awareness that has to be developed by companies and governments. Today, it is not by chance that we are positioning ourselves as a company focused on the Amazon, which needs to be respected.
In addition, there is the issue of carbon credits and minimizing the effects of the climate crisis, investing in conservation actions, water resources – increasingly rare and essential for survival –, in solutions based on nature and the ESG issue. . Funding agencies will increasingly demand that companies meet the requirements, but we want to go further. We want to develop our own and purposeful actions that are configured as a business.”
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