The perks of group work at the University level and beyond

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Moises Fuertes/Staff Writer

Most of us begin our courses with a syllabus in hand which includes a group project. From my experience, the majority of students dread the assignment.

They shouldn’t.

Perhaps the most valuable, and real world, experience our courses attempt to emulate are those that revolve around groups. The reality is that wherever we end up working, we will have to do so with other people. Yet, according to Susan M. Heathfield, a human resources expert of the Society for Human Resource Management, “few understand how to create the experience of teamwork or how to develop an effective team.”

There is, however, a very distinct difference between work groups and teams. In a nutshell, work groups are classified as dependent or independent, where the main difference is how much supervision each member has from some type of authoritative figure, such as a manager.

On the other hand, the type of group work that is done at the university level is interdependent, meaning that everyone relies on one another to get the work done. This type of group has the highest potential to become a team. Incidentally, teams are known to produce the best results in any work environment.

The key here is that everyone must be a manager of sorts while working with a team. The playing field can only be even if everyone is responsible enough to work hard, swap roles on the go and emphasize the team above their own ambitions. This is the direction I believe our courses at FIU lead group work, and each semester I see groups struggle and some students fail miserably.

Students don’t seem to realize that successful teams create their reality through hard work.

I’ve had members who never communicate, never show up to the class and don’t even bother to come to team meetings. These students all have one main thing in common: irresponsibility.

They all rush at the end of the semester to try and get with the group, perform poorly in the work that they do and always disappoint everyone involved. I think this type of experience is why students dislike group projects, as there is a chance of ending up with a team member that is useless.

Here is some advice: let them sink.

A person that shows that type of attitude in the workplace would be fired. It’s that simple. Consider it a learning experience for that member and move on.

Inversely, I’ve had members that rise to the tasks, communicate effectively and interchange their roles to fit all situations. In these cases, the experience has been positive and fulfilling, and it has shown itself through the work done.

This too is part of the experience that these projects are meant to give us, all while giving us insight that we will likely use after we graduate.

The lessons are there for those who wish to see them.

moises.fuertes@fiusm.com 

Source:

1. “How to Build Successful Work Teams,” via About.com