CTP Blog #3 - Hadeel Fares

I’ve always enjoyed group work in school and throughout college.  Being an Alverno Student we do group work and projects all the time. I only had one terrible experience  working in a group. Last year I was in a class that involved constant group work. In the beginning of the semester the professor told us about this huge project we had due the end of the semester and that we were to present it on the last day of class. The professor picked our group members according to our results on our Myers Briggs test, which is a personality type test. The reason the professor had us to take this test was so that he can mix up our group members. He didn’t want students with the same personality to work together.  In the real world , we may be  in teams and groups with people that have completely different personalities than us. The purpose was to learn how to work  effectively with our group members and to reach our desired  goal.

        http://traceyfieber.com/what-are-the-benefits-of-effective-communication/

When we all got into our groups the professor told us to make a contract and list rules that we all must follow. My group consisted of four other girls, as soon as we made our eight  rules we all then had to sign the contract.  Each week we all met up and discussed who’s doing what part and who’s presenting what slide. As the end of the semester was coming up, I realized that two of my group members had nothing done and were behind. They would show up to the group meetings, when I’d ask them how their work is going they would always say “ great.” I got a bit suspicious though when I asked to see their slides and they kept saying next time I will. Each of us had a specific role in this project and divided up all the work evenly. Me and  Sam ( the only group member who actually did her part )  didn’t know what to do because our two other group members didn’t show up to our last meeting and they weren't replying to any of our emails or texts. What made me upset was that we had rules, and the main rule was to communicate with each other and check our emails and texts daily.  Our presentation day came, when we all walked into the room it felt extremely  awkward with the two other girls. No one said anything and we were the first to present. I got up and was praying that they had their parts up on the powerpoint. Thankfully they did and our presentation went great and they all presented professionally( not making it obvious of our group conflict.) I  wish my two other group members would have communicated better with Sam and I.  At the end of the day I learned how important effective communication. I know that I’ve learned a lot since this group presentation and since then I always make sure my group members understand their roles , responsibilities, and how important communication is.