essay working individually or in groups

Inspiration

Group work vs individual work: the pros and cons compared

Some people prefer to work alone. Some people are more productive in a team. Some people actually need a perfect balance of both.

What category do you fall into? In today’s in-depth article, we analyse the pros and cons of the two extremes mentioned above.

Group work: pros and cons

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships. Michael Jordan

Group work and, in general, adopting a company policy that encourages socialisation and exchange between staff has been a growing trend, with results that are sometimes surprising. Spending the best part of the day in an office with a calm and friendly atmosphere and where swapping ideas with others allows you to improve your work performance can make the difference. Many companies have focused with increasing intensity on building a collaborative, cohesive team that can achieve goals together.

Sharing has a pivotal role in group work because it includes workload and responsibility, but also successes and failures.

When a team functions well and there is trust between its members , the positive results, in terms of individual efficiency and project productivity , and also creativity, are immediately visible.

Sometimes, comparing ideas with other people also entails risking confrontation with colleagues resulting in bad feeling, especially when there is inefficient organisation or differences emerge in commitment or responsibility among the various members of the group.

Here is a summary of the pros and cons of teamwork.

Shared workload
Increased productivity
Opportunity for comparison and growth
Support in difficult times
Increased creative flow through sharing ideas
Different skill levels
Possible clashes
Increased risk of distraction
More defined schedules

Individual work: pros and cons

Better to be alone than in bad company.

Working alone is not actually the prerogative of people who have opted to work for themselves. Specific projects and roles in a team may also require one person to manage their activity without the support of others. Examples that come to mind are the work of an analyst or writing a press release but there are plenty of other examples.

The pros and cons in this case are the clear opposites of group work. People who work alone can organise their time as they wish, without external distractions. In terms of cons, lone workers must take on greater responsibility, without being able to brainstorm with colleagues if they have a creative block .

Here’s a summary of the pros and cons of working alone.

Independent organisation of work
More immediate possibility of remote working
Greater concentration and fewer distractions
Responsibility and workload fall to one person
No comparison of ideas
Experiences limited

Be positive, always

As is often the case, the truth lies somewhere in-between the two extremes. Neither individual or group work is a better option, there are simply activities and occasions that require either the input of one or many people.

Whatever the role or profession, the important thing is to be positive whether you work in a team or alone, constantly striving to achieve your goals, both work and personal ones. Fights and arguments are common and natural if you work in a group, but it is important to share different ideas because that generates constructive growth . It is always a good idea to respect other people’s ideas, regardless of your respective work roles.

Extroverts tend to prefer to work in a group , while introverts tend to seek out solitary roles . By respecting reciprocal attitudes and tendencies, you can think of allowing the option that best suits someone’s personality, putting people in the circumstances where they perform best.

Alone and in a team: how to design an integrated environment

Smart office design allows purpose-driven functional spaces to be created, based on requirements: individual and group workspaces, open spaces or sectioned off with walls, for when greater privacy is necessary. Integrated and modular furniture collections create a harmonious and pleasant work environment, allowing space for stylish design yet fully meeting the needs of workers.

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Essay: Working in a Group: Analyzing Benefits and Drawbacks

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The debate on whether working alone or in a group is more beneficial has been a long-standing one. While personal preference plays a significant role in this decision, working in a group often proves to be more advantageous due to the diversity of ideas, the variety of skills that members bring, and the potential for higher productivity and better outcomes. This essay will delve deeper into the benefits of group work, supported by academic theories, and will also address the reasons why some individuals may prefer working alone.

The Benefits of Group Work

One of the primary advantages of group work is the plethora of ideas generated. According to Lynda Moultry Belcher , “This type of collaboration benefits the project and gives team members an outlet to bounce around ideas to find the best fit.” The concept of brainstorming, introduced by Alex Osborn in the 1940s, supports this view. Brainstorming in groups facilitates a wide range of ideas that might not emerge when individuals work in isolation. The collective intelligence of a group often surpasses that of an individual, leading to more innovative and effective solutions.

Moreover, working in a group brings together people with different skills and expertise, which enhances the quality of the work produced. Chitra Reddy states, “To solve complex problems and to complete difficult tasks, team works better than an individual.” This is supported by Belbin’s Team Roles theory , which emphasizes that effective teams are composed of individuals who fulfill various roles, such as the Plant (creative problem solver), the Monitor Evaluator (analytical thinker), and the Implementer (practical organizer). Each member contributes their unique strengths, leading to a more comprehensive and well-rounded approach to problem-solving.

Another significant benefit of group work is increased productivity and creativity. Belcher emphasizes that, “Another key advantage of group work in the office is that it can increase efficiency.” Research on social facilitation, which refers to the tendency for people to perform better on tasks when in the presence of others, supports this claim. When individuals work in groups, they are often motivated to perform better due to peer pressure and the desire to not let their team down. This can lead to higher levels of productivity and more creative outputs.

The Challenges of Group Work

Despite the numerous benefits, working in a group can also present challenges. One common issue is the potential for conflicts and disagreements among group members. Tuckman’s stages of group development (forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning) highlight that groups often go through a “storming” phase where conflicts arise. While this can be a healthy part of group development, it requires effective conflict resolution skills and strong leadership to navigate.

Another challenge is the risk of social loafing, where some group members may contribute less effort, relying on others to carry the workload. This phenomenon was identified by Latane, Williams, and Harkins (1979) , who found that individuals tend to exert less effort when working in a group compared to when they work alone. To mitigate this, it is crucial to establish clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability within the group.

The Appeal of Working Alone

While working in a group has its advantages, some individuals find working alone more convenient and productive. Sam Ashe-Edmunds argues, “If you own your own business, you only answer to your clients, who have little say over how you do your work.” This autonomy can be highly appealing as it allows individuals to work at their own pace, make independent decisions, and avoid the potential frustrations of group dynamics.

Working alone can also lead to higher levels of concentration and focus. Without the distractions and interruptions that often accompany group work, individuals can immerse themselves fully in their tasks. This is particularly beneficial for complex or creative work that requires deep thought and sustained attention.

Balancing Individual and Group Work

The decision to work alone or in a group often depends on the nature of the task and the individual’s personal preferences. For tasks that require a wide range of skills, diverse perspectives, and collective problem-solving, group work is usually more effective. However, for tasks that require deep concentration, creativity, and independent decision-making, working alone may be more beneficial.

In modern workplaces, a balance between individual and group work is often the most effective approach. Organizations can foster environments that allow for both collaborative and independent work, recognizing the strengths and preferences of their employees. This approach aligns with the Job Characteristics Model (JCM) developed by Hackman and Oldham, which suggests that providing employees with a variety of tasks and the autonomy to choose how they work can lead to higher job satisfaction and productivity.

In conclusion, while working alone and in a group each have their distinct advantages, the benefits of group work often outweigh those of working independently. The diversity of ideas, the combination of various skills, and the potential for increased productivity and creativity make group work particularly effective for complex and multifaceted tasks. However, it is important to acknowledge and address the challenges that can arise in group settings, such as conflicts and social loafing, to ensure successful collaboration. Balancing individual and group work based on the task at hand and the preferences of the individuals involved can lead to the most effective outcomes. As we navigate the complexities of modern work environments, fostering a culture that values both collaboration and autonomy can help individuals and organizations thrive.

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Knowledge at Wharton Podcast

Are teams better than individuals at getting work done, october 12, 2021 • 9 min listen.

Whether teams or individuals are better at accomplishing tasks depends on the complexity of the work, according to a new study co-authored by Wharton’s Duncan Watts.

Wharton’s Duncan Watts talks with Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM about his research on whether teams or individuals are better at accomplishing tasks.

When it comes to getting work done, two heads are better than one. Except when they aren’t.

A new study from Wharton professor of operations, information and decisions Duncan Watts digs into the question of whether it’s better for employees to work in teams or alone — and the answer may be surprising for managers trying to figure out the best way to assign tasks.

In their research, Watts and his co-authors found that the answer depends on the complexity: Simple tasks are best accomplished by individuals, while difficult ones are more efficiently completed by a group.

“Groups are as fast as the fastest individual and more efficient than the most efficient individual when the task is complex but not when the task is simple,” the researchers wrote in their paper titled, “ Task Complexity Moderates Group Synergy ,” which was published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The co-authors are Abdullah Almaatouq , information technology professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management; Mohammed Alsobay , doctorate student at the MIT Sloan School of Management; and Ming Yin , computer science assistant professor at Purdue University.

Watts, who is a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor and director of the Computational Social Science Lab at Penn , said the study is unique because it’s the first to make an “apples to apples” comparison in a lab setting. The scholars created an experiment that allowed them to manipulate the complexity of the same task, rather than simply giving the participants different kinds of tasks, as most previous studies have done.

“A manager is kind of stuck a little bit because they don’t really know how to evaluate the complexity of the task that they’re looking at. In this research, we got around that by identifying a class of tasks where we could vary complexity in a nice, systematic, principled way without changing anything else,” Watts said during an interview with Wharton Business Daily on SiriusXM. (Listen to the podcast above.)

Team Efficiency: Group Work vs. Individual Work

In their experiment, participants — both individuals and groups — were given a real-world problem of assigning students to dorm rooms. What started out as an easy job became more complicated as the researchers added constraints such as more students, fewer rooms, students who could not be neighbors or live in the same room, and students who must be neighbors or live in the same room.

At the end of the experiment, it became clear that all participants needed more time as the work became more difficult. But groups were ultimately more efficient at getting it done, even if they arrived at the same result as the individual.

“Interestingly, what we found is that where teams really shine is in terms of efficiency,” Watts said. “Teams for a complex task could do almost as well as the very best individual, but they were able to do it much quicker. That’s because they were much faster, they generated more solutions, they generated faster solutions, and they explored the space of possibilities more broadly.”

“Interestingly, what we found is that where teams really shine is in terms of efficiency.” –Duncan Watts

That’s not to say that groups don’t suffer from certain negative dynamics.

“When you get together in a group, you waste time, you compete with each other, you fall into bad habits like groupthink,” Watts said. “So, there are quite good reasons why you might take seriously that individuals can [be better than] a team.”

One way for managers to circumvent negative group dynamics is to assign a group leader who can keep everyone moving in the right direction, the co-authors noted. They also said managers may want to store the best group solutions so they can be “reloaded and potentially modified in subsequent steps,” much like what happens in personal productivity software.

