Group work is a big part of most University courses, as it helps prepare students for most jobs that involve collaboration. There are so many good parts of collaborative work, as it’s a place where you can bounce ideas off of one another, split the workload amongst each other and constantly have people who are working alongside you throughout the project.
That bring said, it can sometimes be tricky navigating people’s personalities, work types and even personal schedules. We all have our own way of learning and many students will also be working alongside their studies, which will make their time even tighter. Here are a few tips to help you navigate your workload and optimise your group experience!
- Understanding Your Group’s Dynamic
When you are first assigned group work, it is essential that you take the time to get to know your peers and understand the group dynamic. Your team will likely be made up of different personalities, strengths and weaknesses, but if everyone can be honest about what they are good at, as a group you can then navigate a way through the workload.
You will likely find that some of your peers will want to
work all together, while others will want to buckle down and work on their own.
Additionally, some people will have more confidence, while others might be a
bit quieter, so finding a way to utilise everyone’s strengths will benefit you
in the long run.
- Focus on Clear and Smooth Communication
Dealing with all types of personalities and work types can be quite challenging at first, so having good and frequent communication is essential! Regular chats and updates will not only help the group feel more connected but will also help you stay on top of things.
To start, get everyone’s contact details and create a group chat, where you can all share your progress and ideas. Sometimes you might also find that certain group members aren’t great at responding, so it could be a good idea to contact them separately, in case the big group dynamic is something they find overwhelming.
Once you have had the initial discussions about roles,
what people will be focusing on and the brief in general, it’s a good idea to
write it all down in a shared document that you can all update. This way,
everyone will know what their role is, and they can manage their own workload
and the group progression too.
- Create an Action Plan Together as a Group
Making a plan is not only a great team exercise, but it will also help you stay on track throughout the project. Your course leader will most likely be providing you with a project brief and a rough timeline, but chatting through your objectives and planning out the project as a whole is essential. Additionally, knowing your group goals will help prevent any unnecessary stress and anxiety building up, both individually, and as a team. Having your objectives for the project written out will also help to ensure you are ticking all of the necessary boxes to meet the criteria.
- Meet Regularly and Track Your Progress
Once the project has kicked off, it can sometimes feel
overwhelming staying on top of everything. Having regular group meet-ups to
discuss the projects is essential to the success of the group, and it will also
help you manage your stress levels. Knowing that you are all in this together
is an important part of boosting the team moral too. You all succeed together,
or fail together, which means you have a common goal that you are working
towards!
To help track your group’s progress, there are various apps you can use, including:
Trello – Visually
manages projects
ClickUp – Has
customized task views
Wrike – Has
spreadsheet-like features
GoogleDocs
– Great for shared spreadsheets and documents
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