6 Tips To Pull off Your Group Project Successfully

Students often need to work in groups during college or university assignments. Educational institutions try to teach students the value of teamwork and pit them with their peers to do projects. However, since none of the students has any prior experience working as a team, it often becomes too chaotic. Some students try to be lone wolves and don’t consider the opinion and ideas of the other team members. Some students barely do any job, and all these lead to conflicts among the team. So, eventually, they resort to all assignment help services to complete their projects.

But even if you are not professional, you can still successfully pull off group projects by following these six simple rules –

1. Establish Group Goals

A team will never be able to move harmoniously if there are no set goals. Especially during group projects, there will be a medley of all kinds of students. You will find the toppers and backbenchers grinding it together in a college project. So, the group needs to decide who can lead and rally the rest of the students toward a common goal. The goal can be to complete the project within the deadline with equal contribution from each group member.

You must set this goal as early as possible. There will be numerous setbacks along the way, and you will find the project getting delayed. If all the group members can agree on the goal at the earliest, then it will be clear to everyone what they need to do.

2. Agree on How to Work

This is the next thing that a group should agree on. The work styles and ethics of every student are different. So, they need to be clear about agreeing on a middle ground and working together to complete the project. To decide on how to work as a collective, you need to get answers to these questions –

• How will we communicate?
• How often shall we meet?
• How can we record the minutes of the meetings?
• Who will be responsible for taking the minutes of the meeting?
• Who will speak with the professor when we are stuck?
• How frequently should we provide feedback to each other?
• How can we resolve any issues if they arise?

Note down the answers to all these questions and get them attested by all the group members. This avoids any petty conflicts in the future, and you can work without unnecessary hassle.

3. Promote a Creative Work Environment

This is the responsibility of the group leader to ensure that there is a positive work environment. Creativity thrives in a positive work environment, and the work will happen much faster. People won’t be shy or afraid to communicate with other group members. The group can engage in meaningful brainstorming sessions with better input from all the team members. These sessions can lead to unconventional ideas, which may be the key to scoring better grades.

All the group members should be open and receptive to all their ideas. Even if an idea doesn’t seem feasible, never laugh or demotivate that member. All the members must make a genuine attempt to understand their logic, and it should be discarded politely with proper counter-logic.

4. Engage in Constructive Conversations

When classmates gather around for a discussion, it often sidetracks from the main issue. It is common to find the group discussing a game or pop-culture movies when they were supposed to discuss the group project. So, it is the responsibility of every group member to ensure that the group remains engaged in constructive conversations.

Constructive conversations are also essential for the successful completion of the projects because it challenges everyone to work on their critical thinking skills. Through meaningful discussions, one team member can challenge the others intellectually. This will drive the group to work harder and better and arrive at a solution faster than ever.

Peer feedback is also an important mechanism to boost student confidence. They don’t have to worry about getting singled out by the teachers in a class during peer feedback. Receiving feedback from peers and reciprocating the same also fosters mutual respect and bonding.

5. Be Open to Cultural Differences

A persistent issue of most international campuses is they are unable to open to other cultures. Your college group may consist of students from different countries and socio-economic backgrounds. While it may feel strange to communicate with students from different nationalities at first, be proactive and open to befriend everyone. Students from diverse cultures can bring diverse perspectives.

Instead of discarding an idea up front, understand how it can be beneficial for the project. Also, do not stereotype any race. Clear your cultural nuances if required rather than believing a misconstrued idea. If everyone gets their perspectives clear, the work will happen smoothly without hiccups.

6. Maintain Cordial Relationships

It is wrong to assume that there will never be some conflicts during a group project. There can be differences of opinion, but that should not never cross a line. The group members have to understand that this was the objective of the exercise. Even if there are heated moments, everyone in the group must know how to keep aside their differences and work together for a common goal.

If you as a group leader notice that things are getting too heated up, don’t shy away from demonstrating your authority. Ask your peers to calm down and communicate in a relaxed tone. The main trick to assure a cordial relationship is getting as informal as possible. Try to meet outside work hours once a week. Go for group lunches or group activities to foster better interpersonal relationships.

That way, they can gradually become friends and not just peers. The newfound friendship will help the group to understand others better and pull off the projects more efficiently.

Summing Up:

Working as a team is only possible when there is cohesiveness and understanding among the team. So, follow these six tips and learn how to successfully complete your college and university projects as a team.

Author Bio:

Jen Manning has been offering urgent assignment help writing services to college students for the last ten years. She is currently one of the top-rated writers of MyAssignmenthelp.com, and she loves to play the violin in her spare time.