Successful Collaboration: Trust is the main ingredient
I was recently involved in a group project with @_iGeekGirl_ , @Lynn_Pyke and @ladylibrifrom for LIBR559M. In the end, I thought our group was a great example of successful collaboration. Everyone took on a task and completed it by the deadline. There was also a lot of positive communication. My Gmail ‘conversations’ show that 7o emails were sent between the four of us just regarding that project. If someone needed some help, whoever else was online at the time seemed able to cheerfully ‘pick up the slack’. This positive experience has led me to wonder, what was it about our group that made me feel like it worked so well? After some deliberation I have concluded that the main ingredient was trust.
There are instances when collaboration is not really the most efficient way to get something done. In a column from 2010 David Freedman of Inc. Magazine stated that “The effectiveness of groups, teamwork, collaboration, and consensus is largely a myth.” Freedman goes on to cite research that claimed:
- Groups often breed a false confidence that leads to unsound decisions none of the individuals in the group would have made on their own.
- There is a tendency of people in groups simply to not try as hard as individuals.
- People in groups spend most of their time listening to others rather than thinking on their own.
In my mind, all of three of these points seem valid. I can think of several occasions when groups have served to undermine a project rather than enhance it. However, I still believe our LIBR559M group project went very well and that’s perhaps because, when you look at what we actually did, you’ll see that we largely avoided the pitfalls cited by Freedman.
The main reason we were able to do this was because each one of us trusted the other members of the group implicitly with the task they had been given. We were good at communicating but we didn’t daudle on decisions. As everyone had their own section, each member of the group had to think for themselves and there was no tendency to rely on others to get the work done. So in a fashion, we successfully collaborated by making appropriate decisions individually on when to not to collaborate.
So I have come to the conclusion that trust is the essential part of a well functioning team. Trust that everyone else in the group knows their role and has the ability to execute that role. Trust also that people working alone on part of a project will meet deadlines. And trust, ultimately, that everyone in the group are working toward the same goals.
July 31st, 2011 at 1:10 am
Heya Marty,
I completely agree with you on trust – plus all 4 of you know each other prior to the course. It’s more difficult when everyone in the group is completely new when it comes to working with each other – sometimes it works if the correct personality types are matched and sometimes it doesn’t. =(
July 31st, 2011 at 9:22 am
I pretty much want to echo Felicia’s sentiment on this post. Since the four of us knew each other beforehand and had worked alongside each other during our first semester (even if we didn’t necessarily work together directly), we had some idea of how a group project might go. I agree with you, Marty, in that trust was the key element here, and we were fortunate in that we had had a fair amount of time to develop that trust before the class even started.
July 31st, 2011 at 11:21 am
Great post Marty. It makes me think back to a horrible group experience I had at SLAIS a couple of years ago. Trust was definitely not there. We had two members in particular who did not trust each other, and one that did not trust the rest of the group. That one person therefore effectively sabotaged our group by second guessing every decision and ultimately wanted to do every part of the project herself. I labelled her a ‘micro manager’, but after reading your post I realize she just didn’t have that trust that is necessary when working as a team. And since she second guessed all of our decisions, we learned not to trust her either. So, yes, I think you are bang-on when you say trust is key to a successful group/team collaborative effort.
July 31st, 2011 at 11:23 am
Hi Marty,
Excellent point. However, I would call it faith, not trust; I believed in their abilities when there was no proof. When reflecting on my experience with group members that I didn’t already know, I felt a need to supervise the group’s progress; I hadn’t developed trust in their abilities, yet. I was unfamiliar with their work habits, so I was forced to believe that they would to complete their portion of the work and engage with the rest of the group.
I’m mostly drawing from my experience from undergrad. At SLAIS, it’s easier to give my peers the benefit of the doubt. However, my habits of supervising the groups progress has carried over from undergrad years.
July 31st, 2011 at 6:42 pm
Yay group!
I agree that trust is a big factor. We trust that the other members of the group will put in the effort required to succeed and that they have the skills necessary to do their job. We were lucky in that we were already familiar with each other so we knew a lot of that already. I think the group work discussion list we got in LIBR 501 would was good to get discussion going on the necessary topics for group who don’t already know each other.
I think two other things that are needed for good collaboration which were present in our group was: willingness to compromise and similar goals.
August 3rd, 2011 at 12:34 pm
I do think that trust is an important factor, but we’re also in an environment full of self-motivated, highly involved individuals. Grad students tend to juggle jobs, families, multiple courses, etc. all with an attitude that failure is not an option. Of course, this is not always true, but I have seen that it tends to be the rule more than the exception. It’s easier to trust people when they are working at the top of their game. That’s why I like collaborating in an environment like grad school with like-minded people.