Teams are elevated in today’s workplaces, but the study shows that managers shouldn’t assume that teams are the optimal solution for every problem. Sometimes, Watts said, a single employee can be just as effective.

“Depending on whether your task is simple or complex, and depending on whether what you care about is getting the absolute best possible score or getting something that’s pretty close to the best possible score but getting it efficiently, you’re going to make a different decision as a manager,” he said.

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Working in a Group Essay

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Introduction

Advantages of working in a group, disadvantages of working in a group, reference list.

Group work has become very common not only in learning environment but also among workers in organizations. The common believe is that working in a group is more productive than working alone. Institutions emphasize on group and team work and invest heavily in team building among their members. Formation process of a group may determine its success. Tuckman & Jensen (1977) suggests that a successful group should be formed stepwise following stages like forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.

Firstly, working in a group fosters an environment for learning since the individuals can learn from the experiences and expertise of each other. They learn different ways of approaching issues from his colleagues (Duch, 2000). Managers working in groups get more insight in solving problems as they interact with each other.

Another advantage is synergy creation i.e. group decisions tend to create synergy that combines and improves on the knowledge of the group to make decisions of high quality than the sum of individual decisions. This synergy results when each individual brings additional knowledge and skills to the decisions.

It also ensures that tasks are completed within the fastest time because duties are shared depending on the capability of a person in accomplishing a certain task (Traker, n. d.) As people possess different skills and capabilities, group work enhances the sharing of ideas and this has the effect of ensuring that best results are attained. Decisions made are also well thought out.

Creativity is enhanced as a result of working in groups because the diversity in culture, behaviours and attitude enables the members to become more innovative in dealing with difficult tasks.

Group work leads to the acceptance of decisions made as opposed to individual decisions because group decision making reflects acceptance. Group work also reduces the chances of intrapersonal conflicts i.e. conflicts that arise within an individual mainly about what is right and what is wrong (Belbin, 1981). Deciding the right things to do in certain situations as an individual can be quite stressful.

Group work ensures that members participate well unlike in working as individuals whereby employees can decide to sabotage work. An individual may decide not to work as effectively as would be considered reasonable and attempt not to get even the targets as opposed to a group situation (Traker, n. d.).

Also, the members of a group ensure that the resources are shared well and that there is no misuse of organizational resources for personal use.

Working in a group implies longer time frame than working as individuals because groups generally need more time to make decisions than individuals because a group has to exchange information among many individuals so as to obtain a consensus.

The decisions that are made while working in a group tends to be more extreme i.e. they are a bit riskier because no single person would be willing to shoulder the consequences of the decisions.

Also individual expertise is ignored while working in group and the group members may opt for group consensus instead.

Working in a group enhances decision making in an organization as opposed to working as an individual in which case there is information deficiency. The resources of the organization are shared and this minimizes the costs.

Belbin, M., 1981. Management Teams, Why they Succeed or Fail . Heinneman: London.

Duch, B., 2000. Working in Groups . USA: University of Delaware. Web.

Traker, H.B., n. d. Social Group Work: Principles and Practice . New York: Association Press N.Y.

Tuckman, B. W. & Jensen, M. A., 1977. Stages of small-group development revisited. Group Org. Studies, vol 2. pp. 419-27.

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Qatar Foundation and the Related Issues
Organized Labor Management and Relations
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Improving Organizational Retention
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Chicago (N-B)

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Working in Groups

Working in a group can be enjoyable or frustrating--sometimes both. The best way to ensure a good working experience in groups is to think hard about whether a project is best done in a group, and, if so, to have a clear set of expectations about group work.

Why Work in Groups?

You might choose to work or write a paper in a group rather than individually for many reasons. Some of the reasons include practical experience while others highlight why group work might provide a better learning experience:

In group work, you can draw on each group member's knowledge and perspectives, frequently giving you a more well thought out paper at the end or a better understanding of the class material for exams, labs, etc.
You can also draw on people's different strengths. For example, you might be a great proofreader while someone else is much better at organizing papers.
Groups are great for motivation: they force you to be responsible to others and frequently, then, do more and better work on a project than you might when only responsible to yourself.
Group work helps keep you on task. It's harder to procrastinate when working with others.
Working in groups, especially writing texts together, mirrors working styles common outside school. In business, industry, and research organizations, collaborative work is the norm rather than the exception.

Writing Tasks Suited to Group Work

Although any piece of writing can be group-authored, some types of writing simply "make more sense" to be written in groups or are ideal for cutting down on certain aspects of the work load.

Whether you've chosen to do a group project or have been assigned to work together, any group works better if all members know the reason why more than one person is involved in writing the paper. Understanding what a group adds to the project helps alleviate some of the problems associated with group work, such as thinking you need to do it all yourself. While not exhaustive, the following are some of the types of papers that are typically better written when worked on in groups. To read more, choose any of the items below:

Papers Requiring "Original" Research

Whenever you have a paper that requires you to observe things, interview other experts, conduct surveys, or do any other kind of "field" research, having more than one person to divide these tasks among allows you to write a more thoroughly researched paper. Also, because these kinds of sources are frequently hard to "make sense" of, having more than one perspective on what you find is a great help in deciding how to use the information in a paper. For example, having more than one person observe the same thing frequently gives you two different perspectives on what happened.

Papers Requiring Library Research

Although most of us might be satisfied with two or three sources in a research paper using written sources, instructors usually expect more. Working with multiple people allows you to break up library tasks more easily and do a more thorough search for relevant material. For example, one person can check Internet sources, another might have to check a certain database in the library (like SAGE) while another works on a different database more specific to your topic (e.g. ERIC for education, MLA for literature, etc.). Also, the diversity of perspectives in a group helps you decide which sources are most relevant for your argument and audience.

Any Type of Argument

Arguments, by their very nature, involve having a good sense of audience, including audiences that may not agree with you. Imagining all the possible reactions to your audience is a difficult task with these types of papers. The diversity of perspectives and experiences of multiple people are a great advantage here. This is particularly true of "public" issues which affect many people because it is easy to assume your perspective on what the public thinks is "right" as opposed to being subject to your own, limited experience. This is equally true of more "academic" arguments because each member of a group might have a different sense, depending on their past course work and field experience, of what a disciplinary audience is expecting and what has already been said about a topic.

Interpretations

A paper that requires some type of interpretation--of literature, a design structure, a piece of art, etc.--always includes various perspectives, whether it be the historical perspective of the piece, the context of the city in which a landscape is designed, or the perspective of the interpreter. Given how important perspective is to this type of writing and thinking, reviewing or interpreting work from a variety of perspectives helps strengthen these papers. Such variety is a normal part of group work but much harder to get at individually.

Cultural Analyses

Any analysis of something cultural, whether it be from an anthropological perspective, a political science view of a public issue, or an analysis of a popular film, involves a "reading" or interpretation of the culture's context as well. However, context is never simply one thing and can be "read", much like a poem, in many ways. Having a variety of "eyes" to analyze a cultural scene, then, gives your group an advantage over single-authored papers that may be more limited.

Lab/Field Reports

Any type of experiment or field research involving observation and/or interpretation of data can benefit from multiple participants. More observers help lessen the work load and provide more data from a single observation which can lead to better, or even more objective, interpretations. For these reasons, much work in science is collaborative.

Any Type of Evaluation

An evaluation paper, such as reviews, critiques, or case reports, implies the ability to make and defend a judgment. judgments, as we all know, can be very idiosyncratic when only one person interprets the data or object at hand. As a result, performing an evaluation in a group allows you to gain multiple perspectives, challenge each other's ideas and assumptions, and thus defend a judgment that may not be as subject to bias.

Fact and Fiction: Common Fears about Group Work

Group work can be a frightening prospect for many people, especially in a school setting when so much of what we do is only "counted" (i.e. graded) if it's been completed individually. Some of these fears are fictions, but others are well founded and can be addressed by being careful about how group work is set up.

My individual ideas will be lost

Fact or Fiction? Both

In any group, no one's ideas count more than another's; as a result, you will not always get a given idea into a paper exactly as you originally thought it. However, getting your ideas challenged and changed is the very reason to do a group project. The key is to avoid losing your ideas entirely (i.e. being silenced in a group) without trying to control the group and silencing others.

Encourage Disagreement

It's okay to argue. Only through arguing with other members can you test the strength of not only others' ideas but also your own. Just be careful to keep the disagreement on the issue, not on personalities.

Encourage a Collaborative Attitude

No paper, even if you write it alone, is solely a reflection of your own ideas; the paper includes ideas you've gotten from class, from reading, from research. Think of your group members, and encourage them to think of you, as yet another source of knowledge.

Be Ready to Compromise

Look for ways in which differing ideas might be used to come up with a "new" idea that includes parts of both. It's okay to "stick to your guns," but remember everyone gives up a little in a group interaction. You must determine when you're willing to bend and when you're not.

Consider Including the Disagreement in the Paper

Depending on the type of paper you're writing, it's frequently okay to include more than one "right" answer by showing both are supportable with available evidence. In fact, papers which present disagreement without resolutions can sometimes be better than those that argue for only one solution or point of view.

I could write it better myself

Fact or Fiction? Usually both

Even if you are an excellent writer, collaboratively written papers are usually better than a single-authored one if for no other reason than the content is better: it is better researched, more well thought out, includes more perspectives, etc. The only time this is not true is if you've chosen to group-author a paper that does not need collaboration. However, writing a good final draft of a collaboratively written paper does take work that all group members should be prepared to do. To read more about collaborating successfully, choose any of the items below:

Divide the Writing Tasks

While everyone is not necessarily a great writer in all aspects, they usually know what they do well. Someone may be great at organizing but not be a good proofreader. Someone else might be great using vivid language, but lose their writing focus. Have group members write what they're best at and/or ask them to read the first draft for specific things they know well.

Leave Enough Time for Revising

First drafts of collaborative papers are frequently much worse than first drafts of individual papers because many disagreements are still being worked out when writing. Leave yourselves, then, a lot of time to critique the first draft and rewrite it.

Divide the Paper into Sections

People in your group may know a lot more about certain topics in the paper because they did the research for that section or may have more experience writing, say, a methods section than others. To get a good first draft going, divide tasks up according to what people feel the most comfortable with. Be sure, however, to do a lot of peer review as well.

