CTP Blog #3

                                                               Picture from Faculty Focus

In one of my CM classes from the Spring semester of 2021, I participated in one of the smoothest group projects I’ve had in college thus far, in terms of collaboration. The focus of this class was U.S. History, and for the final culminating project, we had to dissect America’s role in globalism. While it may sound like an easy assignment, it was quite complicated because we had to incorporate American globalism from three different avenues: past, present, and political/social. There were three of us, and we each had to have our own topics for each category as well, resulting in nine different discussions within one presentation that had to be cohesive. 

I was intimidated by this project initially because our instructor chose our groups, there was a lot of work that had to be done, and I was worried about how we would delegate responsibilities and agree on topics to present. My worry almost completely dissipated after our first group meeting in class. The three of us all had stickers on our laptops that displayed our interests, and that common ground allowed us to have a cordial conversation before getting into the nitty gritty of our assignment. Having that friendly and polite interaction beforehand definitely helped ease the tension and allowed us to feel more comfortable communicating with each other, which later resulted in us receiving a compliment from our instructor for demonstrating effective teamwork. 

Because we felt less uncomfortable with each other, it was easier for us to assign responsibilities and communicate our goals, boundaries, and ideas with each other. Since there were only three of us, we all shared equal responsibilities that a facilitator would have, such as finding times to meet outside of class, messaging our group chat for updates, and checking on each other throughout the whole process. We also established our goals and boundaries right away. For example, one of the members liked to set deadlines so we were all on the same page, and that was something that became useful for all of us and we all stuck to the deadlines we set for ourselves. According to Rachel Swain, the first and most important step in a group setting is to set clear goals: 

“It's a good idea to decide how often you'll meet, how you'll communicate with each other, and how the group will be led. This way, everyone is clear about what is expected of them. You should also ensure that all team members have a shared understanding of the project. Discuss how you can best divide the task up to work to the advantage of everyone within the group,” (3 Tips for Successful Group Work | Prospects.ac.uk, n.d.). 

Establishing goals and setting boundaries is such an integral part of group work because it sets the foundation for everything else. Effective communication is also very important and it’s imperative that every member of the group can freely share their ideas. I have had bad group experiences in the past, but I am fortunate to have this good one to think about and rely on for future group work.

3 tips for successful group work | Prospects.ac.uk. (n.d.). Prospects. https://www.prospects.ac.uk/applying-for-university/university-life/3-tips-for-successful-group-work