Chapter 57: Working in Groups
Amy Baldwin
Questions to Consider:
- What are the benefits of working in groups?
- What can I do to work effectively in a group?
Benefits of Working in Groups
When a professor assigns group work, most students initially cringe because they have had poor experiences collaborating on a project. Many of them have tales of group members who didn’t contribute equally or who disappeared altogether. It is no wonder that a popular meme includes a photo of a casket being lowered into the ground with the words “When I die, I want my group members to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.” We can laugh at this extreme reaction, but there is some truth in feeling apprehension about being disappointed by others. This section makes the case that if you know more about how group dynamics can and should work and how to communicate effectively during the process of completing a group project, you are more likely to have a positive – or successful – experience.
Why do professors assign group projects if they are often fraught with challenges? Perhaps it is because group projects are probably the most “real world” experience you will do in college. Very rarely will you be asked to create a report, present to a client, develop a new product or treatment, or fix a problem without working with others and depending on them to do their parts in a timely and professional manner. The more practice you have developing your own skills as a group member and troubleshooting when things don’t go smoothly, the more nimble you will be when you have to collaborate in your job.
If you approach working in groups by anticipating the challenges and developing strategies to minimize their negative impact, you will be able to weather the stresses more successfully. Table 5.1 provides some common challenges that you may experience working in a group and reviews the strategies you can use to minimize or eliminate the challenges.
| Challenges of Group Work | Strategies for Improving Group Work |
|---|---|
| Your grade may be dependent on the quality of others’ work. | Divide the assignment into parts, assign everyone a role that plays upon their strengths, and communicate expectations on quality. |
| You have to wait for others to complete their work before you can finish the assignment. | Create clear due dates for your group and monitor everyone’s progress on the project components. |
| You have to trust that others will fulfill their commitment to do their part of the assignment. | Create a group Code of Ethics or Shared Expectations document that outlines what each group member agrees to do. |
| Group members don’t show up or do not respond to communication. | Develop guidelines regarding missed meetings or lack of communication and implement consequences. |
Understanding Group Dynamics
One way to improve your work in groups is to learn more about group dynamics and stages. Bruce Tuckman[1] (1965) developed a model of group developm