Be Critical

One of the advantages of group work is you learn to read your own and others' writing more critically. Since this is your work too, don't be afraid to suggest and make changes on parts of the paper, even if you didn't write them in the drafting process. Every section, including yours, belongs to everyone in the group.

My grade will depend on what others do

Fact or Fiction? Fact

Although some instructors make provisions for individual grades even on a collaborative project, the fact remains that at least a part, if not the whole grade will depend on what others do. Although this may be frightening, the positive side to this is that it increases people's motivation and investment in the project. Of course, not everyone will care about grades as much as others. In this case, the group needs to make decisions early on for the "slacker" contingency. To read more about how to deal with unequal investments in the task, choose any of the items below:

Make Rules and Stick to Them

Before you even start work on a project, make rules about what will happen to those members not doing their part and outline the consequences. Here are some possible "consequences" other groups have used:

If someone misses a meeting, or doesn't do a certain task, he/she has to type the final paper, buy pizza for the next meeting, etc.
If more than one meeting is missed or a member consistently fails to do what she/he is supposed to, the group can decide not to include that name on the project. (Check this one with your instructor)
In the same scenario, the group can decide to write a written evaluation of the member's work and pass it in to the instructor with the paper.

No one, usually, wants to anger their peers. When someone isn't doing his/her work, other group members need to tell that member. Many times people who end up doing more than their share do so because they don't complain.

Deal with It

This may sound harsh, but the reality of life outside of school is that some people do more work than others but are not necessarily penalized for it. You need to learn how to deal with these issues given that in the working world, you are frequently dependent on others you work with. Learning how to handle such situations now is a good learning experience in itself.

Group work will take more time than if I did it myself

There is no way around this, so be prepared. Even if you divide up many of the early tasks (research, etc.) which lessens the time you might put in individually, writing a collaborative paper takes a lot of time. It's time well spent as the final project is usually better than what any one individual could do, but don't fool yourself into thinking choosing a group option will mean less work. It hardly ever does.

My group members aren't as smart as I am

Fact or Fiction? Fiction

This is a dangerous attitude to bring into a group situation. If you honestly believe it's true, you should probably not choose group work if it's optional. If you don't have a choice, then consider the fact that other people might be thinking the same of you. To read about how your group can avoid this, choose any of the items below:

Discuss Member's Strengths and Weaknesses

At the first meeting, have each group member do a personal inventory covering a wide range of issues relevant to the work you'll do together. Remember that while one person may be good at ideas/course content, someone else may have strengths as a critical reader, researcher, or writer. Some questions might include: what do you know about our topic already? What experiences do you have that might be relevant? What have you done the best on in other parts of the course? What have you been complimented on about your writing in the past from teachers or peers? What kind of reader of other people's papers are you?

Practice Listening

It's too easy to judge someone based on personal assumptions. Assign someone each meeting to take careful notes on everything said, not just what that person thinks is relevant. Many good ideas are lost because we judge the person rather than what he/she says.

Think of your group members, and encourage them to think of you, as yet another source of knowledge just as you might a teacher, a book, or any other source you consult for a paper. Sometimes you can learn the most from someone you think is "wrong" because they can provide a perspective you've ignored.

We won't be able to agree

Group work is messy; you will disagree often. The best groups don't silence disagreement because it's usually in arguing that you can challenge each other to think more about the topic. However, groups that only disagree are no more functional than those that agree to everything. The key is balancing the two. To read more about how to handle disagreements, choose any of the items below:

Assign a Monitor/Mediator

For every meeting, ask someone to keep careful track of the differing opinions and reasons for them. At a certain point in the meeting (or for the next meeting), the mediator's job is to present all the views and try to reach a consensus which includes parts of them. To do this, the mediator must stay out of the arguments for that meeting only.

Decide Whether You Have to Agree

This won't work in every instance, but sometimes you might decide to include the disagreement in the paper itself. Presenting why two different sides of an issue are equally supportable can sometime strengthen the paper, rather than weaken it, depending on the purpose of the paper.

Make Discussion Rules

While arguing about ideas is good, personal attacks are not. Early on, decide as a group what is acceptable behavior toward each other and follow the rule: call someone on it when they go too far.

I don't have time to meet out of class

Fact or Fiction? Sometimes a Fact

Most of us, even if we're very busy, can find two hours to meet with a group. The key is having those two hours in common with other people, which is why, when forming a group, time in common is the first thing to consider. If you are assigned a group, however, this may not be possible. In this case, consider alternative ways of meeting: telephone, e-mail, meetings with some group members, etc. To read more about different alternatives, choose any of the items below:

Everyone on campus can get an e-mail account. You can work on much of the logistical (who needs to do what when) work of a group through e-mail communication. This is also a good way to exchange drafts of the paper, with each person making revisions when the draft gets to them. Or, it can serve as a way to send your "section" before you have a complete draft and/or to exchange research notes. It's not as useful for hashing out ideas or coming up with your thesis for the paper, however.

Talk to your instructor about setting up a chat room through the WWW. Although sometimes frustrating because you will be writing instead of talking, you can use a chat room to do much of the idea generation that e-mail isn't as useful for because of the time lag.

Partial Meetings

Meet in two different groups, with one person in common. Take good notes so that one person can communicate what you decided/talked about to the next group. This can work until the "final" decision stage of what the focus of the paper will be and the final changes to the draft. For these, you'll need probably to meet at least once (for the decision making) or pass the draft around continuously until everyone is ready to sign off on it.

Weekend Meetings

No one loves this option, but if you have no other free time together, you might be able to find a Sunday morning or Friday night when everyone can meet for the one or two meetings that seem as if they must be face-to-face.

I would learn more doing it on my own

While this may seem true because you'd have to do all the work, group work usually allows you to include more research than you could alone, exposes you to perspectives you wouldn't hear otherwise, and teaches you about your own writing strengths and weaknesses in ways writing alone and just getting a response never can. Thus, in group work, you learn more about writing itself, and, if done right, the topic as well.

I'll end up doing all the work

Unless you are unwilling to give up control or speak up for yourself, this shouldn't happen. Although the reality is that some people will try to get away with doing less, the chances of having a completely uncommitted group are rare. As a result, you simply have to watch for the tendency to think you "know better" than others and thus must do it all yourself and/or the attitude that your grade will suffer because everything isn't done the way you want it. To read about how not to do all the work, choose any of the items below:

If you miss a meeting, or don't do a certain task, you have to type the final paper, buy pizza for the next meeting, etc.
If more than one meeting is missed or a member consistently fails to do what she/he is supposed to, the group can decide not to include their name on the project. (Check this one with your instructor)

No one, usually, wants to anger his/her peers. When someone isn't doing their work, other group members need to tell them. Many times people who end up doing more than their share do so because they don't complain.

While everyone is not necessarily a great writer in all aspects, they usually know what they do well. Someone may be great at organizing but not be a good proofreader. Someone else might be great a vivid language, but lose their focus. Have group members write what they're best at and/or ask them to read the first draft for specific things they know well. Even if you're good at all aspects, this doesn't mean you can't draw on the others' strengths.

What to Expect in Group Work

Several factors we may not always think about when working in a group are vital to a successful group project. You should always establish how your group will handle each of these. To learn more about these factors, choose any of the items below:

Although we might assume productive groups will always be in complete agreement and focused on task, the reality of groups, as we have probably all experienced, is much messier than this. "Ideal" productive groups do not exist. In fact, some of the most productive groups will disagree, spend a lot of time goofing around, and even follow many blind alleys before achieving consensus. It's important to be aware of the rather messy nature of group work.

Student groups will fight--in fact, they should fight, but only in particular ways. Research shows that "substantive" conflict, conflict directed toward the work at hand and issues pertaining to it, is highly productive and should be encouraged. "Personal" conflict, conflict directed toward group members' egos, however, is damaging and unproductive. The lesson is that students need to respect each other. Some groups decide to negotiate respect by making rules against inappropriate comments or personal attacks. When a damaging instance arises in a certain situation, any group member can immediately censor back the comment by saying "inappropriate comment."

Socializing

Of course, groups will not continually argue nor will they continually stay on task. Socializing, joking around, or telling stories are a natural part of group interaction and should be encouraged. It is primarily through "goofing off&qout; that group members learn about each other's personalities, communication styles, and senses of humor. Such knowledge builds trust and community among the members. Although groups should be counseled not to spend inappropriately long amounts of time simply gossiping or telling stories, they should also realize the importance and influence such interactions can have on achieving a group identity that all members come to share.

Wrong Decisions

Group members should be aware of and comfortable with the frequently frustrating reality of making the wrong decisions. Making mistakes, trying out options that don't work, and so on are not "a waste of time." In any creative situation, particularly in writing, trying out unsuccessful options is frequently the only way to discover what needs to be done. Although such frustrations take place even in individual contexts, they are particularly hard to negotiate in a group context because our immediate instinct is to blame another group member for a faulty suggestion. Students should be aware that all time spent on a task is productive even if it does not lead to any tangible product.

Unequal Commitments

In a perfect world, everyone would have as much time and desire in a group as others to create the best paper possible, but the reality is some people are procrastinators or care more about their grades in certain classes. Expect this and make contingencies for it by deciding early on what the "penalty" will be for those who miss meetings or fail to pull their weight.

Choosing Group Members

Sometimes in class assignments, you won't be able to choose your group, but if you have this option or are forming a group for your own purposes (e.g. study groups for exams), be careful of how you choose members. To read more about how to construct a group, choose any of the items below:

Time in Common to Meet

You'll want to have at least a two-hour chunk of time that everyone in the group can meet each week. While you'll probably not meet every week, everyone should be willing to keep this time free during the group project. If you plan to gather to write the text together, you'll need much larger chunks of time toward the end of the project.

Individual Strengths and Weaknesses

Any collaboratively written paper will include research, idea-generating, and writing abilities. For other groups, such as study groups, only idea-generating or understanding of class material may be relevant. As you ask people to join your group, have a specific reason why they would "add" to the group mix in terms of abilities. Choosing your friends is not always the best way to get a "balanced" group. For example, your friends might all be good at research but all lack writing skills.

If you're doing a group paper or studying together, including a diversity of people might be a real asset. For example, gender diversity may or may not be relevant depending on the topic. Past course work or job experience may or may not be relevant. Prepare a list of the types of diversity that may help strengthen your paper because of the different perspectives or types of expertise people can bring to the group.

