Jessica Xia
The officers of a club or organization can be a deciding factor in how a group runs. Having friends as officers can be beneficial but can also lead to inefficiency. Many clubs and organizations at Aragon have groups of close friends serving as leaders and members.
“In order to have a good team, you need to have a good bond with your teammates,” said junior varsity boys basketball member Pedro Ayala. “You have to have good team chemistry, and I would say our team has good team chemistry.”
“[Some leaders] aren’t as harsh on their friends compared to someone they just met”
Many find an environment with close friends as leaders to be more comfortable work environment.
“[Working with friends] is fun because it doesn’t have to stay as serious,” said junior Robotics Finance member Carissa Ho. “I’m kind of shy, so having friends and people you’re comfortable with makes it a lot easier to get help.”
Having a close-knit group in a club can enhance communication and collaboration.
“It’s because we have good relationships that I find it easy to work with [the team],” said senior Robotics Finance Captain Jayden Yan. “We already know each other well enough that we know how to collaborate together and know our strengths and weaknesses.”
American analytics and advisory company Gallup published a report stating that having a friend in a work environment fosters a safer work space, allows employees to get more work done in less time and foster exchange in ideas. This can create a more fun and pleasant work environment.
For senior and MATE ROV (a Robotics subteam) Vice Captain Valerie Fan, having friends in her work environment has allowed her to find comfort and strength during challenging times. Last year, when her team’s robot sank at a competition, the team’s friendship helped the group not feel disappointed in the outcome.
“On one hand, there was definitely a feeling that our entire year of hard work was going to waste,” Fan said. “But feeling that camaraderie, feeling the support of everyone and consensus that we all did our best … was really uplifting.”
However, close friends can also be distracting.
“You’ll be talking about programming then next you’re talking about some random thing you saw the other day,” said senior and MATE ROV member Hannah Hsiao.
For some, working with friends requires more focus and discipline.
“Having friends … makes it a lot easier to get help”
“I feel like there is a need to make sure we don’t just get off-task and talk about random things,” Yan said. “That means I have to start thinking about what I want to do and what I actually need to do, and then once I’m outside of Robotics Finance, I can just go back to [being] myself.”
Many group leaders may have a bias toward their friends as well. A study posted in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology made people react to an unethical act that a loved one, close friend and stranger committed. In all of the experiments, participants felt less disgusted and contemptuous toward their family and friends than toward the stranger. This favoritism can translate to running clubs as well.
“Some leaders don’t give everyone the same treatment,” said sophomore and Varsity and JV Boys Basketball player Augusten Goldman. “They aren’t as harsh on their friends compared to someone they just met.”
However, friendships don’t always undermine fairness and efficiency in teams.
“[Our team is] good at separating conflict, work and friendship,” Fan said. “We’re able to understand when we’re hitting a dead end and when we’re being unproductive.”
For many, the group bond has led to successes and increased performance in Robotics.
“[MATE ROV members] all met through Robotics, so we knew that we have similar passions in the first place,” Hsiao said. “Those passions reflect in our work.”
The power dynamic of friends in a group can be important to ensure the smooth-running of a club or organization. Sometimes friends can impede efficiency, but they can also help members work better together.
