My post last Monday The career puzzle prompted a reader to ask whether I thought “doing my own thing” was preferable to working as part of a team.

While such a question is perhaps a little off topic for a blog that focusses more on career change matters, it is still an interesting point, considering a lot of people establish small businesses by way of a career change, and therefore find themselves, in many cases, working alone.

I have worked as a contractor and consultant for a number of years, and that work has seen me go inside many organisations. One thing I have always been at odds with though, is the “team effort” ethic many such places appear to promote over all else.

It has seemed to me that “individual effort” is something that belongs on the fringes and not in the mainstream, by the way some managers talk.

Sure while working with a group of people, for the same company, means it will be necessary to co-operate and get along with them, in order to get things done, there remains an unspoken dislike of any sort of individual initiative.

I am not opposed to the idea of people working together to achieve goals, it’s just something that personally doesn’t work for me.

And ultimately that’s what it comes down to; personal preference.

I for one simply prefer my own space, and judging by the number of sole traders about, I am by no means, if you’ll excuse my choice of word, alone.

Having said though, that I don’t exactly work in solitary confinement.

I am in contact with a range of people for a variety of reasons, whether it be for research, assistance, networking, or even the home office worker’s version of office gossip and banter.

Sometimes this “social aspect” is overlooked by people eager to get out of an office based career because they want to be doing their own thing. After a time they begin to realise they miss the constant personal interaction that working closely with others brings.

There are other things would be sole traders need to consider before going out on their own.

There is no one to pick up the workload if you are unable to do it, should you require time off due to illness or some other reason.

While my experience of office land shows that should you be absent for a day or two, and you will find probably 90 per-cent of your day-to-day work awaiting you on your return, at least any urgent tasks should have been dealt with.

So in answer to the answer to the question which way of working is “better”, team effort or individual, there is no right or wrong answer. No one way is especially better or worse than the other. Or I should say both have their pros and cons.

Ultimately it comes down to what works for you, as an individual. It is however something you need to think carefully about when considering work plans for the future.