THE PROBLEM WITH WORKING ALONE

“Coming together is the beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success” – Henry Ford. 

Some people believe that working alone signifies strength. There is a place for being recognized as someone who has achieved a remarkable feat. However, working with a group of people always produces the best result for sustainable success. Many successful people in the world today worked with other people in teams. The strength of unity and cooperation can achieve a lot more than a lone ranger. An American investor, George Shinn, once said that there are no self-made men; instead, one reaches his goal with the help of others. Here are some reasons why working alone is problematic.

LIMITED PRODUCTIVITY

When you work alone, what you can achieve is limited because of your limited abilities and knowledge. You have only one perspective to developing an idea as opposed to working with other people. When more people bring diverse ideas or different perspectives to the table, they help create the concept better. Different and varied opinions from various individuals will undoubtedly lead to a more significant success if there is a good organization, unlike when the thoughts come from one person alone.

LIMITED ACCURACY AND EFFICIENCY

Another monumental problem of working alone is that it reduces accuracy, efficiency, and performance. Let’s say B2SL wants to host a party, and only one moderator oversees the planning, looking for the venue, choosing the dress code, organizing entertainment, refreshments, and other activities. It will be complicated for this person to plan perfectly and accurately. But if all the moderators have specific duties, we see that the performance would be optimum because everyone’s skill is at work. The rate at which two or more people do a job is higher than that of one person doing the same thing.  Working as a group or with others brings division of labor which improves efficiency and performance.

MONOTONY

Monotony means a lack of interest and a variety of tedious routines and repetition. When a person does things alone, a point will come when he would be stressed out and bored of the job. But if there is a division of labor, there will be little or no stress. Just think about the idea of one person doing a job that ought to be done by three different people. It will only take some time before the stress comes. There is more fulfillment when there is teamwork since each team member works to progress that same aim. As the saying goes, variety is the spice of life. So, when there are diverse ideas and more hands and minds working for a particular goal, stress, and boredom are eliminated.

LOSS OF FOCUS

When you work alone, you may quickly lose focus, deviate from your original plan, or get discouraged because you have no team members to encourage you. The energy that others bring into the team can inspire you to bring out your best and help you focus on your goal. The truth is, achieving things all by yourself is not an easy task, and you must look for ways to bring other people into your work for a smoother ride to success.

Let’s endeavor to work in teams for more success. As Helen Keller said, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Victoria Aiyedusho and Noble Uzoagba are post secondary school students in Nigeria. They are dedicated to success in their academics and future career. They are members of B2SL Success Hub.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][/vc_column][/vc_row]