What type of collaborator are you: diva, captain, ghost, ant or bumblebee? is the question that the clinical psychologist invites us to ask ourselves Olga Lehmann in an article in the scientific journal Nature.
The specialist says that she invented the characters of a diva, a captain, a ghost, an ant and a bumblebee to capture the experiences she lived in a scientific work team to make sense of the challenges and conflicts that arose and identify what I could have done differently.
“Some time ago, I found myself venting about a difficult collaboration by putting my emotions on paper. I created characters with whom to have imaginary dialogues and used humor to distance myself from the situation and gain perspective. I then reflected on how everyone on the team had contributed to the mess we were in and made an effort to take responsibility for my own reactions to the situation. Finally, I reflected on what I could do differently in the future,” he shares in his article “Divas, captains, ghosts, ants and bumblebees: explanations of the attitudes of collaborators”.
Five collaborative attitudes
As a scientific researcher and clinical psychologist, Olga Lehmann identified “five collaborative attitudes” in his scientific work team and how each type of collaborator reacts when a conflict arises.
However, these five attitudes or dispositions of a person can also be observed in other work areas.
The five collaborative attitudes that Olga Lehmann describes are the following:
The diva
The “diva” It brings visibility to a project because it has already published on the topic or is on the cover of magazines. (In other work areas it is the one who is famous for having more knowledge or more experience).
However, these collaborators often expect to be co-authors (of a scientific article) by default, because they are enrolled in the project; They present themselves as immensely busy, expect others to work around their schedules, show little room for concession, or rush to sketch bullet points that others need. decipher and elaborate. When they share their knowledge, they can quickly help the team get off the ground..
Captain
He “captain” it gives a sense of direction to a (scientific) manuscript and can bring the entire team with it when it is at its best.
His authoritarian style fits the conventional supervisor-supervisee dynamic, in which the supervisee is given a list of corrections to make.
And if the work contains an error, the captain comments on it instead of correcting it himself.
Ghost
He “ghost” appears and disappears. Sometimes these collaborators are available and committed, but sometimes they are difficult to find, which slows down decision making and confuses the rest of the team.
It may be difficult to get this person to attend a call or meeting. In the end they take care of their tasks, even if they are late. If there is an active conflict, your calmness might inspire others to pause and reflect.
The ant
Their egos are small and both their contributions and comments are constructive.
They are also conciliatory when a conflict arises. But their neutrality can be frustrating and sometimes does not help resolve a conflict.
the bumblebee
He “bumblebee” He is hardworking, humble and efficient.
These collaborators respond quickly and commit to dilemmas related to deadlines, schedules and tasks.
They tend to feel more overwhelmed than others when a conflict arises.
If they end up taking on more responsibilities than necessary to keep the ship afloat, they risk overreacting to missed deadlines or misunderstandings.
Possibly, while reading Olga Lehmann’s descriptions you identified with a type of collaborator. Maybe you even classified the people you work with or have worked with into some category.
Having ants and bumblebees is lucky
We don’t always have the freedom to choose who we work with, so consider yourself lucky if your team includes ants, bumblebees, or both, he says. Olga Lehmann.
Likewise, the specialist recommends: Try to collaborate with people who actively reflect on the possible biases of their thinking and who can reach agreements after a discussion, or even admit that they were wrong.
Furthermore, the researcher recognizes that “we all run the risk of showing attitudes typical of divas, captains and ghosts when we are stressed, unmotivated or busy. Furthermore, exhaustion may be around the corner for ants and bumblebees.”
Conflict prevention and attention
He also says that it is inevitable that conflicts or misunderstandings will arise in a work team and that the important thing is not to wait for problems to arise but to prevent them and even have an action plan prepared.
For this, he highlights, he recommends that team members have cooperation agreements, which are contracts that establish some general rules of behavior, and that the team supervisor invest time in periodic control meetings, either in person or offline. remote such as an email, a phone call, a video call, etc.
If you are interested in knowing other recommendations from Olga Lehmann, you can read her complete article published this week in Nature here.
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2024-04-11 14:04:53