What I Learned About Working in Teams After Freelancing for 2 Years

It's only been two months since I've returned to the "workforce" as a corporate copywriter. I spent 2 years taking a stab at the freelance lifestyle and became worried that I might never fit back into a team work environment again.

But 2 years of solo working, I realized that there were things I was no longer doing that pushed my career growth. I became...lazy. I learned more about working in teams while I was on my 2 year solo journey, than I did in previous job roles. And I'm here to share them with you in case you need a little nudge in the right direction.

More Motivation to Get Sh*t Done

We often think about freelance work as the ultimate lifestyle. You can crawl out of bed at 8AM on a Monday in your pajamas and wake up with a cup of tea before hitting the keyboard. There's little to no motivation to hop on a phone call or respond to an email right away.

But working in a team makes you get up in the morning (literally, you have to get to work or online in time for a roundtable meeting) and pursue projects with motivation that is hard to find some days while working alone.

Your Feedback Isn't One Sided

When you freelance, getting feedback from a client or even yourself can make it difficult to get anything done efficiently. Clients don't usually know what they want, but they always know what they don't want...after you've done it that way.

Getting feedback from your teammates gives you real praise, real critiques, and more time to work on things that matter without over editing, second-guessing, or weeping over your keyboard. Yep.

Teamwork Can Really Work Better

Depending on your work environment, teamwork can make all the difference. With my creative role in writing many would think that I need a lot of alone time to sit and be with my thoughts. But I realized that with freelancing, I found myself procrastinating in ways that were not conducive at all to my job. I spent more time Googling treeshrews than I did looking up WordPress plugins or editing my own work.

In an team environment, you have designated times during the day where procrastinating is allowed. You're allowed to take a break and watch that viral video of a chicken riding in a bicycle with a baby helmet. And then you get back to work. You're not cursing yourself at midnight for watching that video five times, you're sharing it with your team and building relationships instead.

You Become Less of a Work Troll

Freelancing is great. I love wearing pajamas and working from bed, don't get me wrong. But I started feeling like I was a work troll, only coming out into the world for food, water, and a quick bathroom break. I spent more of my free time inside alone than I did with friends or family. I realized that freelancing was making me bitter about every day life because some of my clients were...difficult, to say the least.

Working in a team for the last two months has made me more capable of handling real life conversations instead of saying, "Yikes, I've been underground for that long?"

Teams Make Achievable Goals

I no longer feeling like I'm out of the loop or behind in my projects. I realized that working alongside a team helps you set achievable goals that you can over deliver on instead of promising the world to 10 clients all in the same week. It saves you a lot of stress, bitterness, and, again, weeping.

Work is What You Make It

I've discovered that work is what you make it. Freelancing was amazing most days, but there were times when I really felt a pull to come back to teamwork. I missed the interactions and the feedback that is so crucial in a writer's line of work.

What do you think about working in a team? What has worked best for you in your career?

Let me know in the comments!