Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
placeholder article
placeholder article

The 5 Different People You Meet in Group Projects

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SJU chapter.

‘Tis the season of countless group projects and disappointment. Club lib has been buzzing and the 6-person tables have been packed.  Every student can relate to the struggles of the lingering small percentage of your grade being dependent on other people. Here are the 5 types of people you come across in a group project.

1. The Initiator

This is the person who takes charge immediately. They gather everyone’s emails and before you can finish saying “.edu” the google doc has already been shared in your inbox. This person can get to be a little controlling, but in the end we love this person because they keep the rest of the group in check! They also LOVE google drive and seem to always be lurking on the document.

2. The Distraction

There’s always the person who gets their work done, but is a total goofball. They are the people who crack jokes about your professor and somehow always stream off topic.

3. The Push-Over

There’s always 1-2 people who are not the over achiever, but also not the person who doesn’t do anything. Sometimes they are referred to as “yes man” because they agree to everything and anything. They go with the flow and don’t disagree with the Initiator. We need these people because not everyone can take control.

4. The Excuse Maker

There is, without a doubt, always the person who is super busy and can never make it to your group meetings. They work on the sidelines and never actually contribute to the actual group efforts.

5. The Person Who Does Nothing

This is the most typical person in a group project. They’re best at asking the questions that have already been answered and get through by putting in the most minimal effort. You never want to be this person!

A special shout-out goes to all of those who put in the effort to pull off group projects! Stay strong, and have a whole lot of patience, I promise it will pay off in the end!

HCXO,

Meg