34.Teamwork 

i. Have you worked or studied in groups?

I've always liked studying in a group as, firstly, it is more affordable than one-to-one classes, but at the same time it is not less efficient Further, what I like is competitive spirit that forces me to study hard regardless of the circumstances. Even when I'm tired I cannot let myself skip doing homework because I don't want to be worse than my groupmates.

ii.  Do you prefer to study in a group or individually?

I would rather have one-to-one classes as I don't have to compete for the teacher's attention and can study at my own pace. Sometimes if I don't understand a topic, I can ask my teacher to spend more time on it which would be an unlikely event in a group. One more thing that appeals to me is that a course is tailored to be exactly what I want.

iii.  What are the drawbacks or disadvantages of studying or working in a group?

On the positive side, if you work in a team, work gets done much faster. For instance, if a project requires 2 weeks for one person to complete, then if 2 people work together, they will need half as much time. Perhaps this is because large tasks can be broken down into smaller chunks that are then given to those people who are best suited for the job. However, if things go wrong, people may indulge in the blame game, pointing fingers at one another. Working in a team, people usually drive each other to more efficient work sometimes by pointing_ at each other's mistakes or supporting one another during times of crisis. However, groups can no longer function efficiently when there is a clash of ideas and nobody is willing to compromise or when there's unequal involvement and participation of different members. Some individuals work tirelessly to get things done and there are those that do not adhere to any deadlines. I believe that biggest benefit of group lessons is that they have far more energy than one-to-one classes due to interaction between group members. On the other hand, the group is unlikely to be focused on your precise needs and there are usually many distractions during classes because there are always students who ask irrelevant questions or behave inappropriately.

iv. Have you worked or studied in groups?

Well, my college put a lot of emphasis on collaboration, therefore we had a lot of group assignments. I enjoyed working in a group only when I was allowed to choose whom to work with. What I really disliked was that everyone got the same grade irrespective of how much each person had done.

I suppose the most important thing is that people learn to be responsible for their part of work as each person's contribution has an impact on the overall result of the whole team. Besides, any group consists of different individuals and during the process of interaction people learn to find a compromise and resolve conflicts. Well, working in a team helps people to acquire a number of important skills such as managerial and communicational ones. People learn to collaborate and interact with others in an efficient way.