Getting Work Done: In Groups and Alone

Some people prefer to work individually and others in teams. Both have advantages and disadvantages. The key is finding the rights tasks for each one. Take a look below for pros and cons of these work styles.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Teamwork

• Working in teams increases collaboration and allows brainstorming. As a result, more ideas are developed and productivity improves.
• Two or more people are always better than one for solving problems, finishing off difficult tasks and increasing creativity.
• Everyone is unique and has different skills, backgrounds and experiences. Therefore, others in a team can help you see things from a different angle.
• Teamwork encourages communication between team members. For this reason, relations between employees tend to be better and over time employees learn to communicate better.
• In some teams, there may be members who sit back and let others do all the work. In these types of teams conflicts may occur and this can affect the mood of others in the team.
• Working in a team requires many meetings and these meetings, if not managed well, can go off topic and decrease the efficiency of the team.
• Making decisions can take longer for the sake of finding a consensus. Hence, delays occur.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Individual Work

• You can work in your own pace not depending on someone else. You can decide what to do when.
• You can concentrate easier and work faster. If you are working on a familiar task, you can get it done quicker since there are no outside interactions and extra meetings.
• You get the whole credit for the work you do since you are working alone! There won’t be any situations where one does less but gets the same credit with others.
• You get to make your own decisions.
• You are the sole person responsible for the job. If you fail, it is your fault. There aren’t any others to blame it for.
• You have to motivate yourself. There are no others to motivate you for getting things done.
• You can get bored working all by yourself. There isn’t anyone to talk to, share ideas with or get help from.
• When you are working alone, if you get sick or need to take days off, the work will be delayed because there won’t be anyone to continue it for you.

Republished by permission. Original here.

Team Photo via Shutterstock

This article, "Getting Work Done: In Groups and Alone" was first published on Small Business Trends