Next to enough time to meet, this criterion is most important. Try to choose group members who have an equal investment in the project or study group as you do. It's unfair to invite someone because you think they'll do most of the work; it's equally unfair to you to invite someone you like but who will probably miss meetings or procrastinate.

Guidelines for Group Work

The members of student groups may benefit from keeping some common-sense rules and aphorisms in mind as they come to collaborate.

Collaboration teaches us what we know how to do , not just what we know. Collaboration teaches method. The activities of collaboration are as important as the material results.

Collaboration works best when it is apparent--when you know that you are collaborating. A certain amount of formality (e.g., established meeting times, a recorder to take minutes perhaps, a group monitor) is called for.

Collaboration succeeds when everybody succeeds--individual members as well as the group as a whole.

Collaboration is a key responsibility in the class experience--it means being involved in the teaching of the course.

No one ever knows how a collaborative activity will turn out.

Initial Decision-Making

This section provides suggestions about the types of decisions any group should make before getting into the work on a paper itself in order to prevent future problems.

Where many groups go wrong is not being clear about expectations from the onset. Problems are much easier to deal with when you discuses their possibility in the abstract rather than when they involve individual people and feelings. As such, making the following decisions early on can help deflect feelings of personal attack later and also help organize the group.

Agree on a Meeting Format

While many groups will (and should) spend time socializing, talking about class, etc., it's helpful to set up expectations for how much of this type of talk should/can occur during a meeting. Also, because of how much typically gets said during meetings, you need a way to keep track of what occurred and plan for the next meeting. For instance, you should:

Appoint a secretary for each meeting
Plan for the next meeting (set an agenda) at the end of each meeting
Plan a short amount of time at the beginning of each meeting for chatting and appoint someone to get the group "started" after that time has passed

Construct Rules for Discussion

Although it usually seems unlikely in the beginning, a healthy disagreement can easily turn nasty when people are invested in a topic. Decide early on what will be considered inappropriate comments and make sure someone monitors these in later meetings. Here are some rules to consider:

No personal attacks on a person's intelligence, background, way of speaking, etc.
No yelling; all disagreements should be kept in a rational tone
No name calling
If a person objects to a comment directed at them, the conversation stops there, no matter anyone's opinion of the objection
Out of Line Comments: "That's a dumb idea;" "You don't know what you're talking about;" "It figures a man/woman would say that"

Construct a Timeline

It's very easy to get lost in people's individual schedules week to week and put off certain tasks "just this time." Also, it's easy for a group project to seem "huge" until the tasks are broken down. For these reasons, it's useful to decide what tasks need to be done and when they need to be finished in order for the group to meet its final deadline.

Make a schedule and keep to it. This will also help group members monitor each other so that someone isn't stuck with all the work at the end. Consider the following:

When will a final decision on the topic/focus be made?
What kinds of research do we need to do? Who will do what? By when?
When will people report back on research? What notes should they write up for others? By when?
When must a final decision on the major point (thesis) of the paper be made?
When will the paper be drafted initially?
When will the comments/suggestions for revision be completed?
When will the revisions be done by?
When will the final proofreading occur?

Agree on Penalties for Missing Meetings or Deadlines

Although it would be great if this weren't true, the reality is some people are going to miss meetings and deadlines; some might even try to get others to do their work by not completing tasks. Groups need to be prepared for these contingencies by constructing rules and their consequences that can be applied later if individuals "drop the ball." Consider the following:

Discuss What Each Member Brings to the Group

While you might know your other group members as friends, you probably don't know as much about them as students as you might think. A very productive topic for the first meeting, after all the logistics have been worked out, is to discuss what individual members' strengths and weaknesses are. In short, have everyone conduct a "personal inventory" and share it with the other members on their experiences relevant to the collaborative assignment. Doing this also helps alleviate the feeling that some group members are "smarter" or "know more" than others. Everyone has strengths they bring to the group; we're simply not always aware of them. Consider the following:

What's your previous experience with the topic?
What do you understand best from class? What are you struggling with?
Do you have any outside experience (job, internships, previous classes) relevant to the topic and/or class?
What's your experience with the kind of research we're doing (field, library, etc.)
What kinds of papers do you write best? What have teachers and others complimented you on?
What problems do you have in writing?

Idea-Generating and Research Tasks

This section deals with the types of tasks that can and should occur before the group begins drafting the paper and provides suggestions on how to best distribute the work.

Although when we work on our own, all of us frequently deter from the model of "gather all your information, decide on a thesis, write and outline, and draft" typically recommended in writing text books. However, this is a useful order to try and follow in group work. Many times a group might work through this order recursively, researching, finding a topic, and then having to do more research, however breaking up these tasks initially helps lighten the workload later and helps you meet the final deadline.

Library Research

While it's a good idea to have everyone work on research, you don't want to end up finding the same sources. Consider breaking down the library research according to data bases. One person searches SAGE, another the New York Times, etc. Also construct a plan for how people will "report" back on research. Should they write a summary for everyone? Bring photocopies?

Field Research

Depending on the type of field research, you may break down what needs to be done individually or choose to send people out in pairs or groups. Pairs and groups, for example, work particularly well for observational projects where each person may observe something different. Also, construct a plan for how people will "report" back on research. Should they make a more extended copy of their notes? Should the group decide what's important to focus on and then ask each person to share that portion of their work? No matter what the decision, make sure each group member has the entire body of information to work from. Observations and interviews can't be used by everyone like a library source can unless the person doing them has a detailed, written record.

Evaluating Sources

The most difficult part of doing research individually or in pairs is deciding what's relevant or not to the group's project. It's useful, then, to either construct criteria for what makes a "good" source before the research begins, or to have people report back on everything they found, and decide a focus from there that can help you look more specifically for other sources. Developing a focus early on is especially important to field research as any surveys, observations, or interviews you do will only need to be redone if they don't elicit the information you later discover you need.

Deciding on a Focus

Depending on your topic, this may occur in different places in the process. For a library project, it's useful to have some idea of a focus before starting the research, then refining it according to what you find out. For observational research, it's useful to do a few observations without a sense of focus, and use what you see to determine what's most interesting to the group. In any type of research, however, a focus should be determined before the researching ends; otherwise, you may not end up with information you can use.

Coming to Consensus on the Main Point and Organization

Once you've gotten a focus and collected most of your data or sources, the group needs to conduct the most difficult task: decide upon the point of the paper. While in individual papers, many of us frequently "write to find a point," this is very difficult to do in a group. Before the writing starts, you want everyone to have the same conclusion or point in mind so that what they write will not lack coherence with other parts of the paper. For similar reasons, deciding on the organization of the paper beforehand, in some type of outline or list of sections, will make the writing much easier.

Writing the Paper Together

Depending on the purpose of the assignment, you can choose from a number of models for working in collaborative groups.

Determine what Final Paper Should 'Sound' Like

Before actually beginning to write, your group will need to make some decisions about the final draft, some of which may need to be checked with your instructor first. Consider the following:

Is it okay to include disagreements? Should the paper argue for one point/interpretation/conclusion or present other possibilities that emerged in your discussions?
Should the paper sound as if one person wrote it? Are different styles acceptable or will you have to revise for a similar style throughout?
How will you refer to the author, as "we", as a group name, by last names? What's standard format for collaborative work in your discipline?

When you divide the writing tasks, each member does research and writes a portion of the document. The group then reconvenes to suggest revisions, smooth over transitions, and even edit style inconsistencies. This model is the most efficient and quickest for most groups that have not worked together in the past. Consider the following:

This only works if you spend a lot of time discussing organization before writing; otherwise, sections tend to digress and/or repeat each others.
Plan to write the introduction, conclusion, and transitions between sections together to help the text "flow."
Edit/revise the draft for coherence; is it obvious how each section supports/leads to your main point? Skipping this stage could lead to an incomprehensible paper. People's ideas about the main point, no matter how much discussion, aren't always going to be the same.

Gather to Write Together

Writing together is efficient in that groups can sometimes make better decisions than individuals. Consequently, fewer drafts might be required. However, this kind of true collaborative writing, especially in larger groups, can be very difficult and time consuming. You may need to spend more time working together. Consider the following:

How well this works depends a great deal on how comfortable you are with each other and if you're willing to correct and suggest in the middle of someone writing.
Don't get caught up in arguments about sentence structure, word choice, etc. This is only a first draft and trying to be too "perfect" during the writing will increase the writing time exponentially.
Plan more than one meeting for the drafting; writing like this cannot be done in one sitting.
Leave time to critique the draft and make revisions. Writing together is not a substitute for revision.

Delegate Various Responsibilities

Members who might have excellent research skills might do most of the research; those who are excellent at writing correctly might do most of the editing and proofreading. This model requires a high degree of group coordination. For some groups--but definitely not all--this model is most efficient. For others, (in which no even split of skill levels exists) it will be the least efficient. Consider the following:

Be sure everyone, not just the final editor, has approved what will be passed in. Everyone needs to read and critique each draft.
Be sure tasks are broken down equally. Proofing the final copy is not equivalent to writing the first draft.
For this method to work, those doing the research must keep detailed, accurate notes that others who might not have seen the original source can understand and use.
"Planning" meetings are essential; the people drafting must have a clear idea of the point, organization, and what sources are relevant to what parts of the paper or else much time can be wasted.

Using Group Time Profitably

After making initial decisions about choice of topic and members' duties, a group will work best together if each member comes to meetings with at least some of his or her individual work and thinking already accomplished. Groups can then move directly to the more advanced writing process stages of organizing and negotiating between ideas or even of piecing together drafts. Various strategies help make group time as productive as possible:

Be Prepared

Come to the meeting with at least some of your individual work and thinking already accomplished. If you were assigned to write a portion of the draft, for example, have it done for the meeting and bring copies. If this is a planning meeting, think about the topic before hand and jot down some notes about what you think should be done.

Set an Agenda

Set aside time at the beginning of each meeting to run through (or create) the agenda and state aloud the goals for this meeting (i.e. what you want to accomplish). Save time at the end of each meeting to recap the events of the session, discuss plans for individual work, and set the agenda for the next meeting.

Appoint a Secretary

Group meetings can move very quickly with so many people talking. For each meeting appoint a scribe (a different one each time) to take down notes on the discussion and keep track of plans and decisions made. The scribe should provide each member with a copy of a particular meeting so everyone has the same sense of what happened and what was decided.

