Collectivism
Collectivists in general are more concerned with the group and the group's harmony (Erdogan). They build strong friendships with their teammates. The success of the team is more important than their own success.Advantages: more ideas are generated, there is accountability for one another's actions
Disadvantages: collectivist tend to ignore tasks at hand to build relationships, it takes more time to get results
Examples: China, Mexico, Philippines
Individualism
Individualists are more autonomous, which makes them very independent (Erdogan). They tend to be more task-oriented as well. They pride themselves with creativity, and self-achievement is highly valued.Advantages: faster results
Disadvantages: individualists may do tasks without the consent of the whole team
Examples: U.S., Australia
Managing teams...
When managing teams with both collectivist and individualist tendencies, it is important to take these steps:1. Be aware of each person's tendencies.
2. Build relationships with every single team member. This step is important for the individualists to realize that he or she can rely on the team, and not just his own power.
3. Keep the team's objective intact and pursue after it. By keeping the team's objective intact, the collectivists will be able to focus on the task when needed.
4. As a leader, assign task that uses the strength of each member. As a member of the team, volunteer for tasks that you know you can do. Here are some example of tasks to assign/volunteer for:
- task for an individualist: researching for sources for a presentation
- task for a collectivist: planning group events