CTP Blog #3

Group work is very essential to developing better communication skills and also to gain more knowledge and skills. Working alongside others we learn to share perspectives in hopes of getting the task done sooner rather than later, by being able to break down the complexity into parts.

However, the problem seems to be.... we can't pick our own groups!

Depending on the situation, group work can be a great idea, or the worst thing possible.

The most recent experience involving group work that I can think of happened to be last semester in one of my business classes. The teacher put us into groups, gave us the group criteria, and told us it was up to us on how we want to present it and get everything done in two weeks. The problem was the problem itself. It was a business project that we had to assess every detail of using excel charts and equations. Everyone in the group had to do the full packet work for the final, and our job as a group was to be able to present all the information without explaining the number aspect of it, and splitting it into sections so everyone had a chance to explain something in the presentation.

Here's the problem... We were put into groups of 5-6 people total. No one knew what to do first, work together/work separately then compare, plan roles, pick sections, when to meet up etc. It's very awkward having to work with not only one person but a group of people where no one even knows each others name. Before the class ended I tried to take charge and ask for everyones number so we could have a group chat. Another girl agreed with me and said she would gather everyones number and create the chat since it is one of the fastest ways to contact people. However, when that happened, the girl miscommunicated to us and only sent us a text individually with her name and not a group chat with everyone. She also just told everyone to work on the packet individually and next class we would regroup and compare answers just to make sure we were all the same. It started to seem like a dictatorship because most of us in the group probably assumed she was the smartest in the class, like I did.

The first week after class no one could get ahold of each other except with the one girl. You could already see the group deteriorating because of the lack of communication. The next week of class only some people had the packet done, some were halfway done and some only did the first couple problems. It made it difficult because we still couldn't compare all the answers and stay on track.

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What ended up happening was we decided to just randomly pick a section from the packet and whoever chose first got that section, some people were left with just one choice or no option at all. What sucked the most is no one could meet up all at the same time so some girls did, and others just had to work on the shared powerpoint their-self not knowing if their answers are correct or not. There was no formal way of presenting because we all had different information and everyone was worried about what they were presenting. The group work was very unprepared, very unorganized, and very stressful.

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The only way to have successful group is is the plan accordingly, communicate with each other so everyone's ideas are heard, and to understand each other and how each other interacts. Great group work will maximize team effectiveness and productivity.

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