All committees need time for unfocused discussions that attempt to move the group toward consensus. More than a few group meetings may need to be devoted to what seems like unfocused talk. Allowing this to happen will make later sessions more productive since you've already explored many ideas about the topic; as a result, getting down to work will be easier.

Feel free to disagree. The best ideas come about when someone has the guts to question an idea or plan that seems to make sense to everyone else. Critiquing each other's work or ideas is essential to working together to create the best product. Don't hold to your individual ideas so strongly, however, that the group doesn't make any progress. Know when to compromise and when not to.

Be Strict about Deadlines

You expect all your other group members to complete the work they've committed themselves to; apply the same standard to yourself. Remember that you have a commitment to these people and failure to meet it will affect not only your grade but theirs as well.

Dealing With Problems in a Group

Group work is rarely flawless. Two methods for dealing with problems are monitoring the group and discussing the problems. If you agree ahead of time about how to resolve problems, you can avoid involving your instructor in the situation; however, if you can't resolve the problem it may be a good idea to ask for assistance.

Clarify Your Expectations Early

One way to avoid problems later is to make decisions about deadlines, meeting etiquette, and penalties for missed work before any of these occur. This way you can refer back to decisions already made and avoid the possibility that one member may feel like they're "being picked on" or meetings become so out of hand they can't be controlled.

Monitor the Group

One way to help alleviate some of the problems that may result from group interactions is to encourage the group to somehow monitor itself. To facilitate this monitoring, each group member can keep a journal in which she or he comments on each group meeting. The journal can become the place to express frustration, to analyze the nature of communication taking place in the group, and so on. Or the group may choose to divide up monitoring tasks. One group member might be put in charge of keeping track of turn-taking (i.e., who speaks and when; do all members have an equal opportunity to speak; are some members always silent?). Another member might watch for nonverbal cues about how members are reacting to what is being said, or to an individual speaker.

Discuss Problems

In any of these monitoring scenarios, group members should be encouraged to discuss with the entire group any problems they see arising so that the group might discuss certain aspects of the group's dynamic before they become problems. Sometimes, however, the group will not be able to solve their interaction problems on their own. When this occurs, they should be aware that they can discuss this--as a group preferably-- with the instructor.

Overall, groups should be left to negotiate their own agendas among themselves, but discussing possible problem areas may provide the ounce of prevention that prevents the need for a more painful cure.

LeCourt, Donna, & Dawn Kowalski. (1997). Working in Groups. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guides.cfm?guideid=42

Jan 18, 2022
11 min read

The Pros and Cons of Working Independently

What are the advantages of working independently? Is it more beneficial than working in a team? We've listed the top 10 advantages and disadvantages of working alone.

Mike Dalley

HR and Learning & Development Expert

Reviewed by Hayley Ramsey

The Pros and Cons of Working Independently

Working independently can come in many forms, such as working from home, working on solo projects at work, or even making the plunge into freelancing. For many people, working independently is a dream come true, or a logical next step in their career path or personal development plan. The notion of independent working has gained traction in the last couple of years, especially with the need for remote working and for atypical working patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

People seeking a move to working independently should carefully weigh up the pros and cons to decide if it is right for them. This article takes you through 10 advantages and 10 disadvantages of working independently.

1. You get all the credit

Working independently means that you are the one responsible for all successes and for the execution of the work. It might sound scary, but this means that you will be the one who gets the credit when the work is signed off. There is no debate as to where the ideas or effort came from, and as such, working alone can really benefit your professional credibility.

2. You’re in charge

Being self-sufficient on tasks can be an amazing feeling. Akin to empowerment, being given the opportunity to work independently means you can solve your own problems and make your own decisions. Not only can this help you work faster, but it can also create extra learning opportunities. Being given — or taking — this extra responsibility can help you become increasingly self-motivated, and you’ll come across as more dependable in the eyes of managers or peers.

3. There’s less chance of conflict

Working independently means that you’re working with fewer people — sometimes no people at all — and this will naturally reduce the risk of professional conflict . With conflict at work commonly arising from differences in opinion, variations in work approaches, or good old-fashioned office politics, working by yourself allows your energy to be focused on the task at hand rather than mediation with colleagues.

4. You can set your own pace and hours

Perhaps the largest attraction to working independently is being able to manage your own time. Lone working often enables people to set their own working patterns and structure jobs in such a way that it will complement their own productivity . This is harder to do when working alongside other people or as part of project groups. In some situations, you might be given more flexibility in your working pattern and schedule, which is great for your job satisfaction and general organisational experience.

5. You don’t need to manage others

Managing a team or generally being able to utilise leadership skills can be an exhilarating prospect, but for some people, it just isn’t their cup of tea. Removing the management or leadership aspects of work frees up plenty of time. This can be used to focus on work tasks, or simply as time-in-hand to maintain work life balance.

Working independently can remove the need to manage others, but you might still need to work alongside colleagues and indirectly manage them as part of general organisational interactions.

6. There are fewer distractions

Working with other people can lead to distractions, with some being connected to performance management or conflict. Essentially, working with others causes inevitable distractions.

Distractions are the product of general workplace hubbub. This could include ever-ringing telephones, chit chat, other office noise or even just disruption by contractors, cleaners, and the limitations of working before or after office hours. Working by yourself might allow you the opportunity to minimise these distractions, either by moving to a closed office or remote working, being able to put headphones in to work by yourself, or by minimising unnecessary meetings and interactions.

7. You can be more creative and innovative

Being able to work to your own timings and system is a sure-fire way of getting those creative juices flowing. You will have more freedom to set your own working pace and have much-needed time to reflect, as well as being innovative and thinking up new ideas, which will help drive your work forward. You might also be given greater autonomy and trust to make your ideas come to life without too many levels of approval.

8. It can boost your job prospects

Being able to work independently means that employers and clients can trust you to get work done. This might result in you receiving more solo assignments or being called upon to train others to work in the same way. You might also be called upon to set up offices or projects where there is less support or structure in place. You might even be promoted or recognised because of your dependability, self-motivation and productivity.

9. You’ll improve your self-learning and development

Working by yourself means that you have the opportunity to see through projects and tasks from start to finish. You might be expected to come up with solutions to problems yourself or have less support from others when tackling challenges. The upshot of this is that we learn from our success and mistakes. Working independently means that you will be exposed to more and be stronger because of this.

10. You’ll be more satisfied with your job

All the advantages to working independently contribute massively to job satisfaction. Even if you love working as part of a larger team, there will always be compromises to optimal job satisfaction because of the need to consider other people.

When you work independently, the sheer scope of being able to manage your own working experience means that attaining job satisfaction is a lot easier, and, well, satisfying! Ultimately, if you are happier in what you do, you will feel stable in your role and likely be performing stronger as well.

1. You could get lonely

There is a certain buzz to a large office or team that is hard to replicate anywhere else. One of the most important elements of collaborative work — and something which has been further investigated since the rise of remote working associated with the pandemic — is the importance of socialisation . Humans, no matter how extroverted or introverted they are, require some degree of socialisation for their overall health and wellbeing . Working independently deprives people of this, and as such, these workers might need to find new ways and places to mix with others in a professional setting.

2. It’s more stressful

Working independently can increase workload and stress . There might be as many tasks to complete as when you were working in a team, but working alone means you’ll be responsible for them all. This might include some tasks undertaken by specialist units, such as administration, human resources or accounting.

Some people who work independently may do so with a metaphorical guillotine over their head. This is driven by questions, such as “ What if I fail? ”, or “ What if I need support and no-one is there? ”. The consequences of the dreaded “ What ifs ” are magnified when being completely responsible for a task or being left to your own devices on how to achieve it, and ultimately, cause stress levels to increase.

3. You’ll have more responsibility

Working independently means that even if you still have a direct manager, you will be expected to manage yourself to a greater extent. Whereas this can be a liberating, exhilarating experience, you might find yourself struggling to get others to support you, as you don’t belong to a direct team, or you have been handed accountability of tasks, as well as the task itself. If this applies to you, research and understand who your support network is, both inside and outside of the workplace. Having a mentor or an impartial advisor often helps.

4. There’s less teamwork

When you are working independently and/or working from home, the benefits that come from working in a team are harder to come by. Not only might there be less direct support or someone next to you to help with a second opinion, but you could be missing out on that wonderful organisational buzzword – synergy.

Few things compare to the powerful hive-mind of a top-performing team . Teams are often created from disparate mixes of skillsets and personalities just for this reason. As an independent worker, you might still benefit indirectly from teams around you, but to be a part of one can be a great advantage.

5. There’s less communication

Working independently could mean that you are left out of the loop. This is rarely intentional, but often comes as a by-product of working at home or alone, where trickle-down messages might simply miss you. Being copied on emails and included in meetings might be annoying or time-consuming to some, but they are often useful and important for inclusion and information. Being missed out on these communications can have lasting consequences, such as missing out on critical business and industry updates, or adding to feelings of loneliness.

6. You might be less efficient

Not only might work be more stressful when working independently, it might also be less efficient. Having to juggle different tasks by yourself, as well as manage workloads with little or no assistance, might not make for the most conducive working environment.

Another challenge with working independently is the need to discover which working pattern works for you. Lone workers must have excellent self-management skills. For some, working alone can lead to significant loss of productivity or procrastination, behaviours which are not sustainable in the long term.

7. There’s no separation of duties

For independent workers operating in legally sensitive areas such as finance, law or professional consultancy, there might be the need to work across several areas which naturally benefit from segmentation or separation. For example, if you are working in a smaller business unit or an office by yourself, you might be asked to work both on selling and the auditing or reporting of these sales, which can present a conflict of interest.

A famous example of this is the rogue trader Nick Leeson, who bankrupted Barings Bank after concealing almost a billion dollars’ worth of bad trades in Singapore by executing them and auditing them himself, a system approved by his superiors, far away in London.

8. You might get less feedback

Working alone means that you are trusted to do so. Managers might therefore be less inclined, or feel less need, to give you feedback. On face value, this might sound like heaven, but having a regular supply of positive and constructive feedback is essential to be able to learn from mistakes and motivate yourself to achieve bigger and better things. Independent workers will have to look elsewhere for feedback. This might come from customer reviews, supplier feedback, or even through means of self-assessment or reflective practice.

