I've worked solo, and in teams, for many years now, and in many different organisations. Yet I still feel dissatisified somehow.

While I enjoy working alone -- especially when I'm in the zone -- I have to acknowledge that individuals working alone in my organisations have produced some pretty quirky and unmaintainable code over the years. At least, that's what I've seen.

Moreover, I write better and more relevant code not when working solo, but when receiving regular feedback from others.

Sadly, I've found that working closely with others can be difficult and stressful, especially when personality clashes arise. The tragic human condition -- as I'm reminded every day when reading the news -- is that there are so many factors that can cause conflict in teams: gender, politics, religion, baby boomers vs generation-y, introvert versus extrovert, perl vs java, the list goes on and on.

Pair Programming

One of the drawbacks of being chosen to lead humanity's push to become an interplanetary species is having to give up your privacy. "You could hear everything else that happened in the dome, and they could hear you," Ms Johnston recounted.

-- What it's like to spend a year pretending to live on Mars (news article)

I've tried pair programming eight hours a day and hated it. Like the budding Mars astronauts, I discovered how much I value my privacy.

High Performing Teams

Despite my unfortunate pair programming experiences, I acknowledge the crucial importance of teamwork and effective teams. Though I've rarely experienced it personally, I know that the elusive harmonious, high performing team is certainly possible. How best to achieve it?

According to a recent gTeams study at Google the five keys to a successful team are:

Some ideas you might try from the Google study to improve teamwork:

Feedback

I'd love to hear of your experiences. What's been your workplace experiences, both working solo, and in a team? Which do you prefer? I'm especially interested to learn what you feel is the key to working in an effective team.

References

References Added Later

In reply to Working Solo and in a Team by eyepopslikeamosquito

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