Robert Eide - Working Alone or Working in Teams

There are people who prefer working individually and there are others who like to work in teams. In business, one has to work in teams sometimes, even though they might prefers working alone. According to prominent business executive, Bob Eide, both of these working environments have their own advantages and disadvantages. At Aegis Capital, sometimes working independently was appropriate, while at other times, working in a team was necessary.

The key rule is to find how to optimize working in both ways. Let’s take a quick glimpse of the pros and cons of the two styles.

TEAMWORK – ITS BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS

• Teamwork with business professionals results in brainstorming and increases collaboration. Thus, productivity improves then new and innovative ideas develop.
• A group of two or more people can solve problems faster, finish difficult tasks and enhance creativity.
• Every individual has unique characteristics and skills distinct from the other. In a team, different people have different kinds of experiences and come from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, in teamwork, there are greater chances of seeing an idea from a different perspective. This results in novel ideas.
• While working in a team, every member has to inevitably communicate with each other. This makes the relationship between employees better and they tend to communicate with their employers better as their own communicative skills advance.
• Certain business executives, despite working in a team, refer to relax and let other members do the task for them. This is a weak worth ethic and members that perform in this way can bring down the overall work ethic and stamina of the group as a whole. Conflicts occur in such teams and moods of all team members are affected due to this.
• When professionals work in a team, they need to meet several deadlines. If these meetings are not well organized, and deadlines are prolonged, they might lower work efficiency of the whole team overall.
• Delays can occur. This is a fact. Decision making takes time. Meetings work most efficiently when decision makers can agree on a time-based deadline and then stick to that deadline so that delays are minimized.

WORKING INDIVIDUALLY - PROS AND CONS

• In this work style, an individual has full independence. Working at one's own pace and making decisions according to their own needs can be self-satisfying. There may be no need to depend on anyone else.
• One can work faster and concentrate better on a subject since there will be limited meetings and outside interactions.
• Working alone an individual gets all the credit if the work is done successfully. There will not be obtrusive situations where an individual performs less but receives the same credit as others who may not have worked as hard as themselves.
• When a professional works independently, success and failure of work solely depends on them. In case of any failure, it will be their own fault. There will be no one to blame for their faults.
• The bad thing of working alone is that one has to motivate oneself. On the other hand, self-motivators tend to perform best in these types of situations.
• People can get bored working alone because they will have no one to share their thoughts and ideas with. Fewer people to bounce off of, in a word. There will be no energy booster... the energy must be created from within.
• If a project relies on the goal completions of a single individual, personal or filial ailments, or situations beyond the control of the individual can become detrimental to a project deadline. Every work style has a positive and negative aspect. One has to choose the working style according to the type of work. At Aegis Capital Corp, we realize that a healthy balance of these work styles is exactly what is needed to get a job done efficiently.