9. You’ll have a smaller professional network

Working independently can potentially mean fewer opportunities to network and connect professionally. Independent workers often work from home , and might be a lot busier, which makes networking opportunities harder to commit to.

Being in a larger office or working in a team means that introductions can be easily made through colleagues or mutual connections. It might also be easier to receive invitations to networking opportunities, either through the firm or through professional association. Independent workers may need to lean more on websites like LinkedIn and location-specific online forums to connect with people professionally in their field.

10. There are less collective learning opportunities

Working with others is a great way to learn. You can pick up a lot from the good work colleagues do, and from their mistakes as well. Some of the best ways adults learn are through socialisation or collaboration interventions, where ideas and thought can be bounced around. Working independently or remotely will still give you access to organisational learning practices, but you might need to seek them out or request certain learning opportunities, rather than benefiting from them organically.

Final thoughts

Working independently might seem like a fantastic idea and a gateway to a new and better way of working, but the truth is that it will suit some people and not others. When considering a move to working independently, take some time to weigh up the above pros and cons to determine if it is the right choice for you.

People who gel with working independently will probably find that their personal and professional satisfaction skyrockets as a result. Others might still feel more comfortable working in a team in a busy office. Ultimately, do what you think is best for your own wellbeing, and remember that if you don’t like working independently, it can be reasonably easy to revert to the ways of working you had before.

Do you find it easier working independently? Or is working in a team where you thrive? Let us know in the comment section below.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on 2 September 2019.

Productivity

Teamwork Skills

Independence

Creating Curriculum

Group work vs. individual work.

Let's say today's agenda is learning about microbes.

We know it's exciting, but settle down.

Now, single out all your introverts and put them on one side of the room at individual desks to do a worksheet about different bacteria. Circle up the desks for your extroverts and have them fill out the worksheet together.

Easy as that, right?

Um. If that's what the distinction between individual work and group work were like, it would be a lot easier to set up—and a lot harder to get any benefits from.

Some classes may benefit from a larger emphasis on one of these tactics or the other, but we're guessing some sort of blend is going to be the best bet in most cases. Chances are your students will need some skills both working in a team and solving problems independently—whether that's now in fourth grade or a decade or two down the line in the professional world. So figuring out how and when to use each of these strategies can end up a great tool for your classroom.

Whether you think of it as collaborating with us as you read along or silently and solely reading a dead assemblage of words, power on along.

One is the loneliest number…but we're still going to talk group work first.

Group work can be a good idea when you want to get your students to think harder and dig deeper, and when some variety in skill levels and ways of thinking about things can be a benefit to all. Say a big math problem with lots of different steps; or a scene in Ulysses that could be interpreted in three or 300 different ways; or you're doing a unit on Ancient Egypt and you need your students to combine their knowledge of history with an ability to analyze and critique other civilizations. Things like that (and a million others) can be great places to institute some group work.

Let's throw out some bullet points. Group work can help hone your students' skills in

listening to and respecting others' ideas;
thinking about one problem in a variety of ways;
getting to a deeper level understanding through having to explain a perspective and discuss it with folks with different perspectives;
dividing up tasks and delegating responsibilities;
sharing knowledge and abilities to get a better hold on a problem than they could individually;
holding group members accountable—and being held accountable back.

Along with some of those and a whole bunch of other pros listed on Carnegie Mellon's page on group work , there's the possibility of assigning bigger, harder problems to work on, and an added element of unpredictability that can make for greater learning possibilities overall.

Sure, whatever the project may be, it'll have to be "designed, supervised, and assessed in a way that promotes meaningful teamwork and deep collaboration," as the Carnegie Mellon site says ( source ) . And all that can make for a fair amount more work for the teacher. But if you establish the exact goals of the project in advance, and have a sense of how your students should pursue it in a team, the benefits are worth it.

Individual work isn't just for those introverts out there. Sure, it is great for them to get a chance to think things through on their own, which is a comfier way to process new info for many introverts (which you can read a lot more about in this entire article about the needs of introverts and extroverts ).

Still, it can be just as helpful for those who prefer group work to learn how to cope with the prospect of sitting still, keeping that noisy mouth shut, and puzzling out some answers without giving in to any and every distraction that comes along.

Individual work can help students

Individual Work

gain independence to think things through on their own;
improve confidence in working through a problem, even when they don't feel certain about every step;
work at their own level, rather than having to adapt to suit their group members;
practice self-control—both in staying focused on the task at hand, and in having the willpower to avoid turning to a neighbor or asking the teacher for the answer;
get more comfortable taking actions on their own;
gain creativity and effective thinking processes that can apply to problem solving across a range of subjects and types of issues;

Plus, it can be easier for the teacher to assess an individual's work—at least, easier in a traditional sense, if you have an idea of the "norm" for the type of work you're looking for. Sure, it can be tough to assess an individual's skills and motivation all while being aware of inevitable comparisons with others (as this psychology article on group and individual performance describes). But be aware of those issues, and you'll be fine.

As for when to use it, individual work can be a good filler for a chunk of time when there's a set of problems or a big, hovering question that it would behoove everyone to ponder on their own. Plus, it can be a good way to re-focus or re-center a class, or get everyone on the same page (or at least, on their own personal parts of the same-ish page) before diving into a bigger project or discussion.

The Balance

In individual work, some students—especially those extroverts we talked about—may feel a bit isolated. For some kids, when the lonely monster bites, it bites hard. Plus, if some students finish an activity before the rest, you should be prepared with an add-on task or two.

And when students are doing individual work on a topic they might feel more comfortable tackling in a group or with you guiding the way, make sure you don't help too much—try to ask some questions that will start them off in the right direction and give them a sense of additional resources.

As for group work, every teacher knows the headache of a classroom that gets too loud or the fury of checking on groups only to find they're off task. It's always a gamble, but if you come up with very specific guidelines and a time frame for accomplishing some concrete tasks, that'll be a big help in keeping those groups focused.

Finally, when it comes to deciding whether to make a certain activity individual- or group-based, don't just think of the two tactics as diametric opposites. Maybe have some individual "think time" before setting them up in groups. This can help each student clarify the problem to himself or herself, which can lead to more successful collaboration once they're tackling the problem together. Not sure how to do it? Check out this video from the Teaching Channel about how to make it happen.

In most classes, it'll make sense to divide up your time between group work and individual work. Sure, and there are also those times when you'll need to talk for a while, or an all-class discussion will be in order. There are lots of iterations of individual-pair-group-teacher only-student only-everyone together, and so on, that you can use to fill your day. And for the most part, shaking it up keeps things interesting—and effective—for the students and for the teacher.

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Do you prefer to work independently or on a team? Sample interview answers

Every great achievement is a result of a team effort . But it doesn’t mean that people have to share the same office , or even talk together, while trying to reach their goals. They may simply change notes and post updates on some online business communication platform , such as GitHub or Slack, while sitting at home in their pajamas, never traveling to work or to business meetings, never seeing each other.

That’s why on obvious answer “ I prefer to work on a team ” is not always your best choice . You should read the job description carefully, and think whether you’ll spend most of your time in work alone, or surrounded by people. And you should also elaborate on your answer, explaining why you prefer one option or the other.

Just like with most other interview questions, it’s not as easy as it seems to come up with a great answer . Let’s have a look at 7 sample answers. Do not forget to read also my notes below the answers, as they will help you to choose the right one for your interview.

7 sample answers to “Do you prefer to work independently or on a team?” interview question

I definitely prefer to work on a team. It is important for me to share my ideas with colleagues , and to hear critical feedback from their side. What’s more, I like the social aspect of going to work . It helps with motivation, and interactions you have in real time cannot be replaced by some chat or emails, or emojis or similar stuff. At least that’s my opinion.
I do not have a particular preference . Working on a team has certainly some advantages. If nothing else, there is a form of a social pressure. People work hard, and actually do the job–because others are looking at them, or at least they feel their presence in the room. But I personally never struggled with motivation, and I do not need any special pressure to work harder. I enjoy my job, and I have goals I try to reach both in work and in my personal life. If I am alone in front of a computer, I work as hard as I would if other people were present in the room, looking over my shoulder, praising or criticizing me.
To be honest, I prefer to work independently . In my opinion, a good engineer needs some space for their thoughts. Being surrounded by people, or working in a busy office with many distractions , you can hardly solve some tough puzzles, or come up with some innovative ideas. And that’s the role of a process engineer, or at least I see it in that way. Of course, it is nice to have team meetings and to talk to colleagues on a regular basis. But I prefer to spend most of my time in work alone, thinking about problems, trying to devise solutions.
I am a team player, but I do not need a regular contact with my team members . I think that we should try to find a good balance. Sometimes it’s fine to be in the office with other people, to brainstorm ideas, to work on a project together. But there are also tasks that require high level of concentration. When working on them, we should try to eliminate all distractions. That’s much easier to do when you work independently.
I prefer to work independently, but have someone I can consult when needed . Let me explain. Teaching is a nice profession, and you are never alone in the classroom. But it’s you and the students, and you shouldn’t expect someone to guide you in the lessons, or tell you how you should do things better. It is your task to observe the reactions of the students, and to find a way how to make them engaged and how to move forward with them. You shouldn’t rely on someone’s help in this case. However, if you face some problems with discipline in a classroom, or other issues, it’s good to have someone–an AP, head of a department, counselor, etc to talk to, to share ideas with…
I’ve always been a lonely wolf. That’s why I am applying for a job of a lighthouse keeper. I like solitude, and waves and Moon are my best company. You can be sure I won’t be homesick or miss people in this job . I am not a misanthrope or anything similar. Just at this stage of my life and career I prefer to be on my own, and to work independently.
Speaking honestly, I do not care . I see a meaningful purpose in this job , and I am highly motivated to try my best, to achieve the best possible results. I do not mind being in a team, and perhaps “infect” the others with my energy and enthusiasm . Perhaps it can help my colleagues achieve better results. But I am also alright about being on my own on the floor, responding for the entire store, trying my best with each customer…

You should not rely on your team to motivate you

You shouldn’t say that you need a team to stay motivated, that you need other people to encourage you in work daily. First and foremost, motivation we get from outside evaporates quickly . Unless you see a meaningful purpose in the work you do, or at least in some goals you pursue (and money you earn help you pursue them), you will struggle in work–whether working alone, or in a team .

