Working in a group or team setting is something that I haven’t looked forward to at Purdue. Most of the time, group projects have been for general education classes, meaning neither I nor the others in my group are particularly invested in the class or its project. However, I have learned what works well and what doesn’t in group projects from my time partnering with other collaborators. All members contributing to using these strategies will equal greater success for the project outcome.
An important thing that would be helpful in a group is to have a clear vision for the outcome. Each group member must truly give an input for the project to be successful since everyone should complete a portion of the work. The number of conversations I’ve had that go in a circle of “I don’t care” “It’s whatever you guys want to do” is numerous. Even if the class or project isn’t something one is invested in, caring about the assignment’s progress makes it more enjoyable and less unbearable to complete the group work. When all members are on board with striving for the success of the project, everyone will benefit.
It is imperative to divide up the work in a clear manner and ensure all group members know their responsibilities. If each person has a component to focus on, it will make for a smoother group work process. This goes back to the previous point as well. If those participating do not care what they are working on, they might end up with a component that doesn’t fit their academic strengths. If this happens, the project’s quality will suffer. In an anthropology class this semester, this strategy has worked well on an ongoing partner assignment. Our project progresses smoothly because we both made sure we were on the same page before we began the work and had minimal confusion about the goal. If group members collaborate, the project will be noticeably stronger.
Another thing that is helpful is to have regular check-ins with the group. At Purdue, creating a GroupMe chat for the team to communicate through is a popular option, although there are other means available too. This gives group members accountability to keep their own personal progress at the level of the other members. Since students are busy with their other classes, extracurriculars, and jobs, this keeps the work going outside of class time. This worked particularly well for me last fall in an entomology class project, as the other members had busy schedules and we couldn’t all get together to work on it concurrently. GroupMe also allows for easy communication if a group member has questions about a project aspect, as they can usually get a quick answer from someone else.
If I had the opportunity to choose my group collaborators, I would choose those who want to put forth good effort into making the project succeed. If everyone is equally invested, it will show in the quality of the work. Since saving assignments for the eleventh hour is not something I do, hopefully the other participants will not either. Working diligently to allocate the workload in the time leading up to the due date leads to less stress for all involved. I also enjoy working with people who are willing to listen to others’ ideas and realize they might not know all the answers. Even if it doesn’t always seem apparent, we all have much we can learn from each other. We just have to be open to communicating about it.
An important thing that would be helpful in a group is to have a clear vision for the outcome. Each group member must truly give an input for the project to be successful since everyone should complete a portion of the work. The number of conversations I’ve had that go in a circle of “I don’t care” “It’s whatever you guys want to do” is numerous. Even if the class or project isn’t something one is invested in, caring about the assignment’s progress makes it more enjoyable and less unbearable to complete the group work. When all members are on board with striving for the success of the project, everyone will benefit.
It is imperative to divide up the work in a clear manner and ensure all group members know their responsibilities. If each person has a component to focus on, it will make for a smoother group work process. This goes back to the previous point as well. If those participating do not care what they are working on, they might end up with a component that doesn’t fit their academic strengths. If this happens, the project’s quality will suffer. In an anthropology class this semester, this strategy has worked well on an ongoing partner assignment. Our project progresses smoothly because we both made sure we were on the same page before we began the work and had minimal confusion about the goal. If group members collaborate, the project will be noticeably stronger.
Another thing that is helpful is to have regular check-ins with the group. At Purdue, creating a GroupMe chat for the team to communicate through is a popular option, although there are other means available too. This gives group members accountability to keep their own personal progress at the level of the other members. Since students are busy with their other classes, extracurriculars, and jobs, this keeps the work going outside of class time. This worked particularly well for me last fall in an entomology class project, as the other members had busy schedules and we couldn’t all get together to work on it concurrently. GroupMe also allows for easy communication if a group member has questions about a project aspect, as they can usually get a quick answer from someone else.
If I had the opportunity to choose my group collaborators, I would choose those who want to put forth good effort into making the project succeed. If everyone is equally invested, it will show in the quality of the work. Since saving assignments for the eleventh hour is not something I do, hopefully the other participants will not either. Working diligently to allocate the workload in the time leading up to the due date leads to less stress for all involved. I also enjoy working with people who are willing to listen to others’ ideas and realize they might not know all the answers. Even if it doesn’t always seem apparent, we all have much we can learn from each other. We just have to be open to communicating about it.
Comments
Post a Comment