There will always be one group from your Algonquin College School of Business program that you will remember. Now this group might have been the best group, or the worst group. Depending on the nature of the project, group work is usually beneficial to learn and prepare for future employment.
Every group member has different ideas, temperaments, and schedules and it can get frustrating when there’s one person who doesn’t fully commit to doing the work (everyone else has to pick up the slack). It’s not fair, but you will be fully prepared and knowledgeable and the other person will have more struggles in their academic career.
In all our School of Business programs, we have group work so that you can learn skills that are needed in the “real world”.
Here are 3 tips for making the best of group work:
Have a diverse group
- If your professor announces that next week you will be choosing your group members for the semester, make sure to go to that class! Having the chance to choose your own group members can diversify your group with different skills and abilities. Be careful if making a group of your friends; this can often create issues and friendships can be lost.
Hold Meetings
- With everyone having different schedules, it is important to hold weekly meetings to stay on track and not get left behind. The goal is produce a quality piece that has a logical flow, rather than something that was thrown together in one nights work. In the initial meeting it will be a good idea to delegate a team leader/editor and assign tasks to everyone so there is no misinterpretation later on in the project. Ensure that the work is divided equally and to everyone’s specific skill set (if possible).
Constant communication
- Create a communication plan by exchanging phone number’s/emails/class schedules with everyone to stay in touch throughout the project/semester.
- Suggest that everyone in the group stay in communication so nobody can claim later that they were never told to complete a task.
- Work with an online calendar and Google Docs to itemize a list of tasks that need to be completed and when. Group members should highlight these tasks when they are completed and sent to the group leader for editing/review.
- Most importantly, stay on top of those deadlines so they don’t creep up on you!
What other tips would you add?
