On Teamwork

Having completed my previous education in the United States, the land embracing both individualism and individuality, I must admit that I initially met the idea of group work with resistance. In my previous school, talking with your classmates about grades was a taboo, yet, grades were often curved (i.e. you knew where you stand in terms of your classmates). Thus, competition (especially for the ambitious types like me) was inevitable. Here, most of my professors ask to do all class assignments in pairs or in groups of three. I had two objections: first, if your partner happens not to be as interested in the subject as you are, you end up doing more work and second, this remains unknown.

Now after more than twenty different partnerships, I have come to appreciate the positive aspects of teamwork. Don’t get me wrong – I must say that in more than half of them, my first concern was justified. Yet, going through the experience and observing interpersonal and group dynamics has been quite instructive. After all, this is exactly what I am studying at UU! So here are my conclusions:

(Disclaimer: No scientific value in what follows.)

1. People naturally reorganize in groups according to skills, interests and motivation. Although low-level performers would benefit from pairing up with top performers, this does not happen that often.

2. Reputation spreads fast. Really fast. It also often turns out to be true.

3. Bad reputation spreads faster than good reputation.

4. Forced group work may be a powerful tool to build a sense of community.