Some of the advantages of working in individual are discussed below. The work plan for the work totally depends upon the individual himself\herself, there is no interference in their work, they can change their way of doing the task according to their will, so the work is done by an individual in a flexible way. The work done by an individual is also self motivated and not reliable on others. S\He may take some of the ideas from various sources like, ideas from the intellectuals, journals, books, newspapers, etc. but the main theme or the idea of the work is always of the individual himself\herself. Work done individually also consumes less time as s\he has the right to decide the things to be included in the work and may not have to waste time in discussing with others. Going through some of the disadvantages, individuals, unlike in group may have less idea for the work so the limited idea may lead to the failure of the work. Again, there are more chances of error in an individual’s work as s\he is the only one to analyze the work whether it is good or bad. S\He is the single person to bear all the burdens of the work as the work cannot be divided which will obviously be very tiring and sometimes this may lead to lack of interest in doing the task.
Bratton et al (2007) describes work group as,”two or more people who are in face-to-face interaction, each aware of their membership in the group, and striving to accomplish assigned work task” (p.299). Going through the above definition, we can acknowledge that in a group work the members are to be in regular contact and should always interact with each other. They should try to accomplish the given task in a cooperative manner. The group members should also know about each and every member in their group and should respect each other’s ideas. They should try to acknowledge the fact that single members’ fault may lead to the problem in the whole group. In a group work, the ideas, experiences, knowledge, skills, etc. are shared among each other and discussed to come along with a good conclusion which is a time consuming process but is very effective. The members can also share the workloads among themselves and lessen their burden of the work. Motivation to do the work is the most in a group work, so each and every member should be motivated towards achieving the best result for their task.
Generally, there are two types of group i.e., formal and informal group. Formal groups are created for the accomplishment of the specific goal of the task. Here, the group structures are clearly defined, the tasks performed are clearly delineated and the group has the specific purpose for its formation. This kind of group lasts throughout the work period and has the same members. Informal groups are created from the social interaction of the group members themselves. It arises to satisfy the needs of its individual members. It does not have clearly defined structures. This kind of group only lasts for short time and its members may vary at each time. So, formal groups are created for the specific purpose whereas the informal group is created to fulfill the social needs of the group members.
Working in groups may lead to better decision as the decision is made through the discussion among the group members. All the experience, knowledge, ideas, skills, information, etc are gathered from the group members and a conclusion is drawn from them which are obvious to provide with a good outcome which will lessen the chances of error in the work. These are some of the advantages of working in a group; on the other hand, there is a chance of conflict among the group members which may arise due to misunderstanding among the members. These kinds of conflicts may lead to the deformation of the group and the goal to be achieved may be in vain. Working in group is also time consuming as each and every members of the group are to be satisfied to come to a decision which is very tedious and time consuming. It is also very hard to change the way or the working style in a group so a group may not have the flexibility like in an individual’s work. These are some of the disadvantages of working in a group.
The performance of the group may vary according to the nature of the group, group size and its type, the type of task and the knowledge, ideas, skills of the individuals in the group. The performance of the group members can be improved through group dynamics; this is a long process but is very effective for good outcome. According to Bratton et al (2007),“group dynamics is the systematic study of the human behavior in groups including, the nature of groups, group development, and the inter relations between individuals and groups, other groups, and other elements of formal organizations.” (p.302). According to Bennett, (1997),”group dynamics investigates how power and authority structures, communication systems and intra-group conflict emerge.”(p.163). Thus, it is the study of the individual behavior in a group, it relates with the group size, cohesion, roles, norms, leadership, and the development stages. Group dynamics is very useful in the development of the skills of the group members and it is useful to get good result. Group cohesion is also another important factor for the effective formation of the group. It encourages conformity to group norms and causes groups to be stable in their behavior. So it one of the important factor in group to make all the members cooperative in their work. The group should pass through these developmental stages as developed by Tuckman and Jensen for the improved performance.
Bruce Tuckman and Jensen’s five stage cycle of group development model: (Bratton et al, 2007,p.304-305)
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Forming (pretending to get on or get along with others);
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Storming (letting down the politeness barrier and trying to get down to the issues even if tempers flare up );
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Norming (getting used to each other and developing trust and productivity);
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Performing (working in a group to a common goal on a highly efficient and cooperative
basis);
- Adjourning (group’s disbandment or individuals leaving the group and being
replaced by others).
These stages of group development are very important if a group wants to succeed. These stages provides a guideline to the group members which will help in the formation of the group till the end of the group when the members are about to leave the group.
Going through all the advantages and disadvantages of group and individual we can get the view that individual work is best reliable for short span task and group work for the long span task. Whereas, the performance of both the individual and group depends upon the qualities, experience, knowledge, ideas, skills, information received, etc. The time span and the type of work provided may also bring a difference in the performance. If the time span for the task is short, than working individually will be better because it involves less time keeping in regard that s\he has all the abilities and motivation to work. Again, if the task has longer time span than it is better to go through group work as the training in group dynamics may lead to good outcome. The performance of the individual and group also differs according to the rewards and the appreciation they get from the work they are doing. The aim or the target of the task provided may also make a difference in the performance of the individuals and group members. The performance of the individuals and the group members should be effective not only efficient. An effective performance will only lead to good result if the performance is only efficient than the result is obvious to be a bad one. So, the standard of the performance should be good which can be made by group dynamics in group work and the ability to work in an individual work.
In conclusion, although the efficiency and effectiveness of the work is dependent upon the abilities or qualities of the individual himself/herself and the group members, the performance always differs according to the knowledge, ideas, skills, experience, etc. and the most important thing is that they should be motivated to do the appointed tasks. Thus, there is no guarantee that an individual or group will complete task more efficiently or effectively. Both of them can perform better if they have the qualities to perform the work in a better way and is motivated to do the assigned task, and training in group dynamics is obvious to increase standard of the group performance in the long term as it includes all the factors like group development, group cohesion. Thus, no one can decide whether the individual or the group will perform better until and unless their abilities and qualities are known.
References:-
Bennett, R. (1997) Organizational Behaviour, 3rd edition, Pitman.
Bratton J, Callinan M, Forshaw C and Sawchuk P (2007) Work and Organisational Behaviour, Palgrave.
Buchanan, D. and Huczynski, A. (1997) Organizational Behaviour: Integrated Readings, Prentice Hall Europe.
Fincham, R. and Rhodes, P.S. (1992) The individual, work and organization, 2nd edition, Butler and Tanner
(2 November 2007) (Accessed 01 Dec. 2007)
Manz C. C and Neck C P (1995) Teamthink: beyond the groupthink syndrome in self-managing work teams, Journal of Managerial Psychology, vol 10, no 1, pp7-15
