Being a good Group Member
Do
•Be open to differences in personalities and opinions.
•Think of differences as opportunities for learning and creativity.
•Talk about problems with tasks, and not people.
•Use lots of data in order to decide.
•Hang onto shared goals and interests rather than positions.
•Approach differences with respect, concern about how, and a sense of perspective
(and humour).
•Remember that it’s only for a set period of time.
Being a good Group Member
Don’t
•Avoid, ignore, smooth over,
laugh away, or in other ways fail to deal with differences and possible conflicts.
•Choose to get along rather than focus on problems.
•Label group members and opinions as right and wrong.
•Think about group members as bad people instead of thinking about what they are saying.
•Make it a whole-class issue.
What to do when your group is STUCK!
•Recognise the signs of stuckness.
(e.g. group argues too much, or not at all; grades are poor; members do not show up for meetings)
•Raise the issue in the group. (e.g. I think we’re stuck.)
•Discuss your feelings without complaining but be positive and suggest solutions..
(e.g. If you don’t like wasting time on meetings that go for too long, suggest that you create an agenda with time limits to follow.)
•Talk about what you’re doing right!
(e.g. I’m really happy that we are able to disagree with one another and come up with better ideas than we had before.)
•Be direct about the rules, and/or Change the rules. (e.g. I think we need to show up on time so we can all get started together.)
•Get some outside help. (Your Professor.)
•Keep at it.
(Life isn’t always about doing what you want.)
Kahn, W.A. (2009). The student’s guide to successful project teams. New York: Routledge. Call Number LB 1032.K26 2009
Finally...
•Remember that a group assignment/presentation is ONE assignment/presentation not FOUR
•Consider using ‘Google docs’ or ‘Dropbox’ as opposed to waiting for emails
•The learning experience is just as important as the task itself
