Throughout middle school, high school, and college, we’re told of the importance of group projects. We’re continually forced to go through with them year after year. We all know the typical struggles: lazy students, unresponsive people, members who want all the creative control, tasks that are turned in way too late, and sometimes even a lack of self-awareness and aversion towards constructive criticism. You’d think these experiences are supposed to help us develop important skills for future work experiences when in reality, it just deters us from ever wanting to work with other people at all!
Believe it or not, though, the main reason that group projects fall through is due to a lack of structure, purpose, and organization. That is to say, there is a way to handle groups projects that we’re taught nothing about, yet are expected to be able to implement as if it were a natural impulse. So, behold below, a short guide to working in groups that you could apply to work with other students or even coworkers.
What are we doing?
Every group project has a purpose—be it to inform on a topic, reenact a scene, or write a research paper—you name it. Every person that decides to be in a group must know what they’re doing there and why they’re in said group. Members have to all be equally informed about the expectations, even the ones who arrive a bit later (this happens more often than you think.)
Similarly, the person, especially professors, that assigns the project must be specific with what they want and what they expect from the group to be able to accomplish. In that sense, every person should get all their doubts and worries out of the way before deciding who they want in their group or how they’ll distribute tasks if they get stuck with someone they didn’t want to work with, regardless of what group composition could have worked better.
Who’s who in a group?
After knowing what you’re supposed to do, you choose who you want to be in a group with. One of the biggest mistakes a student can make is not trusting their guts. If you have a hunch that someone is going to be a good group member, don’t let them get taken! Trust yourself, even if you don’t know most of the students in their class very well. Group projects require interaction and good communication, so ideally, pick someone before someone you might have a hard time working with picks you or is left over. If you have good members, the rest is a piece of cake! Beware of exclusively working with friends, though. Sometimes, this can be counterproductive. Only work with your friends if you know they have a good work ethic and can get things done responsibly.
Once that’s done, roles should be assigned based on each member’s strengths. If no one is a clear leader in the group, everyone should participate in analyzing each other to determine who would be best with a particular task. Everyone should be heard at every moment, especially if the assigned grade will be the same for all members. In the workspace, this is way more evident: the fault is usually distributed evenly if a failure occurs.
Sometimes, there aren’t clear leaders nor is there a particular inclination towards one task or another with each member. If that’s the case, every member should go with their gut on what they believe they can do best, and the leader should be whoever has the strongest organizational and communicative skills. All work should be distributed more or less evenly, given that every member is equally important.
Good interpersonal relationships go well with decent work ethics, but not all good friends are good coworkers. In many cases, it might be better to go with people you’d work well with, and if you end up befriending each other, that becomes a dual interpersonal relationship: practical but also fulfilling.
How do we get it done?
Time distribution is essential. We’re all busy. We all have lives away from the workspace and college. Therefore, implementing a professional tool is probably the most appropriate thing to do when there’s too much work to handle. A work calendar or task calendar should help everyone remain aware of when each task should be done, handed in, and the arrangements they should make with other facets of their life so they can assure to be punctual.
Sending reminders is never a bad thing, especially if something is overdue. Every member should be responsible for their tasks. That being said, a decent amount of time should be assigned so that members don’t feel overwhelmed, stressed, or blocked.
There must be a shared view of the way the work will get done within the group. Personal viewpoints that contradict objectives could be dangerous, so they should be discussed beforehand to prevent internal conflicts. A sense of applied ethics should be considered both in academic spaces and workspaces. Do what’s right, even if it takes a lot of work and a bit of time. Your personal beliefs shouldn’t interfere with the job unless they threaten your existence, identity, lifestyle, or those of any other person.
How should we see each other?
Communication is a must, so make sure to see each other an appropriate amount of times (depending on the project) and make sure everyone is informed at all times of what’s going on.
It’s okay to take breaks or remain silent while handling personal situations, we’re all entitled to that, but time limit constraints (which affect many people, not just one person) obligate members to, at the very least, notify when they can’t finish a task on time or will be absent communication-wise. You don’t have to necessarily disclose particularities: only that other things have arisen and that you will get on your task again as soon as you’re able to. This is subjective, though, given that many workspaces don’t give employees that much credit nor liberty with their time. If that’s the case, the member would have to accept whatever repercussions would be taken, unless their team members would be willing to cover for them.
That being said, meetings should be held at times and places that every member (or the largest amount possible) can attend. Horizontal thinking space is best for these occasions: everyone’s voice should be somehow important and we should be able to listen and accept valid constructive criticism.
Reunion agendas should help keep everything on track and avoid unnecessary waste of time. Progress should be, ideally, reported at every reunion so that every member is aware of how much work is left to do.
What do I do with the almost-finished product?
Assuming that the group worked well, all that’s needed is appropriate feedback for every part of the project to ensure it flows properly. Some people are better at proofreading, others at putting together the presentation, and others are research masterminds. Trust in every person’s capability to fine-tune the job, and get it ready as soon as possible. In any case, exterior feedback could be useful given that it comes from the right people.
However, sometimes, members don’t have the necessary skills to tackle a project. This is usually the fault of whoever assigns the project. There should be a knowledge of each and everyone’s skills, i.e., there should be no assumptions for the group’s necessary skills or that a certain group is capable of getting the job done. When this happens, getting external help is no big issue, especially when the assigner or superior won’t open a safe space to talk about the issue. Sometimes, loved ones may be the ones who know what to do in a particular case or may help in the said project. However, if there’s a particular work policy that’s being violated, Human Resources should be notified by the employee of any possible situation that could affect the group’s output.
In academia, however, many a time we just have to suck it up and accept whatever grade is given even if we don’t have the skills to get the job done. If that’s the case, make sure that your project looks as professional and free of errors as possible. The effort is appreciated.
What then?
Hand in your work, make sure everyone is properly credited, all sources are appropriately placed, and that your grade won’t float down to a B because of a few missing commas. Otherwise, the satisfaction of getting your job done and knowing you’re contributing somehow (and getting paid for it) is pretty satisfying on its own. If you get along with your group, celebrate afterward. It’s not uncommon to end up having similar interests with these people.
What if I did all the work and everyone else laid back on me?
Yes, sometimes, even within what appears to be a great group composition with an outlined work calendar, there can be a single person who voluntarily or involuntarily does most of the work.
If members were assigned tasks and you had to do them due to their laziness, failure to admit incompetence, or inability to express a lack of desire, then you are in your right to inform it to the person who assigned the project. Critical thinking is necessary for group projects and we can never assume we’re better than everyone else in the group or that we’re above criticism. In that sense, unless you wanted to do most of the work and don’t care if the work wasn’t evenly distributed, you should do the right thing and give credit where it’s due.
Either way, we’re stuck with group projects because the reality is that workspaces rely on group efforts most of the time. Be it in marketing, production, sales, engineering, research, music, or even editorial work. The most we can do as individuals are to develop our communication skills, say what we mean constructively and productively, and hope our coworkers are honest and professional about their capacities and abilities.
Good luck with the new semester!