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Week 9

Like last week, I'd like to start this blog entry again with a quote: "None of us is as smart as all of us." This line by Ken Blanchard brings me to the main topic of our last week in business consultancy: working on our presentation for Odysses Arts in teams. The reason why I chose this quote at the beginning of this week's blog is that I often prefer to work on tasks alone. And that's because group work often brings with its certain difficulties or challenges, and I don't like to tackle these issues.  For example, I find it difficult to deal with someone who is unreliable or fails to meet deadlines.  On the other hand, group work has many advantages. This is exactly what I would like to point out with this quote, because often the results are better and more profound if more people think about a topic and we use all our knowledge concentrated. In the blog of this week I would like to answer the following two questions:
  • What are the basic rules to follow when working in a group?
  • What are the main advantages of working on tasks in a team?
What are the basic rules to follow when working in a group?

When it comes to working in teams, as already mentioned, there are some difficulties/challenges. For example, each team member has their own character and personal strengths and weaknesses. This can lead to disputes within the team if, for example, one team member is very dominant and forces his opinion on others. In addition, as mentioned in the first paragraph, if a few team members do not complete their tasks properly and on time, it can also lead to conflicts, as it is likely that the rest of the team will feel exploited. 
I therefore believe that it is essential and important to start by defining a general framework. This means establishing some rules that should never be neglected.
Based on my experience, the following are the most important
  • Always show politeness and respect for your team members. (An opinion doesn't have to be wrong just because it doesn't match your personal opinion.)
  • Constructive criticism is possible and welcome at any time.
  • Defining clear & common goals (Smart Goals).
  • A clear distribution of roles, tasks and responsibilities within the team.
  • Everyone should prove reliability and honesty. (It is always better to be honest and inform your teammates early enough if you have problems with a particular task).
  • Everyone must make their contribution by the deadline and in the best possible way.
  • Regular meetings to discuss the most important issues and decisions (This helps to keep everyone up to date and gives everyone the feeling of being appreciated).
These rules seem to be simple, but they can help a group enormously to work constructively within a secure framework and pursue a common goal.

What are the main advantages when working on assignments in a team?

The different characters, strengths and weaknesses of the individual team members are at the same time the biggest challenge and the biggest advantage in group projects. In a good team each member brings in his strengths and the team compensates the weaknesses of the individual.  If a group manages to work like this, a successful result is guaranteed. A further advantage, especially when working in cross-functional teams, is that not every team member has to be an expert on every single topic - the optimal way is that every team member has a strong area of expertise and all members work together to achieve the best possible performance.
Let me give you an example. An acquaintance of mine works in a supply chain consultancy and told me about their project organization a few months ago. Because they have clients from a variety of industries, it's almost impossible for a single consultant to have specific expertise for each task, so they work in cross-functional teams. They have different departments, such as logistics consultants, production consultants and procurement consultants, which are further divided into more specific groups (purchasing direct and indirect material, etc.) and it is the project manager's job to coordinate the team and communicate with the customer. This approach allows them to deliver the best results on any topic while avoiding the need for a consultant to invest a lot of time and effort in familiarising themselves with the topic and acquiring specific know-how.
But in order to benefit from this aspect, respect, courtesy and constructive criticism are of immense importance. Everyone must be allowed to think outside the box, and no one has the right to mock the ideas of others.

My personal experience

Many of my personal experiences have already been mentioned, while I answered the two previous questions. I can say that I have seen positive and negative aspects of working in group projects. Most of the negative factors were due to the fact that we did not define a framework at the beginning of our project. That is why it was important for me to dedicate a separate point to this issue. Nevertheless, taking all factors into account, I can say that I have achieved the most creative and best solutions in teamwork. This also became clear to me when I was working on our current project in management consulting. Of course, I also had some ideas for our client, but the input from all our team members certainly helped our solution. To put it in a nutshell, I would say that working in a team makes sense in many cases, but you should always follow the simple rules mentioned above.

 Picture Source: www.iamstudent.at/blog/vom-einzelgaenger-zum-teamplayer/ [25/11/2019, 9am]



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