To Team or not To Team

 

The choice between working alone and working in a team was not an easy decision for me. The difference between working alone and in a team is great and it was important for me to carefully consider which option I would choose. Working in a team would provide many benefits. Having multiple people work on a project means that tasks can be divided and each person’s workload is significantly reduced. The tasks involved in the projects being divided would mean that I would not have to do as much and I could focus on a part that is easiest for me. Conversely, certain individuals in the group may end up doing more than their share fair of the work. Social loafing must also be considered as its effects have been reported across many different tasks (Karau, 1993) (Williams, 1995). Social loafing decreases the effort each individual puts into the work, and thus lowers the overall quality of the work.

            Working alone would have the benefit of less distraction. Without other team members to think about, I can focus on the work and just do it. Additionally, since I would be doing the work alone there would not be any opportunity for conflict in the process of creating the project. Clear and easy communication is necessary for any group project. Everyone has to be a team player. As Bruce Leamon, an authorized partner of The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team, say “…you can have the smartest people, but if they're not playing together, it's never going to get you ahead." This reflects the fragility group projects can have. If I were to work alone, I would not have these issues. Communication and good collaboration would not be factors. I would only need to worry about myself.

            With these options and information from the articles, I have decided to work in a group. I will be working with Brasgalla. I know him well and I have done group projects with him before. During the lost at sea activity, he figured things out that I had not and vice versa. This, along with the division of tasks for the actual project, will be very helpful. It can be very easy to miss things when you work alone and having a work partner is beneficial to checking on each other’s quality of work. The project will involve considerable work and not needing to do everything myself will be equally beneficial. The creative process and technical process will long and intensive and may be overwhelming for me. I do not have huge amounts of time to completely do this project on my own so being able to split the task with someone else will be invaluable. According the study by Pettijohn and Ahmed there was no significant difference between the billboard performance of songs written individually or by a group. This makes me feel that had I chosen to this alone or in a group I would not be making a mistake.