Study skills
Study support
Deakin students are frequently asked to complete assignments in groups. While working effectively with others can be a very productive and satisfying experience, it can also be a very challenging task.
For groups to be effective, members need to work together to complete a task. The way group members relate to one another and perform a variety of roles is known as the dynamics of the team. It is not just the individual members who determine the group dynamics; the means of communication they use also has an impact. Members of a group may have to relate and communicate in a number of ways: face-to-face as a whole group, through phone links, via email or other electronic communication, or a combination of these.
When groups are ineffective it is often because they lack focus. The dynamics of the group may be poor, allowing some people to dominate while others contribute little. Where communication is poor, things don’t get done. Time spent unproductively can be very destructive and lead students to feel angry and disillusioned.
By working in groups you gain experience and understanding about how tasks are often undertaken in the workplace. The successful completion of a group assignment usually means that you have mastered many very important skills, particularly communication, analytical and interpersonal skills, which are highly valued by employers. The abilities to listen, question, persuade, respect the opinions of others, help, share and participate are of lifelong value.
Working with others also allows for assignments to be broken into tasks and the workload to be distributed. By working together, students are able to bounce ideas off each other and learn from each other. Members can contribute different skills and thus the group can achieve more that what individual members could on their own.
Often you will have an opportunity to select whom you will work with but sometimes, particularly if you are an off-campus student, this decision will be made for you. If you have not previously met the other members of the group, spend some time getting to know each other. Invite members to talk about themselves and exchange addresses. You may find that you will be working with students from interstate, overseas and from a diversity of backgrounds and interests. Build a good working relationship.
It’s important for a group to establish an agreed set of protocols or ground rules for the way they behave and interact with each other. This might include respecting what people say, not talking behind their backs and encouraging open discussion.
Working on problems that are too general, not well defined or too large can be pitfalls. Clarify the purpose of the project and what skills you are expected to demonstrate. Have an agreed purpose and set achievable goals.
Get to know your task. Break it down into sub-tasks. Identify what parts can be done independently and what are interdependent. Have an agreed approach in terms of steps to be taken and a time line to show what tasks should be done by when.
A good group will capitalise on the strength of each member. Members of effective groups take on different roles to make sure the team runs smoothly and the goals of the group are achieved. Someone should be delegated to take on a leadership role and be responsible for guiding the process.
It is important to communicate about how to equitably allocate who does what in the group. The group might sort out roles according to their strengths, academic skills, preferred way of working or preferred roles. Decide on specific tasks and allocate these to individuals. Remember that because many tasks are interdependent, members of the group must work in a coordinated fashion.
So now everyone in your group knows one another, understands the task and has a clearly defined role. In order to maintain an effective working group, there are some further decisions that need to be made.
You need to agree on how frequently you should meet. Groups need to meet in order to work successfully. The contact needs to be frequent to maintain momentum, although exactly what this means depends on the scale and nature of the task.
Secondly, the group must determine what is the most effective means to communicate. While face-to-face meetings are generally the most productive, you are likely to find yourself using email, the telephone or other electronic means to correspond.
All this sounds quite sensible and straightforward, yet we know that working in groups can be fraught with problems. Interpersonal issues can arise. Students cannot always choose whom they work with, and they may have been accustomed to working in a competitive rather than a cooperative learning environment. Assert yourself suggests strategies that may help you handle such situations.
What can you do if you feel that a member of the group is not contributing? If a group member doesn’t do the work agreed upon, you might need to refer to your ground rules. Try and find out why they are not being productive. Some people are very shy and need positive encouragement. They may be stuck and require some help and direction. Students may find certain tasks very challenging so identify each other’s strengths and utilise them in the group.
Probably not all members will have the same level of motivation but if you can’t solve this issue, you may need to contact your lecturer.
Groups often have difficulty in acknowledging and resolving conflict. However, using conflict effectively can ensure thorough debate and lead to a deeper understanding of issues. People do not have to be confrontational or antagonistic to do it. Don’t mistake legitimate criticism for personal attack.
It may be necessary to negotiate diversity in your group and accommodate individual work habits. Share information about your work styles. Remember that diversity helps to make a team strong and flexible.
If some group members talk too much, suggest setting time limits in order to give each member a chance to speak. If a member of the group is dominating, you can politely point out that time is limited and refer to the ground rules.
While you may be relieved to find that working online isn’t always solitary confinement, be prepared to face some possible stumbling blocks that could be of a practical and interpersonal kind.
Successful group work depends on clear communication, developing good cooperative working relationships and ensuring that group members have clearly defined roles. However, it may be that you never have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with your team-mates when studying online.
Communication online is clearly different from face-to-face meetings. For a start, there are no cues from facial expressions, body language or voice intonation, all of which represent a major part of communication. Primarily, you communicate in cyberspace using typed language without any physical interaction.
In practical terms, it might be difficult to set up important meetings. You may need to establish a set time when all group members are available for a synchronous online conference.
An advantage of working online is that it can give you a chance to cool off before responding to a heated email.
For more information on this topic, read Working in groups online.
Related material on this topic that may be of interest to you:
The Deakin University Careers web site also has resources on working in groups in the workplace. In a successful group, the skills of each member are used in a manner that contributes to the success of the team.
