Teamwork is overrated: Pros & cons of working together
Why should you or should you not work together? I strongly believe in the power of collaboration, while it also has pitfalls. In this article you will discover that working alone also has its advantages. You can certainly go to the top on your own. In addition, there is also simply the option to go to the top together. Both options are fine.
Contents of this page:
The benefits of working together
There are a number of good reasons for working together, compared to working alone. These benefits are:
- It’s a lot cozier. It puts you in contact with other people.
- Together you know more.
- Together you see, hear and feel more: you can discover more together.
- When you are together, your abilities and talents also merge, allowing them to complement each other.
- Together you enjoy more, for example from the successes.
- Dwight David Eisenhower, the 34th US President, stated that cooperation will lead humanity to eternal peace.
The benefits of not working together
What could stop you from sharing your ideas and going on an adventure together? There are also plenty of reasons not to cooperate:
- If you work alone, you can also keep the profit entirely to yourself. You are then actually a millionaire if your company has made 1,000,000 profit. If you had collaborated with another person, you would only be a millionaire with a profit of 2,000,000.
- You can work alone and hire freelancers and staff for an hourly rate. You are still working together, but you keep the profit yourself.
- You have less overhead on your own. So you are faster without too many peripheral issues around it. For example, you do not have to continuously hold meetings and consultations.
You go faster on your own, but together you get further.
Tip to work together effectively: have rapport with each other
Do you want the group to be perfectly attuned to each other? Then make sure that the group is in rapport with each other. This makes collaboration much easier.
For example, one way in which you can achieve this is by breathing together. You can also choose to only tune in to the informal leader, so that you automatically get the entire group.
Much has been written about (the frustrations of) collaboration
Frustrations are part of working together. That is why it is good to be prepared for this and to develop the right (social) skills for working together. The pitfalls of cooperation also play an important role in Covey’s famous book: The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People.
What is your preference? Collaborate or not?
Depending on your objective, you can determine what is more important to you. What do you have experience with (collaboration or working alone) and how did that go for you? Do you see the benefits of working together or do you think it’s just ‘overrated’?
Don’t wait for leaders. Do it yourself, person to person
– Mother Teresa
To your success!