The term “symbiotic relationships” in an organization context simply means that each person in the organization relies on all other people in the organization to perform and contribute to the best of their respective abilities. And the strength of an organization overall is determined by the strengths/ skills of the individuals who comprise the organization.
In a production line context, people who fulfill roles further downstream in the production process rely on their colleagues who fulfill roles towards the front-end of the production process to execute their functions well. If they do, this then means the downstream colleagues only have to be concerned about performing their part of the process – and not also remedying oversights/ poorly finished work. And so good operational efficiencies are achieved.
Symbiotic relationships are crucial to achieve if organisations are to survive and thrive; where each person understands the importance of their role, how their role impacts the role of their colleagues and how their role is interrelated to those of their colleagues. They must come to understand that, typically, if one “cog” jams, or doesn’t spin at the same speed as others which comprise the machine (organization), then the whole machine slows markedly or can even come to a grinding halt.