You can point out other reasons for your preference to work in a team–getting feedback from your colleagues, having social interactions, being able to discuss your ideas with them in a real time , etc. See sample answer no.1 as a good example.

* Special Tip: This isn’t the only tricky question you will face while interviewing for any decent job. You will face questions about prioritization, dealing with pressure, dealing with ambiguity , and other tricky scenarios that happen in the workplace. If you want to make sure that you stand out with your answers and outclass your competitors, have a look at our Interview Success Package . Up to 10 premium answers to 31 tricky scenario based questions (+ more) will make your life much easier in the interviews. Thank you for checking it out!

Saying that you have no preference will almost always work

If you aren’t sure whether you’ll work alone or in a team, if it isn’t clear from the job description , you can always say that you have no preference.

Surely, you enjoy team work, you aren’t a misanthrope, you like being around other people, and perhaps you can even help your colleagues . At the same time, however, you do not mind being on your own, and do not need any form of social pressure or supervision to try your best in work.

See sample answers no. 2 or no. 7 for good examples.

If you apply for a job for a lonely wolf, you shouldn’t talk about teamwork

Geologist, lighthouse keeper, or even just a manager of a small store who doesn’t have any colleagues and responds for everything in the store. These are in a way jobs for lonely wolfs, or at least jobs in which you have to decide on your own, and cannot rely on any support from your team members.

Then you have jobs for engineers and scientists , people who need silence and high level of concentration in work. Each distraction is unwanted, and other people in the office are such distractions (two people argue about something loudly, someone is on a call with a customer, or a beautiful administrative assistant walks in front of you , and you start imagining all sorts of things, instead of focusing on your task, the problem you try to solve).

If you apply for any of these positions, you should say that you prefer to work independently, and are perfectly fine on your own . You can even cite it as one of the reasons why you applied for this particular job, and not for some other position… See sample answers no. 3 and no. 6 as a good example.

Ready to answer this one? Check also 7 sample answers to other tricky interview questions :

Can you work under pressure?
What does quality mean to you?
Are you a team player?
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TOEFL essay: Working individually or working in groups

Topic : working individually or working in groups

Answer: When you have a project or an assignment, how do you want to solve it? Many choices you can choose such as doing it with your friends or your partners, or solving it by yourself. Each choices has its advantages. From my experiences, working alone is better for me because it gives me success and the chance to be more confidently on myself.

Admittedly, working in groups has many benefits. With your partners, the project can be finished faster. For example, when I studied in university, my group had a project in Wars of world. So we divided it into several parts such as wars in ancient, wars in modern,… then each of us did one part. In that way, we could finish it sooner and also more efficiently. Additionally, when you work in a group, you also have a chance to express your ideas and have the comment from others. It’s the good way to improve your presentation skills and certainly your knowledge also.

Working individually also gives you many advantages. The first thing is that it makes you more independent. When you work alone, you have to solve your assignment by yourself and you can’t rely on anybody. The way you do , the method you use, or even the manner you present, these are all your work and you have to choose how better to do. This process gives you not only many experiences but also the confident to make your decisions in the future. Moreover, you can manage your time better when you work by yourself. You can do your work anytime that is best for you and you also don’t have to depend on others to have only an agreement. You can schedule your work includes your timetable and only follow your plan. That will save your time a lot.

From my experience, working individual always gave me success. I was an introverted person, so I sometimes had complex about myself, especially when I worked with others. But when I did my final project in university, I did many experiments in lab by myself and I realized that I could do my work much better than I had thought when I worked in groups. I also felt very confident about my knowledge. Working alone gave me a chance to discovery my own ability and many experiences to solve problems that are not only in research but also in my own life.

As I mentioned at the beginning, working alone or working in a group, each gives you its own advantages. You can choose which is better for you. But to me, working individually always the best choice. It is the way I improve my own ability and have more and more success.

TOEFL listening lectures: A lecture from a science class

When you have a project or an assignment, how do you want to solve it? Many choices you can choose such as doing it with your friends or your partners, or solving it by yourself. Each choice has its advantages. From my experiences, working alone is better for me because it gives me success and the chance to be more confident IN myself.

Admittedly, working in groups has many benefits. With your partners, the project can be finished faster. For example, when I studied in university, my group had a project in WORLD Wars . So we divided it into several parts such as wars in ancient TIMES, wars in modern TIMES,… then each of us did one part. In that way, we could finish it sooner and also more efficiently. Additionally, when you work in a group, you also have a chance to express your ideas and have comment from others. It’s A good way to improve your presentation skills and certainly your knowledge also.

Working individually also gives you many advantages. The first thing is that it makes you more independent. When you work alone, you have to solve your assignment by yourself and you can’t rely on anybody. The way you PROCEED , the method you use, or even the manner you present, these are all your work and you have to choose how BEST to PROCEED. This process gives you not only many experiences but also the confidenCE to make your decisions in the future. Moreover, you can manage your time better when you work by yourself. You can do your work any time that is best for you and you also don’t have to depend on others to have only an agreement. You can schedule your work, include your timetable and only follow your plan. That will save your time a lot.

From my experience, working individualLY always gave me success. I was an introverted person, so I sometimes had complexES about myself, especially when I worked with others. But when I did my final project in university, I did many experiments in THE lab by myself and I realized that I could do my work much better than I had thought when I worked in groups. I also felt very confident about my knowledge. Working alone gave me a chance to discover my own ability and many experiences to solve problems that are not only in research but also in my own life.

As I mentioned at the beginning, working alone or working in a group, each gives you its own advantages. You can choose which is better for you. But to me, working individually always PROVIDES the best choice. It is the way I improve my own ability and have more and more success.

Test Resources

TOEFL® Resources by Michael Goodine

Sample toefl paired choice essay, the question.

Some students prefer to study and do homework alone. Others prefer to study and work on class assignments with a group of fellow students. Which do you prefer? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

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The Sample Essay

Everyone has their own favorite study methods, and all of them have specific benefits. I am of the opinion that it is better to study alone than to study as part of a group. I feel this way for two main reasons, which I will explore in the following essay.

First of all, studying alone helps us to focus on specific areas that we are struggling with, rather than doing a broad overview of subjects. Diligent students always attend classes and communicate regularly with their professors and teachers, so they are constantly aware of which topics they need to focus on when they study. When people study in a group, everyone in the group has different needs, and the study session is required to touch on all of them. My own experience is a compelling example of this. As a freshman four years ago, I was not aware of the aforementioned drawback and found myself wasting my time studying in a group for an important European history exam. I knew that I really needed to focus on religious history, but sat uncomfortably through a group study session that progressed through political, cultural, scientific, literary and artistic history before touching only briefly on the issue of religion. As a result, I performed worse on the test than I would have if I had just studied alone.

Furthermore, when people study in a group they are easily distracted. Many students prefer to socialize rather than study when they get together with their friends and classmates. For instance, in the group I mentioned above not only did I suffer from the fact that we only touched briefly on my problem area, but certain group members (including myself) were easily drawn off-topic. We were quick to make jokes about the material being covered, or make tenuous and meaningless connections between those topics and our own lives. When it came time to take the test, none of us were prepared. Thankfully I have avoided this problem since then as I have decided to always prepare for exams by myself.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that studying alone is better than studying in a group. This is because it allows us to focus on the areas that we need to, and because it helps us to avoid socializing when we should be doing real academic work.

This is a sample TOEFL paired choice essay written by a native speaker. It follows our TOEFL writing templates for independent essays. If you find it useful, please remember that we have many more sample essays for you to read!

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IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.

Ielts writing task 2 sample 624 - discuss the benefits of group study and individual learning, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, some teachers prefer the group study methods for their students while others prefer the individual learning method. which one do you prefer discuss the benefits of group study and individual learning..

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Studying alone or in a group which one do you prefer and why?

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Sentence 1 - Background statement
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Sentence 3 - Thesis
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Sentence 1 - Topic sentence
Sentence 2 - Example
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Sentence 3 - Prediction or recommendation

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Discuss the disadvantages of eating fast food on health. Why do people eat fast food? What can be done to discourage it?

More and more people today are using computers and electronic devices to access information. therefore there is no need to print books, magazines and newspapers. to what extent do you agree or disagree, most people try to balance between work and other part of lives. unfortunately, not many achieve this balance. what are the problems and how can this situation be solved give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience, students should pay the full cost for their own study, because universities education benefits individuals rather than study. to what extent do you agree or disagree, art classes, such as painting and drawing, are as improtant to a child's development as other subjects, so it should be compulsory in high schools. to what extent do you agree or disagree.

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CFP-Istanbul Policy Review invites papers for a special issue titled " Societal Violence – Analyzing the Role and Impact of State and Individual Actions from Legal, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives.".

Call for Papers

Societal Violence – Analyzing the Role and Impact of State and Individual Actions from Legal, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives.

Istanbul Policy Review invites papers for a special issue titled " Societal Violence – Analyzing the Role and Impact of State and Individual Actions from Legal, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives.". The third issue of the Journal aims to cover scholarly debates and research on the contemporary challenges of our times.

Classic definitions of violence in social sciences have influenced social scientists’ work but have also been contested through sociological scholarship extensively. From this perspective, violence is understood as a primitive and last resource form of power that imposes actions over others (bodies and things) who cannot resist them. Thus, societal violence in general may be experienced by anyone and is rooted in discrimination, inequality, and the idea of hegemony, supremacy, arrogance, or superiority as the “natural” status quo, between not only the individuals of the society, but also the States of the international society.

By uncovering societal violence and the ambiguous individual and statal approaches including gendered, physical, psychological, sexual, economical, oral, domestic, workplace ones and many more that have led it to be considered a tolerable component of life until recent times, this special issue examines how and if violence, in its different forms and through its various means, is an expression of power and control over bodies and minds and affects health. In this context, the State has a critical role in combating, eradicating, and preventing, but also in perpetrating and perpetuating violence.

Additionally, inter-state violence regarding international politics and relations is also another “post-truth” form of societal violence of our recent times. That has a “post-truth” situational dilemma due to the fact that, while international society is mainly mentioning and emphasizing the critical importance of global peace and stability, then the same international society plays the “three-monkeys” regarding many international crisis, armed violences, intransigences, disputes, namely in short all sorts of conflicts and wars between different societies of the world.

