To Team or Not to Team

      After a couple of activities, I quickly realized the immense weight on my shoulders I would be carrying if I chose to work with a team. My portfolio project is extremely important to me, so I don’t want to have to rely on someone on a major assignment or have someone else rely on me. On past team/group assignments in my additional classes I have found it incredibly difficult to collaborate via zoom call. I am simply choosing to work independently, so I will be able to work diligently and not have to depend on others.

     When it came to collaborating on the “Lost at Sea” team-building activity; I noticed that it was a struggle to even discuss our findings with my assigned group. The activity felt correspondent to how working with a team will play out; if I made the decision to do my portfolio project with my peers. The objective of the project was to pick out what would be the most useful to least useful on a number scale; if it came down to being lost at sea. When it came to choosing the objects; I noticed it became very evident to everyone how challenging it was to make out what everyone was trying to communicate via zoom call. In the article by Eli Becker, Team building and group dynamics: creating and fostering a culture of teamwork requires trust, collaboration, and accountability, Apr. 2015, (Vol. 69, Issue 4); It states “before they could get into discussions on dealing with conflict, their collective idea of commitment, or holding one another accountable, the team needed to trust that what they were saying would be respected and heard.” This shows that you need to have teammates that value accountability, commitment and respect in order to perform well, which can be hard to find often times. 

         After analyzing one of my classmate's social media; I noticed that I

don’t think I’ll be able to connect with her at all in order to create a quality portfolio project I analyzed Skyler Farnsworth social media platforms. She shared images about her animals she raises for 4-H and shared images of her fashion choices Her purpose for posting these images  was to display how she helped kick off a vintage clothing line titled “Scoop & Honey” also to show how much she cares for her animals.. I on the other hand would not be able to relate to Skyler at all, due to a completely opposite personality. I expect it to be hard to collaborate on a project with her because we would be bringing complete opposite viewpoints to the table. In the article by John H. Bradly, The effect of personality on team performance, May-June 1997 (Vol.16, Issue 5-6); It states that “Personality-type theory is important in understanding each person's strengths and weaknesses and the way these factors influence team formation and development.” This shows that personality plays a huge factor when it comes down to collaborating and performance level. 

    To conclude, I personally feel I will perform better on my project alone. In the article by Terry F. Pettijohn, II and Shujaat F. Ahmed, Songwriting loafing or creative collaboration? A comparison of individual and team written billboard hits in the USA, Feb. 2010, (Vol. 7, Issue 1); It states that “social loafing is the likelihood of individuals contributing less when working on a task as part of a group than when working on a task alone.” This shows that I could potentially slack off on my portfolio project if I decided to work in a group, which is something I would never want to do, so I have chosen to make the correct decision to work by myself.