Group projects might be too stressful to take. And it doesn’t matter if you working in a group with your friends or simply peers – working as a team is not a joke, especially when your grade depends on everyone involved. So, we have a few tips for you on how to handle group projects like a pro.
Set Roles
There can be no great project when no one is responsible for the result. If you feel like your group assignments lack a professional and effective approach, then you definitely need to set roles for each member of your group.
For example, there always should be someone responsible for communication within the group. You might think that it’s not important as everyone has their devices and the Internet to communicate while in the working process. However, practice shows us that many group assignments fail because there is not enough communication and shared information between the members. Set who will be responsible for making sure everyone understands their task and meet online on a set time.
Another very important role in the group is the role of the leader. This person will be responsible for communication with the professor in the case of need and also will check each completed task to return them back to the group member if their work needs any changes. You can’t just put all the pieces together and handle it to your professor – you need to make sure that each part was done according to the requirements.
You can also divide people in your group into smaller teams depending on their strengths. For example:
- Writers – students who are great at writing academic papers and can sum up all the research findings into one polished text.
- Researchers – students who can find the needed information. It’s a hard role but allows researchers to rest at finishing steps of work when the information they find is analyzed.
- Designers – if you have a presentation to do.
Schedule Regular Meetings
As it was said earlier, it’s crucial to communicate within the group. Each member should have access to the information regarding the project, including the progress tracking info. Make sure your group meets regularly online or offline to discuss the progress of the work, what step you are at for now, what material or tools you need, etc.
Only when you all share everything regarding the project with one another, the result that you expect can be achieved. Moreover, such meetings will allow you to build relationships within the group, socialize, etc. It’s much needed now, during the pandemic.
Have a Timeline
Another important thing regarding the status of your project is the timeline that every group member should follow. The timeline is a set of dates for each step of work to be done. You can easily see if you are behind the schedule with your part of work when you see a timeline that organizes all of the work steps into one structure.
The timeline can be just a simple list of dates for group members when they need to report or send the finished task to the group leader. You can pin the message with the timeline in your chat for everyone to see. Another way to handle it is to put the dates into the Google calendar for everyone to see. This simple method helps you avoid missing the due date.
Avoid Negativity but Don’t Be Silent
When you are working in a group, it’s hard to avoid conflicts. Not always people are able to find a compromise and find the balance. That’s why there are many negative moments about group assignments that later can really spoil your attitude towards teamwork.
So, avoiding conflicts is a hard thing to do. There are a few things that you might try, like setting rules regarding arguments within the chat.
However, you should never be silent when you see the injustice regarding the amount of work assigned for each member or attitude towards you or other students. Be polite when you say things that bother you and try to control your emotions.