Working Together

Collaboration is a very important part of human society, we all need it (as much as we might not like to admit it). Working with others is a way of life in every part of the world.

(Note: This post is a little different than the norm).

The Internet Age

The Internet helps bring together people with common interests to combine resources and produce some of the best applications in the world. We’ve seen barriers come down, and more open communication and sharing of ideas and code that ever before. The Internet has made communication easier, and more efficient, it’s also caused a few problems (namely email and how easy it is to misinterpret without the inflection).

The REAL WORLD!

The real point to my post is to outline how working together is really the best way to get things done. As business is growing it’s more obvious that you can’t do everything yourself, and even if you can do it yourself it’s not always smart to. For example, I have a colleague who is developing websites with me (might not be the right word, for me may be better, but it’s appreciated either way), and it’s now reduced my stress levels and increased our ability to take on more complex and interesting projects.

I have the opportunity to take on a much larger project with another colleague which we both share the same views on for the greater good of the community. While it’s a project either one of us could take on ourselves, and we have the ability (knowledge-wise) it’s a much easier proposition and more viable to work on it together. While we both share the same views, we bring different skills to the table, and working as a team is something we’ve already been able to do. Being able to collaborate on this project will be a great opportunity for both of us to develop a larger system to roll out further. The number of people involved in the project will grow as required, and the ability to call up the troops when required is also a nice benefit of working together.

I’ve also been given the chance to work with another company to develop some more interesting solutions, and help extend their current offering to their client base. Called a “strategic alliance”, it’s a case of both parties having something valuable to add to each other’s business without stepping on toes. It also lets you bring in outside support on something we may not be as strong in. It also makes both of use look bigger, and more attractive to larger companies.

I can tell you so far, it’s really good working together with other companies and other people. Not it’s now always rosy, I can tell you I’ve been burnt, but this time has really been different! We all share the same vision, and aren’t trying to out-do each other, and share many of the same attitudes to business!

Good luck finding people you enjoy working with, you’ll be spending many hours working in a lifetime, so I think it’s important to have a good time, life’s too short!!