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