Establishing the balance.

Humans are social creatures. Which is a saying that rings very true, particularly in business environments. What would we be without our networking events, important calls, or meetings? Admitted, not a lot would happen if we didn’t put in all that effort to work together. And yet, if we worked together for everything, you’d probably reach a total standstill soon before long. There is a delicate balance to be found.

The key to success?

We tend to promote individuality as one key to success, which certainly carries a truth. Strongly individualistic people often carry strong opinions and great ideas, and if handled correctly, those plans and ideas can definitely be successful. The downside of individualistic behaviour, however, can be found in executing those plans and ideas. If you want to achieve everything by yourself, you might just bite off more than you can chew, or dive into unexplored waters with low guarantee of success. Interacting with your peers can give you new insights, fresh ideas, and certainly provides a good foundation for getting your work to take off. Remaining stuck in the “I can do it myself”-phase will just hold you back in the long run.

Saving yourself some time.

If you take the interaction a step further, you actually dive into the collaborative part. Accepting others’ input, work, and ideas can be a bit daunting if you’re not used to it. The key here is moderation. Working together can absolutely help you get further, as long as you don’t overdo it. Double-checking, triple-checking, or even quadruple-checking with everyone you work with is not only time-consuming, it’s also just ridiculous if you really think about it. Stick to a single, productive check-up every once in a while to keep standstill to a minimal, and you’ll start seeing the benefits within no time. Needless to say, working together and delegating tasks can save you a tremendous amount of effort, worries, and concerns if done correctly.

The delicate balance between being an individual at work, or being an absolute team-player is sometimes difficult to achieve. Interactive and collaborative work-settings can either make your life a living hell, or improve it beyond expectations, so looking for that oh-so perfect middle ground is worth it.