To Team or Not to Team

     After careful decision, I have decided to work with Alex on my final portfolio project this year. I've found him to be the perfect partner to work with because of many qualities. One of these is how well he can capture moments on camera. When doing the "Social Media Peer Account" activity this week I was able to see what pictures he put out on social media and what those tell me. Most of them were pictures he had taken himself of scenery or other people and which were very good quality and used nice angles. Since we had already knew each for awhile I've also seen other photos he's taken off social media and some he's taken for me both of which also demonstrated his skill with cameras. I think this makes him a good partner to work with on our portfolio film project because if we want a well-put together film we need to be able to capture the scene throughly. In the other activity, "Lost at Sea" we both compared our answers and found that they were similar in what we thought were the most and least important items. I think this is a good thing because it shows that while we may differ in specifics, we still have the same core ideals in what's needed most and least. 

 

    When reading the article, "Team building and group dynamics: creating and fostering a culture of teamwork requires trust, collaboration, and accountability." I was brought up with other characteristics good for team collaboration. Accountability and Collaboration were two of the most important qualities in building Darci Kleindl's Microsoft Business Solutions team. I can very much see both of these qualities in Alex which works well especially in a duo project. Accountability is especially needed because if I am unable to work on a certain part or I miss a day of class that is vital into developing our project, I know I can rely on him to do his part and help with mine. The second quality, collaboration is also a vital thing to have for any group project and is something I believe we both can do. We have both worked on projects together before and gotten good grades and experience working together on them so collaboration is not an issue. As for weaknesses I would say Alex can sometimes be unmotivated to do his work. However, I think the fact that I'm also taking the class is a big help because I often remind him about assignments due and to get working on them. Being a determined person myself helps him in that I encourage and constantly bother him to get his work done. On the other hand, one of my biggest weaknesses is how I over analyze things. I think with such a huge project I could get caught up in my thought process and how things need to look. So, having Alex to also work on the project would help me look at the film in a less complicated view. 

    While the idea of working alone was tempting, I decided working in a pair would ultimately be better. Even though most people including myself would probably believe working together in a group would produce better results this isn't necessarily the case. In the 2nd article I read this week, "Songwriting loafing or creative collaboration?: A comparison of individual and team written billboard hits in the USA. " the author studied whether songwriters produce better music together or as a group. She concluded by the end of her investigation that in Billboard's Top 100 from the years 1955-2009 both individual songwriters and groups were ranked equally as successful. Taking this into account, I was very conflicted as to whether I wanted to still work by myself in the beginning but I reevaluated both my own strengths and weaknesses and Alex's. The author, Pettijohn, of the 2nd article also mentions a common occurrence in group dynamics is loafing, which basically means slacking off. This was also a concern of mine because Alex and I do tend to get off track sometimes but it is a risk I am willing to take because I think if we both get serious about the project we can produce a fantastic film.