Wednesday, May 08, 2019

People you can work with, or people who can do the work

As a leader, there are times when one can choose his or her team. The question, then, is: do you choose people you can work with, or people who can do the work?

Obviously, the best is to choose people who you can work with and who can do the work. But that may not be necessarily the case in the real world; we all have our own personalities, likes and dislikes, and abilities.

This is actually a very tough question for me. Having been in the navy for many years, the question has never been about choosing a team; in the navy, that is a luxury. With the limited people, you work with what you have, the people you are assigned. Whether you can work with them or not, whether they can do the work or not, the work must be done. The important thing is to work with people to get the work done.

Choosing someone who you can work with makes it easier for you. But not necessarily better for getting the work done. Still, good interpersonal relationships in a team does help to improve team effectiveness and efficiency.

Choosing someone who can do the work is obviously good for getting things done. However, you will probably need to put in quite some effort if you really cannot get along with that person. Effort is then required on your part in order for things to run effectively and efficiently.

So which is it?

I really don't know, and I don't think there is one correct answer. It really depends on the people and the task at hand. What is more important, of course, is to get things done. We just need to make our own judgment calls each time we are faced with this question.

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