This special issue encourages an evaluation, and reevaluation, of state obligations in protecting rights, preserving values, and achieving social justice through a general perspective, and aims to feature insights from diverse geographical areas, while also providing a comparative analysis of the State’s role in different cultural and political contexts, as both domestically and inter-stately.

Articles may address a wide range of topics related to societal violence and the role of the individual and the State in this manner, including, but not limited to:

Societal violence and legal frameworks
Law enforcement and judicial responses to societal violence
Policies addressing societal violence
Societal violence and the impact of cultural and societal norms
Societal violence and intersectionality
State, education, and awareness in preventing societal violence
Societal violence, the State, and the influence of technology and social media
State and social support systems and services
International perspectives on and responses to societal violence, including asymmetric threats such as terrorism, cyber-space, international irregular migration, radical political trends, social media violence, violence originating from computer world, and so forth.

Deadline for full paper submissions: 01 Decembre 2024

Publication date: Februray 2025

For queries, please get in touch with the editors:

Assoc. Prof. Dr Zeynep Banu Dalaman, Istanbul Topkapi University, Türkiye

Asst. Prof. Dr. Gökhan Ak, Istanbul Topkapı University, Türkiye

E-mail: [email protected] ; [email protected]

Web: https://journals.tplondon.com/ipr/

Inference for Local Projections

Òscar Jordà

Atsushi Inoue

Guido M. Kuersteiner

Download PDF (531 KB)

2024-29 | August 19, 2024

Inference for impulse responses estimated with local projections presents interesting challenges and opportunities. Analysts typically want to assess the precision of individual estimates, explore the dynamic evolution of the response over particular regions, and generally determine whether the impulse generates a response that is any different from the null of no effect. Each of these goals requires a different approach to inference. In this article, we provide an overview of results that have appeared in the literature in the past 20 years along with some new procedures that we introduce here.

Suggested citation:

Inoue, Atsushi, Òscar Jordà, and Guido M. Kuersteiner. 2024. “Inference for Local Projections.” Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Working Paper 2024-29. https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2024-29

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W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency Over New Mpox Outbreak

The epidemic is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but the virus has now appeared in a dozen other African countries.

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A health worker in a yellow gown, a white mask and a blue hairnet holds a sealed plastic bag containing samples in a makeshift laboratory space in a tent.

By Apoorva Mandavilli

The rapid spread of mpox, formerly called monkeypox, in African countries constitutes a global health emergency, the World Health Organization declared on Wednesday.

This is the second time in three years that the W.H.O. has designated an mpox epidemic as a global emergency. It previously did so in July 2022. That outbreak went on to affect nearly 100,000 people , primarily gay and bisexual men, in 116 countries, and killed about 200 people.

The threat this time is deadlier. Since the beginning of this year, the Democratic Republic of Congo alone has reported 15,600 mpox cases and 537 deaths. Those most at risk include women and children under 15.

“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern D.R.C., its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the W.H.O.’s director general.

The outbreak has spread through 13 countries in Africa, including a few that had never reported mpox cases before. On Tuesday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared a “public health emergency of continental security,” the first time the organization has taken that step since the African Union granted it the power to do so last year.

“It’s in the interests of the countries, of the continent and of the world to get our arms around this and stop transmission as soon as we can,” said Dr. Nicole Lurie, the executive director for preparedness and response at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a nonprofit that finances vaccine development.

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Team Efficiency: Group Work vs. Individual Work In their experiment, participants — both individuals and groups — were given a real-world problem of assigning students to dorm rooms.
Teamwork vs. Individual Work: Definitions and 8 Differences
Teamwork vs. individual work: 8 key differences. Key differences between teamwork and individual work include: 1. Collaboration. Collaborating with team members can be beneficial to your work environment by building stronger relationships through shared experiences and cooperative efforts. Working closely with other people can help you approach ...
Working in a Group
Advantages of working in a group. Firstly, working in a group fosters an environment for learning since the individuals can learn from the experiences and expertise of each other. They learn different ways of approaching issues from his colleagues (Duch, 2000). Managers working in groups get more insight in solving problems as they interact ...
Guide: Working in Groups
Working in a group can be enjoyable or frustrating--sometimes both. The best way to ensure a good working experience in groups is to think hard about whether a project is best done in a group, and, if so, to have a clear set of expectations about group work. ... While in individual papers, many of us frequently "write to find a point," this is ...
Enhancing the Effectiveness of Work Groups and Teams: A Reflection
Psychologists have studied small groups for well over 60 years. Much of that research was initially conducted by social psychologists who were interested in how individual behavior was influenced by the group context and in factors that influenced interpersonal processes and group behavior (McGrath, 1964).For example, early work focused on power and social influence, social forces that bond ...
PDF Individual Writing Versus Group Writing
regardingindividual and group writing. I came to find that 9 out of 1. of the students have written a certaintype of group assignment an. 8 out of 11 prefer individua. work independently due to the fact that they either had a bad experience in the past or that they.
Is it better to work individually or in a team? (A guide)
Individual work benefits. Here are some of the benefits of working individually: Manage your time more easily. Working independently allows you to easily manage your time as you approach your tasks at your own pace. With this style, there's no requirement to check with your colleagues before proceeding with your work.
PDF WS Group Essays Handout
This handout offers strategies for successful collaborative essay writing and provides advice for how to address the challenges of writing a group paper. Tips for Writing a Group Essay. Keep these thoughts in mind before the first group meeting and throughout the collaborative writing process. Identify individual strengths/weaknesses.
The Pros and Cons of Working Independently
The cons 1. You could get lonely. There is a certain buzz to a large office or team that is hard to replicate anywhere else. One of the most important elements of collaborative work — and something which has been further investigated since the rise of remote working associated with the pandemic — is the importance of socialisation.Humans, no matter how extroverted or introverted they are ...
Group Work vs. Individual work
Um. If that's what the distinction between individual work and group work were like, it would be a lot easier to set up—and a lot harder to get any benefits from. Some classes may benefit from a larger emphasis on one of these tactics or the other, but we're guessing some sort of blend is going to be the best bet in most cases.
Do you prefer to work independently or on a team? 7 sample answers
That's why on obvious answer " I prefer to work on a team " is not always your best choice. You should read the job description carefully, and think whether you'll spend most of your time in work alone, or surrounded by people. And you should also elaborate on your answer, explaining why you prefer one option or the other.
TOEFL essay: Working individually or working in groups
Topic : working individually or working in groups Answer: When you have a project or an assignment, how do you want to solve it? Many choices you can choose such as doing it with your friends or your partners, or solving it by yourself. Each choices has its advantages. From my experiences, working alone is better for me because it gives me success and the chance to be more confidently on ...
Some people like to work in teams
In this essay, I will discuss how the mother and father's influence is crucial on an offspring, but generally, mother's have the most responsibility in the child's upbringing and spend most of the time with them. 7.5. band. Some people believe that good teamwork is what makes companies successful.
Sample TOEFL Paired Choice Essay
The Sample Essay. Everyone has their own favorite study methods, and all of them have specific benefits. I am of the opinion that it is better to study alone than to study as part of a group. I feel this way for two main reasons, which I will explore in the following essay. First of all, studying alone helps us to focus on specific areas that ...
IELTS essay Do you prefer to work in a group or work individually?
Both have advantages and disadvantages. But I believe the benefits of working in a group are much more than working individually. I feel this way for the following reasons, which I will explore in the following essay. First of all, it is worth considering Second, when it comes to addressing the problem, teamwork enables us to produce effective ...
Some people like to work in teams
Many people believe that the educational system does not provide enough professional skills required at future work, so that students are focused on memorizing unnecessary facts. This essay agrees with the importance of getting a practical training during studying and supports reallocating time from theoretical classes to exploring real-life cases.
Some people enjoy working alone
It is irrefutable, these days people have plenty of medical issues because of inactive lifestyles; I agree this statement sedentary lifestyles leads to health problems, even though there are other reasons also considered to be bring health issues. This essay discusses it briefly for the following reasons. 4.5. band.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Working Alone Essay
Working alone usually need one opinion to be use for doing work. For example, you have a simple task. You don't need to collect any other opinion to complete the task and it is wasting time to collect. I suggest to use your own opinion to complete easy task. However working alone have some disadvantages too.
IELTS Writing Task 2/ Essay Topics with sample answer.
Write at least 250 words. Model Answer 1: Methods of learning are important factors in the learning process. Some teachers feel that studying in a group is more beneficial than individual learning while some other groups of teachers have a different opinion. This essay examines the advantages of individual study and group study.
Opinion
The current system is largely designed to favor those who have family ties here: namely, spouses, parents and adult children who are U.S. citizens and spouses and children of lawful permanent ...
Matthew Perry's Assistant and Doctors Charged With Getting Him Ketamine
Matthew Perry's personal assistant, two doctors and two others have been indicted and charged with providing the ketamine that caused the death of Mr. Perry, a star on the television show ...
Studying alone or in a group which one do you prefer and why?
Studying is an essential factor for learning and increasing knowledge in every aspect, and it will cause a more successful life. It is usually done individually or in groups. I prefer to. study. in order to learn better in groups. In my opinion, group. study. has more advantages than individual learning.
CFP-Istanbul Policy Review invites papers for a special issue titled
Call for Papers Societal Violence - Analyzing the Role and Impact of State and Individual Actions from Legal, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives.Istanbul Policy Review invites papers for a special issue titled " Societal Violence - Analyzing the Role and Impact of State and Individual Actions from Legal, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives.".
Task Force for American Democracy
Background. American democracy is under threat. The facts are sobering: In a recent Pew study, 51% of Americans said they are dissatisfied with how democracy is working and 46% said they are open to other forms of government, including rule by a strong leader. Less than one third of Millennials consider it essential to live in a democracy.
Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025
Donald J. Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of ...
Inference for Local Projections
Inference for impulse responses estimated with local projections presents interesting challenges and opportunities. Analysts typically want to assess the precision of individual estimates, explore the dynamic evolution of the response over particular regions, and generally determine whether the impulse generates a response that is any different from the null of no effect. Each of these goals ...
W.H.O. Declares Global Emergency Over New Mpox Outbreak
On Aug. 9, the W.H.O. invited vaccine manufacturers to apply for an emergency use listing, a prerequisite for international groups such as Gavi, a global vaccine alliance, to purchase and ...