Downside of Group Dynamics

From a young age I thought I could play well with others, and usually do (except in dodge ball -- everyone for themselves!) However, I had long been a natural leader in some settings, and group projects really illustrated to me how I could function both as a leader and in other roles. Things can be done even if I'm not in charge, and while that bruised my ego a bit at first, I wholeheartedly accept it as a fact of life.

That said, there are instances in life where circumstances show you that sometimes, things just don't work the way you want them to... enter group presentation time; a history class or the like. The topic was something I felt fairly knowledgeable on, but from the start I could tell things were not going to go well. One of my group mates was insistent upon being the leading authoritative liaison between the professor and our group, despite knowing next to nothing on the topic. Another person was assigned to be in charge of visual presentation materials, but of course, no one seemed to be interested in effective coordination or communication.

Needless to say, as time ticked on, things were not going well. The proposed "group meetings" intended to facilitate how the project was shaped, turned out to be more like times to test my patience and hone my skills in guessing 'how much more time do we have left?' Much to my chagrin, the presentation was less than perfect, and despite attempts at planning, looked like it had been thrown together at the last minute. The saving grace for my grade was the professor's understanding of poor group dynamics, but from then on I learned the ways which group work did not work well, and have since learned some helpful hints.

-NB

'Real World': Cases vs. Competitions

The most rewarding and engaging learning experiences I have had throughout my university career have consistently been consulting projects for people in real organizations. I find it odd that many professor's solution to providing students with 'real world' or 'hands on' experience comes through case studies that they have been recycling for years. First off, after the third or forth presentation, the professor is probably bored and has already set an idea of exactly what they think is the ideal "A" presentation. Second, how can a student interact with a course pack? In the 'real world' consultants are people who consult- ask questions, learn the ins and outs of an organization, and ideally co-create strategies with people in the organization.

While I see the value of learning from the past and attempting to avoid making the same mistakes, I am worried that we are, in effect, just sending our young minds into the work force with a set of 'best practices' that, as the economic crisis has shown us, don't work anymore. Talking with other students, I have consistently found that the greatest learning has come through projects like this Microsoft competition or other case competitions and club involvements. Why is it that we are not getting the same value from inside the classroom? I think that our universities need to innovate the system from within or we are just going to continue sending people into the work force with the same faulty mind-sets that lead us to this crisis in the first place. There is such high potential to learn from group work but we can't continue with the same cases and same best practices that have been used for decades.

-SR

When Size Matters

It’s one thing to work on a group project with a few individuals and a completely different story when the group consists of five other students who lead just as busy, but completely different, lives as you do. Between a full time job, a full set of classes and a boyfriend whom I have to travel over an hour by boat to see, and everyone else’s jobs, classes and personal lives, it becomes near impossible to schedule a moment where everyone can be in the same place at the same time.
My most challenging experience in group work to date involved a project in which five individuals and I had to write a 25 page research paper and present it at the end of the quarter. The mere act of scheduling group meetings seemed to take just as long as the time actually spent working on the assignment. But what is even more challenging than getting six over scheduled students in the same room outside of class, is getting six opinionated students to write a comprehensive research paper.

The most valuable lesson I learned through that experience is the importance of limiting the size of the group (four being the optimal number) and the importance of discussing schedules before you group with the person who happened to sit next to you on the first day of class.

