Ahead of commencing our group projects that will occupy much of our time for the rest of the semester’s duration, our workshop class had a really valuable conversation today on the importance of effective collaboration. What exactly does this mean and how can it be achieved? It’s highly fundamental to the success of the group project that each member understands early on the overall objective and how we need to work – both autonomously and as part of a team – to create and achieve the highest standard of work possible.
Collaborating in teams on projects of all sorts is central to working in the media industry. It is such an industry that is creative itself, and therefore you are going to be exposed to many creative types with varying personality traits. As a creative individual, I can appreciate that we are often highly strung, emotional, bold, quirky, eccentric, passionate and driven people. While these traits can be highly conducive to creating cutting edge and exiting work, during the process to realise this end product there is much potential for conflict and tension to arrive when working in a group-based work environment.
When collaborating it is so important for everyone to fixate their attention on the following to understand and exercise the best methods of collaboration (and to reap their benefits) possible:
the group’s goal;
listening to others and not just yourself;
sustaining concentration on what the task is;
allowing everyone to have a voice;
allowing everyone to “meet in the middle” and understand and empathise with the needs and wants of one another;
participate equally;
bond over an unrelated task;
establish a solid and reliable means of communication;
constantly progress forward; and
realise there is always potential for failure.
Looking to these key areas of focus, I need to work hard to not request too much of everyone’s attention (as I am conscious that this is something I potentially do more than I intend to). I think I like to be heard and, while this isn’t necessarily a negative thing, I need to balance it out with allowing others to have a voice.
It is somewhat ironic as I am actually an introverted individual. Often people mistake me for being an extrovert, which is a suggested component of my Myer Brigg’s personality prototype (INFJ – which make up less than 1% of the population). The reason for this miscalculate, I believe, lies in that the true meaning of being an introvert and extrovert aren’t really properly understood at all.
Our society understands (or assumes) introverts to be closed-off, quiet and reclusive individuals with little capacity to engage with different people (especially with those that they don’t know). On the other hand, living in one extraverted world, we privilege the idea that extroverts are more open, bold, friendly, gregarious and even confident. There is a stark contrast often drawn between the two that I personally don’t agree with it at all. I consider myself a people person, love meeting and connecting with different walks of life and am constantly making friends. Yet I am still an introvert because I am selective in how I choose to do this and still require down time to “re-charge” my batteries.
It is also interesting how we perceive ourselves in comparison to how others see us. Often those who identify as being extroverted I, personally, your despite the fact that often these traits are far more heavily associated with extroversion rather than introversion.
It’s a valuable exercise to understand our own traits, our preference for working with others and the impact that being either introverted or extroverted has because it heavily effects your relationships with others. As I said, I love building long-lasting and genuine friendships and am certainly a people person. But I don’t see the sense in talking for the sake of it and require a conversation that has purpose. I also crave time for myself to re-energise and shut down if I am denied this. Earlier this year I travelled overseas with a friend who claims to be extroverted. I felt as though they needed to be around me constantly and were very, very easily (and personally) offended if I wanted to take time out for myself. To me being alone sometimes is such a central part of travelling and, as it is, my day to day life. There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong way to go about it. But, still, it is highly valuable to appreciate the different approaches that people will likely take when collaborating with one another as per their personalities and traits.
