Collaboration & Leadership

Effective collaboration, decision-making and leadership in team settings

Throughout my MLIS studies, all of the projects I have worked on have been team-based, which has given me opportunities to develop my understanding of teamwork and collaboration across a variety of contexts. Unlike my previous MA degree in literature, which emphasized independent thinking, the MLIS program pushed me beyond a focus on individual work and helped me realize that effective teamwork is about balancing individual contributions with collective responsibility.

In one of my courses, I worked with a small team to build a collection from scratch under tight time constraints. Recognizing the complexity of the project, I organized an early planning meeting where we developed a clear timeline, clarified selection criteria, and agreed on a basic metadata structure. These early decisions helped ensure consistency across different stages of the work. Throughout the project, we maintained regular check-ins and used a shared folder to organize materials and track progress. We also built in a buffer period before submission to review and test the collection together, which helped us identify and resolve issues as a team.

Building on this experience, I further developed my teamwork and coordination skills in collaboratively writing a research paper. A key challenge was that our writing initially felt fragmented, not only because of differences in style, but also because we approached the topic in different ways. To address this, I suggested that we first align on our research question and central argument, and then develop a detailed outline together. This allowed us to make shared decisions early on and ensured that our individual sections contributed to a coherent whole. At a later stage, I also proposed that we review the draft together by reading sections out loud and discussing revisions as a group, before assigning one person to unify the final voice. This process helped us bring together different perspectives while maintaining a consistent final outcome.

Reflecting on these experiences, I have come to see collaboration as an ongoing process of coordination, communication, and adjustment. Effective teamwork requires not only clear structure, but also space to bring together different perspectives. In future professional settings, I would contribute to creating more structured opportunities for team members to share their perspectives throughout the project to support more inclusive collaboration environment.