Human is a social animal. We all enjoy it when we have people around us. When we have people around us we have someone to talk to, to share our feelings and opinions, to discuss something or the other. But how to cope up when we are alone or a team of one?
As human being, we need social support in whatever task we’re doing. If you remember, during our school and college days we use to make group study plans.
We would actually enjoy studying with our friends though sometimes it was more of a gossip and fun session rather than studying whenever it was serious it was much better than individual studying.
If we take the current example, most of the offices have accepted work from home culture due to the pandemic situation. During this, we have heard a lot of complaints that the employees productivity has gone down.
Although there are other reasons also to it, one of the reasons is that the work environment is not available. We do not enjoy working alone. It is a psychological phenomenon that acts in.
Types of Work Teams
In the corporate world, you get to see two types of work teams one is where there are a large number of people all working in the same direction. Here you get the opportunity to do the work more effectively and efficiently by having discussions on the project getting proper support and guidance.
On the other hand, the other type of team which you get is a team of one. Hhere all the work pressure is on you and you have to cope up as you are the only one responsible for all the work.
WHAT’S IN IT
Drawbacks of Having a Team of One Person
In the work environment of a team of one, the person might feel isolated and alone firstly. It may be highly productive as there will be more focus on not only work but also on growth. But, sooner it may lead to a decrease in productivity. There can be many reasons behind this such as-
- Observation of anything from only one perspective.
- Lack of creative and innovative ideas.
- Lack of learning and skill development because of no competition in the group.
- Limited ability to work up to a certain time per day.
- Nobody to provide suggestion or help during unknown errors.
- No option to delegate the work to any other person.
- Possibility of physical or mental exhaustion due to work overload.
Thus it becomes very important for the person to cope up with such a work environment and work effectively and efficiently even if you are a team of one.
How to cope up when you are a team of one?
Well, below we have mentions eight ways to cope up when you are a team of one.
1. Engage with Others
Generally, it is observed that a person working as a team of one is treated separately from the organization. Though is a part of the organization but is often ignored. Many times it happens that not all people know him as a part of the organization apart from the people who pass on the work and check the progress.
Due to this, the person feels isolated. In such type of situation what a person should do is that he should try to communicate more and more with his co-workers to cope up. Also, he should involve himself in healthy discussions with other members and management personals.
He should try to be part of the parties and meetings that take place in the organization. With this what will happen is other people in the organisation will realise his presence and not only this they can engage in healthy conversations and get socially connected.
2. Make Your Voice Heard
Generally, a person working as a team of one is not given much importance and is treated as an outsider or even if not treated, the person starts feeling as if he is one. The only solution to this can be to get noticed. Getting noticed is not much of a difficult task.
You can get noticed by being the best at your work and also getting rewards for it in the form of an employee of the month, getting yourself recognition in the companies newsletter, passing your suggestions and ideas to the upper-level management.
Apart from this one thing that you should not agree with all things that managers say, you should have your own opinions and requests. Furthermore, if you are given over workload you should have the courage to say “NO” like a regular employee.
3. Seek Help
As an individual, you cannot be perfect at everything obviously. There may be times where you can also get stuck in different areas of work. But, you can always use this as an opportunity. This can help you in building new relations or getting your relationship stronger with the managers and also with the other members of the organisation.
Similarly, there can be many instances where you can offer help to other members and managers and guide them. This will again help you get noticed and be recognized by others. It might be a bit difficult if you are an introvert. But once you initiate to help somebody from your side, you will get comfortable after getting their positive response.
4. Develop Your Professional Skills
Owning a skill and developing a skill are two different things. Basically, learning is a never-ending process and you should always involve yourself to learn something new every day. It does not matter that you work in a group of people or you are a team of one. Always take lessons from your mistakes and the feedbacks of your top management or clients so that you can keep growing.
As incorporates many times it happens that the company conducts many workshops and seminars for the development of the employee. But since you are working as a team of one, it may be possible that you miss upon them just because you had too much of workload, or the company did not consider you in the invitation.
At this, you can take your own responsibility for your own development. Also, you should try participating in various events and seminars. Apart from this, you should try to learn new things and gain some new knowledge to cope up. You can also do various courses related to your field which will help you sharpen your skills and knowledge.
5. Sharpen Your Creative thinking
One of the major issues people might face to cope up being a team of one person is the lack of creative ideas. Every person has a limit to find new ideas or thinking deeply about a specific topic. The simple logic is that a single brain has its own tendency and a group of people will think in more than one direction.
The collective suggestions of various minds can give a better perspective to make a strategy, develop a product, or solve any problem. It might be possible that you are very creative already. But if you face the issue of creative block, you can break it by brainstorming or by getting more and more inspiration from outside.
You can read about the companies or individuals who are doing something creative or attractive in their domain. Stay updated with the news so that you can know about the latest trends and analyze them to open up your mind to think more creatively.
6. Manage Your Time Effectively
Time is the most constantly running and unstoppable entity in the world. If you couldn’t use it effectively, you have lost it forever. Whether you work in a team or alone, you must understand the value of every second. It is not about how much time you spent at your workplace, it is about how much output you provided with your presence.
The more effectively you manage your time, the more efficiently you will finish your tasks. It helps you to cope up if you are alone. Moreover, you get an opportunity to spend that time with your family or learn more things for self-development.
Many people compromise the quality of the job to save time and deliver it earlier. It is one of the worst things that you can do to your management or your clients. Delivering every job before the deadline creates a great impact and enhances your chances of becoming a priority for any task.
7. Stay Focused
If you are a team of one, it could be both an advantage or a disadvantage for you in terms of focus. The advantage is that there is nobody else with you to distract you from your work so that you can concentrate and dedicate your time to a particular task.
On the other hand, working alone could be a disadvantage as there is nobody to guide you if you get stuck at a point or unable to find the solution to an error easily. These type of incidents sometimes give rise to frustration and you might lose your focus completely.
Laziness is also another reason to go out of track and deviate from the path that you need to follow. This is the major cause of procrastination which is not at all a good quality of a good team member. You should always keep the focus on performing the most important tasks immediately.
Self-discipline is the key to stay focused and if you can follow a schedule consistently for quite a long time, you become habitual of things and it drives you into an autosuggestion mode. If you develop this quality in yourself, you can perform your daily tasks very quickly.
8. Take Care of Your Health and Safety
One of the most important mistakes that most people commit is that they ignore their health over their work. You should understand that your health should be your priority over everything. Whether you have to perform a physical job or work remotely, you have to be physically and mentally fit for the respective performance.
You should always avoid taking stress because it always affects your concentration and productivity. Whenever you are at the workplace, don’t let your stress ruin your workflow. Always stay calm and you will be able to cope up and achieve the heights of growth.
Conclusion
People always believe that teamwork is very important in any organization and coordination among all the team members is the best quality to perform any task flawlessly. But, it doesn’t mean that you cannot perform well if you are a team of one. If you are multitalented, the only thing that you may lack is the availability of time.
If you are an introvert and hesitate to talk to people, it might be difficult for you sometimes to seek help as well as make your voice heard in a group. On the other hand, you are free to take any decision, execute and manage the projects according to your vision
It is important to stay physically and mentally healthy because you are the only team leader who has to handle everything. So, keep your mind free from stress and anxiety.
Always be ready to learn new things and welcome new opportunities. You might have a bunch of skills but you have to decide which qualities are your friend and which are your enemies. This will help to cope up if even you are a team of one.
Also you can read our blog on Avoid Burnout – Maintaining a Healthy, Successful Career