When I was in school, the type of assignment I dreaded most were the group assignments. This had many reasons as to why, ranging from me preferring to work alone, to having no friends or anybody I liked in a class, etc. Working together comes with the added benefits and flaws that come from having multiple cooks in the kitchen, and that can lead to numerous outcomes for the group, both good or bad. Many people have problems with not being able to agree with their group members, miscommunication problems, and people not doing their share of work, so group work tends to have a negative stigma for many people. However, there are ways to make group work an easier experience for everyone by following a few easy steps.
Rebecca Ingalls’ article, “Writing ‘Eyeball To Eyeball’: Building a Successful Collaboration” goes into how you can improve your experiences with group work. First, she states that it would be best to go into work with an open mind. You should be willing to listen to other people’s ideas and suggestions, and being willing to compromise your ideas will allow for healthy discussion and discourse. Next, she states that you should establish the main deadlines and goals of your project. You should establish who is doing what, when your assignments are due, and how you will go about doing your work. Knowing what you are going to do and planning your project out will lead you to success.
Overall, the main key to avoiding problems when doing group work is communication. You should be able to talk to your group mates about your work, if there are any problems or questions with anything, who is doing what, when you will work together, etc. Without talking to your group mates and communicating your ideas and thoughts, you are setting yourself up for failure.
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