Whether at academic or professional levels, working in groups can be very tedious and demanding. In fact, if you are not the patient type, be ready to lose your sanity at almost every point in time. This can be frustrating and depressing at the same time. Although teamwork is challenging, it also can be rewarding and can help you complete tasks quickly. You can overcome the challenges of working on a team by having commitment, a positive attitude and an open mind (Bee, 2018).
One of the major challenges of group assignments to students is coordination costs. They represent time and energy that group work consumes that individual work does not, including the time it takes to coordinate schedules, arrange meetings, meet, correspond, make decisions collectively, integrate the contributions of group members, etc. The time spent on each of these tasks may not be great, but together they are significant. Coordination costs can’t be eliminated, nor should they be: after all, coordinating the efforts of multiple team members is an important skill. However, if coordination costs are excessive or are not factored into the structure of group assignments, groups tend to miss deadlines, their work is poorly integrated, motivation suffers, and creativity declines (CMU, 2018).
Group coordinators or instructors should take cognizance of the fact that coordination costs increase with the following factors:
- Group size. The more people in the group, the more schedules to accommodate, parts to delegate, opinions to consider, pieces to integrate, etc. Smaller groups have lower coordination costs.
- Task interdependence. Tasks in which group members are highly reliant on one another at all stages tend to have higher coordination costs than tasks that allow students to “divide and conquer”, though they may not satisfy the same collaborative goals.
- Heterogeneity. Heterogeneity of group members tends to raises coordination costs, especially if there are language issues to contend with, cultural differences to bridge, and disparate skills to integrate. However, since diversity of perspectives is one of the principle advantages of groups, this should not necessarily be avoided (CMU, 2018).
Some of the strategies to employ in solving the challenge identified above are:
- Keep group sizes small.
- Designate some class time for group discussions.
- Make use of group resumes or skills inventories to help teams delegate subtasks.
- Remember to assign roles (e.g., group leader, scheduler) or encourage students to do so.
- Point students to digital tools that facilitate remote and/or asynchronous meetings.
- Sound the warning to students/employees about time-consuming stages and tasks.
- Actively inculcate communication and conflict resolution skills in those involved in the assignment.
- Designate time in the project schedule for the group to integrate parts (CMU, 2018).
Another means of overcoming the challenges of group projects is to emphasize the importance of teamwork. Before the groups are formed and the task is set out, teachers should make clear why this particular assignment is being done in groups. Students are still regularly reporting in survey data that teachers use groups so they don’t have to teach or have as much work to grade. Most of us are using groups because employers in many fields want employees who can work with others they don’t know, may not like, who hold different views, and possess different skills and capabilities (Weimer, 2014).
Furthermore, instructors should use team-building exercises to build cohesive groups. Members need the chance to get to know each other, and they should be encouraged to talk about how they’d like to work together. Sometimes a discussion of worst group experiences makes clear to everyone that there are behaviors to avoid. This might be followed with a discussion of what individual members need from the group in order to do their best work. Things like picking a group name and creating a logo also help create a sense of identity for the group, which in turn fosters the commitment groups need from their members in order to succeed (Weimer, 2014).
Also, request interim reports and group process feedbacks. One of the group’s first tasks ought to be the creation of a time line—what they expect to have done by when. That time line should guide instructor requests for progress reports from the group, and the reports should be supported with evidence. It’s not good enough for the group to say it’s collecting references. A list of references collected should be submitted with the report. Students should report individually on how well the group is working together, including their contributions to the group. Ask them what else could they contribute that would make the group function even more effectively (Weimer, 2014).
Another obvious problem of working in groups is that some members are fond of not making any form of meaningful contributions. To ensure this problem becomes a thing of the past, it may be beneficial to: explain why a member is quiet or not participating; assure all members that all opinions will be valued; and finally, ensure that each member gets their turn to contribute, this may mean ‘going around the circle’ (TUQ, 2018).
Another usual problem encountered in this kind of scenario is intellectual costs. They refer to characteristics of group behavior that can reduce creativity and productivity. These include:
- Groupthink. This is the tendency of groups to conform to a perceived majority view.
- Escalation of commitment. This is the tendency of groups to become more committed to their plans and strategies – even ineffective ones – over time.
- Transparency illusion. This is the tendency of group members to believe their thoughts, attitudes and reasons are more obvious to others than is actually the case.
- Common information effect. This is the tendency of groups to focus on information all members share and ignore unique information, however relevant.
In order to overcome this problem, precede group brainstorming with a period of individual brainstorming (sometimes called “nominal group technique”). This forestalls groupthink and helps the group generate and consider more different ideas. Further, encourage group members to reflect on and highlight their contributions in periodic self-evaluations (CMU, 2018).
References
CMU (2018). What are the Challenges of Group Works and How Can I Address Them? Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/challenges.html
TUQ (2018). Problems Associated with Group Work. Retrieved from https://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/learning/problems-associated-group-work
Weimer, M (2014). 10 Recommendations for Improving Group Work. Retrieved from https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/10-recommendations-improving-group-work/
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(C) 2021, Alan Elangovan, All Copy Rights Reserved.