-EG

The Phantom Group Member

Working in a group with three to four people you have just met often times creates a serious dilemma. Once, while taking a writing class we were given an assignment to work with three other people to create a script/ screen play incorporating different forms of writing. One of my not so pleasant group members said “like” more times that a person would dare to count, and preferred to make "insightful" comments about current T.V. shows, the class was of little interest to her. Another member of our vivacious group was a woman who, in her late 60’s was often grumpy, and angry at the world. While discussing storyline options for the script, we came up with the idea of a woman who mourns the relationship she had with her daughters while they were younger. The woman would die of sicknesses that her broken heart helped create leaving the three daughters to mourn after their loss and the relationship they could not preserve. During this time, I made a comment about my grandmother dying of TB not too long ago, my group member, let’s call her Barbara, rudely exclaimed “Well she must have been to jail, no one get’s TB without going to jail.” It’s easy to say that everything went downhill from there. Throughout all of this I took notes, emailed ideas to all of my group members, and passed portions of the script that were complete on to the next person to add on their portion. Lastly, the third and most compliant group member came up with wonderful ideas, expressed her opinions, and took everyone’s thoughts into consideration, but the week before our presentation she was nowhere to be found. In the last minute possible, she dropped the course.

The day before the presentation, the three of us remaining group members met up in the library and prepared for a good five to six hours. In the end, we did not receive the grade that we would have liked but considering everything that we had gone through, it was solid to say the least. In a weird attempt to make everyone work together I brought donuts and candy to our group meetings, but in the end the faith of the group can be in the hands of the one individual who decides to become incognito in the last few moments.

-SS

Invariably A Slacker

We had gotten to the library and their laptops were on the desk. They were chatting away, shooting the breeze. And of course, I was sitting silently in my chair staring at them. I was thinking about how to organize it, what we would say, and how it would all fall together. Our presentation was due in less than a week and we hadn’t begun. I quickly realized that their Facebook statuses were far more important than our project. In an attempt to get them off Facebook and onto Marine Biology I asked them how their grades where. A sneaky silence pervaded the room. They looked at me with a bit of fear in their eyes. Then, they scrambled to log on to our online course classroom and check.
“Oh my god, I have a point six,” one cried in fear.
“Well you still have the final and some make up work, right?” I asked.
“But even if I did that, I couldn’t get up to passing. Oh my god,” I can really only handle so many oh my god’s in a short time frame. “I have to drop this class or I’m gonna fail.”
“You should just talk to Woody first, I’m sure you can work it out.”
“No, oh my god I’m going to fail.”
Like that, her bag appeared from behind her chair. She picked it up and began putting her laptop away. She started laughing. With a smile that I took to mean, “Well the presentation's your guys’ problem now!” She stood up, shrugged her shoulders, and left.
“See ya guys 'round.”
I sat in my chair and stared out the window. I glanced at my other partner; she was as silently pissed off as me.

-DS

Collaborative Excuses

Teams…. I love working in teams… it is an unforgettable feeling of empowerment, fueled by amazing synergies and capitalization on each other’s strengths. Our business school is all about teams. Oh, these long weekday nights spent on brainstorming, agenda creation, and milestones tracking. Oh these “sorry guys, I’ll have to miss the meeting today – my dog was hit by a car” little e-mails and these “but not everyone has to be present at the team meeting, right? Don’t worry, I’ll catch up later on” pleasant news, and these “I did send you my part, it’s not my fault that it got lost in your e-mail” discussions with teammates. Even now I am jumping in excitement, anticipating my next team project.

The last point, on documents getting lost in e-mails or mysterious e-mails which never arrive at the point you need them most, I’d say, deserves special attention. How many times was it that working on editing a group paper, we sent versions of the same document to each other more times than there are molecules of angered team lead’s saliva flying out of his mouth when he is shamelessly yelling at his teammates? Maybe, just maybe all this time we needed not capsules of Valeriana officinalis or any other tranquilizing substance, but rather some technological solution, like this one.

-DA

Garlic-Eating Gingivitis Case

Nobody ever told Larry that teeth were meant to be brushed and flossed at least once a day for personal health reasons. Or at least once a week, out of consideration for one's group mates.

Larry loved eating garlic.
Larry loved talking too close to you.
Larry wondered why those around him avoided talking back to him.

-LU

Group Work: Tales of Disenchantment

Welcome to the first installment of Invading My Workspace. We look forward to sharing our most unforgettable, bittersweet misadventures in group collaboration, and likewise, reading yours... Stay tuned.

-CM