Team Production vs Individual Production

At one of my previous job positions, the contribution of a group of individuals produced more effective and efficient output than the contribution of the individuals themselves. There was 10-12 of us working identical, front-line positions in the office earning the same hourly wage. With the type of substantial projects our managers assigned in order to offer services to a diverse population, we needed each other’s help. Typically, our team progressed towards a common goal with each project, all the while completing our own individual, specialized tasks. Cooperation and communication were the two most important elements in completing the larger, collective duties. Weekly meetings, e-mail updates, and an understanding on how to collaborate aided in fulfilling deadlines and objectives.

The main endeavors that required the most collective work revolved around large events and programs where everyone needed to contribute in order for the organization to pull it off. Particular tasks did not need any sort of specialized skills to complete; therefore, since everyone had the ability to accomplish the bulk of the preparations it was easy to hand off responsibilities. This sometimes created problems of tracking who did what. Organization of which employee contributed to what task was probably the most difficult endeavor to pinpoint for our managers, as monitoring us was not always possible. This also allowed certain individuals to be credited for some projects they only worked an hour on. On the other hand, others working on the same project contributed their entire shifts to try and complete it. Unless the managers specifically assigned an individual to finish the assignment, whoever is in the office at the time and completes it is usually credited, despite the number of people working on it before.

This also gets complicated when something goes wrong or there are mistakes found in the work. Sometimes we cannot backtrack unless responsibility is taken and another individual who was doing a majority of the project mistake-free has to go back and fix what was messed up. Not being able to distinguish individual contributions can make motivation for completing large tasks difficult. But being able to filter certain decisions down to all the employees, allowing us to participate in the decision-making process. This enables us to feel that our opinions actually matter.

In regards to the opinion article, “How to Get the Rick to Share the Marbles,” there were a few concepts that I believed coincided with my experience. While my co-workers and I are not monetarily compensated based on our performance, as we are contracted to an hourly-wage, our version of “share-the-spoils” is employee recognition. If everyone does their “fair share” and pulls on the rope just as hard as everyone else, everyone deserves credit and recognition.