Disadvantages_of_Collaboration_in_the_Workplace

There are five disadvantages of collaboration in the workplace. The first disadvantages are the Incidence of Group Think. While bringing the different stakeholders together for the common good can introduce various new perspectives to the lively of the discussion, there are also the looming threat of group think. This occurs when the stronger personalities are so influential that they manage to take over the discussion and supplant their ideas as the outcome for the group. The second disadvantages are Possible uncertainty in Roles and Responsibility. If the responsibilities of the different stakeholders are not clearly defined their contribution may fall into uncertainty and the results can only be chaos. Uncertainty is particularly common in collaborative groups that are extremely large. The benefit of having several different perspectives starts to decline after an optimum number of members are crossed and this number may vary from project to project. The third disadvantages are The Cost of Collaboration May Be High. Although the advancements in technology make it possible for collaborative efforts to cross international barriers and even time zones, the cost of doing this must be factored into the equation. The larger of the number of individuals involved in the collaborative effort the greater the cost of the exercise in terms of directly facilitating meetings and indirectly because of the time spent away from their other duties. “Direct costs is involved in completing a research project as an individual. Time and energy (physical and mental) must be spent in surveying the literature, articulating a problem and/or hypothesis, gathering data, analyzing the data, and writing up the results. Working on such a project as a group incurs another set of costs that are not present in the individual project, namely transaction costs.” (Fiechtner, Susan, and Elaine Davis. 1992) The forth disadvantages is the forth disadvantages is the Collaboration most often Leads to longer Decision Times. When more workers need to be consulted before a decision can be made, the project lead times are extended to facilitate this extra consultation. The fifth disadvantages are when there is a Conflict Within the Group. When team members are persistently at the crossroads over the key points, the project will suffer. When personality clashes have a lot to do with the ability to come to an agreement and if the chosen individuals are not able to communicate effectively, the overall project objectives will not be met.” In the rush to implement collaborative learning, instructors frequently fail to think through the organizational complexities and subtleties of group work; consequently many group projects fail. The common failure of ill-conceived collaborative projects has led to what Coodall (1990) calls "group hate," an attitude of disdain for the group process which is created by being required to work in poorly organized groups.” (Coodall, H. Uoyd. 1990) “The act of collaboration does not need any technology. The collaboration can take place between two coworkers using paper and pens in an office or using instant messaging and a digital whiteboard online.” (Evan Rosen. 2007) “ Collaboration can easily occur between two or more people who have never met face-to-face. “The act of collaborating doesn’t need to be based on technology to be effective, and even technological solutions won’t work if a culture of sharing and working together is not in place to begin with. But it will not do any good if the team you are collaborating with is not prepared to share information and work together.” (Cravens Amy, 2009) References Fiechtner, Susan, and Elaine Davis. 1992. "Why Some Croups Fail: A Survey of Students' Experiences With Learning Croups." Pp. 59-67 in Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education, edited by Anne Coodsell, Michelle Maher, and Vincent Tinto. University Park, PA: National Center on Teaching Learning Coodall, H. Uoyd. 1990. Small Group Communication In Organizations. Dubuque, IA: Brown. Coodsell, Anne, Michelle Maher, and Vincent Tinto, eds. 1992. Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education. University Park, PA: National Center on Teaching, Learning and Assessment Evan Rosen, The Culture of Collaboration (San Francisco: Red Ape Publishing, 2007), 9. Amy Cravens, “Social Science: The Business Side of Social Networking,” Compass Intelligence, Jan. 27, 2009, http://blog.compassintelligence.com, http://blog.compass Intelligence.com/post/2009/01/27/Social-Science-The -Business-Side-of-Social-Networking.aspx (accessed March 17, 2009).