Collegiality; (n) the companionship and cooperation between colleagues who share responsibility.
When you have to do a group project with classmates, do you get excited? Or depressed? For those who feel the latter, here’s tips on how to overcome the anxieties of working together.
1. Get together and just talk
It’s difficult to get things started without talking to your group members. Go over the assignment together and think about how you and your members can each contribute. You may also be able to share the strengths and weaknesses each other has. This would be a great way to identify how the project should be approached as a group as well as how each individual can contribute to it.
2. Build a schedule together
Constructing a detailed outline is good for your personal tasks as well as group projects. Discuss with your partners the overall goal as well as the detailed day to day or week to week goals. It’ll be easier to understand what you need to do right away with a complete schedule.
3. Be committed and responsible
Once you’ve made the schedule, work on it. Group work requires every person to be responsible for what they have decided to do. With one person being lazy, the whole project may be ruined. It is important to know that one person’s lack of contribution would be a big deal for the group.
4. Be honest
If you just don’t have the time to do the assignment right now, tell your partner along with the reasons why and when you will be able to finish it. We all understand how busy our lives can be. If you could not devote as much time as you wanted to, just honestly tell your members and make sure you will get to it. This is SO much better than just being silent and doing nothing.
5. Be respectful
Working together may take up more time than doing a task alone and it’s also difficult to see how much effort a person is putting into their portion. For you, some tasks may be easy. For others, it may be extremely difficult. We easily judge others, but it is important to recognize that not everyone brings the same talents or passions to the table. Respect what they have done for you and you will gain your respect for what you did for them.
Let’s get that big task done with true collegiality.