Partnered or Group Projects How will you improve your group’s chances for success?

Putting Partnered or Group Projects into the Correct Perspective There are two distinct perspectives on group work: students love it or students hate it. Why? Past Experience! I had great friends in my group. We got so much accomplished. I got the grade I wanted. I had so much fun. I learned more than I expected. My teacher assigned me to a group. I did all the work/ I was excluded from helping. I didn’t get the grade I needed. I didn’t have any fun. I didn’t learn anything.

Putting Partnered or Group Projects into the Correct Perspective WHERE MIGHT group work fail? Misunderstood expectations Unbalanced work loads Unclear communication within the group My teacher assigned me to a group. I did all the work/ I was excluded from helping. I didn’t get the grade I needed. I didn’t have any fun. I didn’t learn anything. How do we correct past issues for future success?

Putting Partnered or Group Projects into the Correct Perspective where CAN group work succeed? Members of the group must participate fully, sharing their expertise their time constraints and their expected outcomes of the task, in order for the group to be successful. When everyone communicates effectively, then they can work together, learn, and have fun completing their project. How do we correct past issues for future success?

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? ORGANIZE AN INITIAL MEETING WITH AN AGENDA. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? In the workplace, meetings and agendas are commonplace; in a class, this is less common but equally useful. Everyone’s time is important, so make your first meeting— and all meetings—as brief and informative as possible. An agenda is a useful tool to keep the group progressing through the material that needs to be covered. What should be discussed in an initial meeting? Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? ORGANIZE AN INITIAL MEETING WITH AN AGENDA. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? What should be discussed in an initial meeting? Introductions of the group members Trade contact information. Establish an acceptable timeframe for returning messages. Ground rules are needed so the group understands everyone is participating. (Ex. Is it okay to call during the workday or is texting okay after 10 PM ? Is it acceptable to return a call or a text within two days? Is one day preferred?) Who wants to participate in the project? Who might have trouble finishing the project because of home/work/other course time constraints? Establish roles and initial assignments. Decide what technology is needed to complete the project and make sure everyone can access it. Set the next meeting. Is it in person, on the phone, via Skype, or via email? What works best for this group? Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? ORGANIZE AN INITIAL MEETING WITH AN AGENDA. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? As a strong suggestion, take minutes for the initial meeting. Include all decisions made. Include all deadlines set. Include the date/time/manner of the next meeting. Send the minutes to all attendees and any of the group members who could not participate in the initial meeting so they, too, can help meet interim deadlines until the next meeting. Keep a record of the decisions and deadlines. Should the need to discuss rebalancing workloads arise, the data will be useful. Should your group need to discuss its progress with your instructor, again, the data will be useful. Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? ASSIGN GENERAL ROLES. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? For every project, no matter the course or the number of people involved, certain roles are useful. Assign one or more roles to each participant so everyone has a share of the responsibility and the success in the project. Who will lead a brainstorming session and create a formal outline? How will we divide the drafting responsibilities? Who will research background data? Who will collect/collate our information? Who will be lead editor of our content? Who will be lead creator of the digital component of our project? Who will maintain our deadlines, ensure we meet all assignment requirements, and submit our final product? Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? FIND OUT EVERYONE’S EXPERTISE. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? If one member of the group is a video editor and another is a data analyst for their jobs, then their tasks, to take lead on the digital component and the research component of the assignment, are fairly obvious. Some expertise isn’t as clear to define, however. Figure out what the group needs and which classmates have the talents best or closest suited to the task. After all, this is a learning experience, so being in a new role may offer you an opportunity to gain a new skill! Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met. The expert in anything was once a beginner.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? ASSIGN SMALL TASKS AND DEADLINES. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? One of the most common complaints instructors hear about group work is because of a failure to communicate: “We can’t get in touch with our peer. We don’t know if he’s done his part of the work. Should we go on without him?” “I can’t get in touch with the rest of my group. I’ve done my share, but they’re not letting me know about anything else. Should I complete this project on my own?” Without established ground rules for return calls and deadlines, in fairness to all involved, all an instructor can do is delay the project: “Try contacting your classmate/group one more time, but offer a deadline and copy your instructor on the email. State that your work is on schedule but if you don’t hear from anyone within 24 hours, you’ll move on with the project on your own.” Everyone wants a good grade, and nobody can afford to wait until the last minute to complete a group project. Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? ASSIGN SMALL TASKS AND DEADLINES. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? To avoid this common complaint and lack of communication, set small tasks and deadlines early in the project process. Day 1: Meet in person to choose topic. Day 3: Agree on outline for speech and choose which partner will complete which elements of research. Day 5: Email research findings to partner and choose which sections of the presentation to begin drafting. Day 7: Trade rough drafts. Day 9: Trade feedback on drafts. Day 10: Trade finalized copies. Begin practicing for oral presentation. Day 11: Trade slide drafts for oral presentation. Day 12: Trade finalized copies of slides and begin recording presentation. Day 13: One partner inserts all recordings into slides and sends final copy to peer for approval. Peer approves and submits it for a grade. For example, if you and a partner have two weeks to record an oral presentation and corresponding PowerPoint visual aid, this might be your set of deadlines: With lots of deadlines and good communication, peers should all know what work is complete and what is left for them to do. Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? COMPLETE FREQUENT CHECK-INS. How will you improve your group’s chances for success? With lots of deadlines and frequent good communication, peers should all know what work is complete and what is left for them to do. How frequent is enough communication? Contact your group by each established deadline, at a minimum, but it would be kind to contact them more often. What does good communication look like for a group project? Helpful Respectful Timely You don’t have time to waste and your grade is important to you. This is true for everyone else in the group, too. In every communication, offer helpful information as you complete your share of the tasks. Be respectful of your peers, your education, and the class as a whole. And, contact your group frequently or offer timely responses when they contact you. Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.

How will you improve your group’s chances for success? I wish you success in your next group project! Organize an initial meeting with an agenda and trade contact information. Assign general roles. Find out everyone’s expertise. Assign small tasks and deadlines. Complete frequent check-ins to ensure deadlines are met.