This page give you information about undertaking all kinds of groupwork, not just group presentations.

Groupwork is an increasing part of university assessments as institutions respond to the needs of employers and student demands for employability skills. However, many students resent relying on other people to complete work that could influence their own grades. Some subject areas purposely include groupwork in first year modules which are less likely to influence degree classifications, others include participation factors into the assessment criteria.

Groupwork should be seen as a positive learning experience than can genuinely engender skills that you will need to demonstrate to future employers. Approach it with a positive mind-set and you will also get positive grades.

Shedding the individual mindset

Admittedly, individual achievement is encouraged throughout education - you gain admission to university, write essays and take exams as individuals. You are even punished for colluding in most assignments. With groupwork you need to shed this mindset. Cooperative working is key, much as it is in most workplaces. It is also essential, if for example one of your group does not reference their sources, you will ALL be penalised. It is important therefore to discuss such things and check everyone is pulling their weight.

Theories of group working

The most commonly quoted theoretical work about group work is that of Belbin's Team Roles. Belbin suggested that a successful team needs nine different roles to be performed (some members can perform more than one role). The theory was specifically developed for management teams but it can be applied in other areas too. An overview can be found here: Belbin Team Roles. There are also several books in our library, including an eBook: Team Roles at Work.

The other major theory is Tuckman's model of team stages. The four stages of forming, storming, norming and performing are all said to be necessary for effective groupwork. An overview can be found here: Tuckman's Theory.

The following site gives links to several other theories which you can explore more: Theories of Team Building.

How to deal with several groupworking issues

Conflict
You may need to be sensitive to cultural issues to deal with conflict between members.

People from different backgrounds have different ways of dealing with conflict. A cooling off period is nearly always a good idea. Talk it through with each other (in sub-groups if necessary) and try to come up with solutions that do not involve ‘loss of face’ which must be avoided at all costs in some cultures. Involve your tutor if you need advice.

Remember too that group members may express their feelings in different ways. For instance, if someone is upset they may manifest it by crying, sulking, shouting, keeping quiet or being extra sarcastic. If someone is acting oddly, take the time to find out if everything is OK.

If it is YOU that is in conflict with another group member, then remember that the others may not see things the same way as you and may not recognise your issues. Take the time to explain them, even if you find it difficult, people cannot help or change unless they understand fully.

Time management
Different people have different ways that they think about time. This can be cultural or it can just be personal. Just because someone is always late to your meetings does not necessarily mean they do not care about the work. Some people like to get work done as soon as it is set, some only work well close to a deadline.

In your initial meetings talk this through and find out how other people feel and how they like to work. If you know what to expect from your fellow group members you are less likely to get stressed by it. Set some ground rules that are about minimum expectations so that you at least feel you are making forward progress.

Language differences
In some groups you will be lucky enough to have people from different backgrounds who speak different languages. This can be a real benefit because more interesting ideas come from more diverse teams. There may however be issues to do with communication and understanding when your group members speak different languages. The strategies that you use to overcome this are part of a set of 'internationalisation' skills that you need to develop.

Many domestic students see the language issues as someone else's problem: that the international students simply need to improve their English. This is not true. The ability to communicate well when there are language differences is a skill that EVERYONE needs to learn. Understanding English spoken in many different accents can be an extremely useful skill to develop. You will also be helping fellow students at the same time.

One of the key skills is to be honest and open when you do not understand something. Not being embarrassed if you have to ask someone to repeat something or explain it in a different way, is something many students find difficult. Equally, not being offended if you are asked to repeat something several times is an attitude that you need to develop. Whether you are an overseas student who doesn’t understand something a domestic student has said or if you are a domestic student who doesn’t understand something an overseas student has said JUST ASK – again and again if necessary (apologising for your own lack of ability at the same time).

Remember that words are only part of how we communicate. Facial expressions, gesture and other body language can all help understanding.

Dominant members
There are various ways of dealing with members of the group who want to dominate all the discussions. The first is to try to avoid the situation in the first place. It is a good idea to write out some ‘ground rules’ fairly early on in your group meetings (after you have had a bit of social time to get to know each other).

Consider the following tactics:

Have a rotating chair, where different people are responsible for ensuring full group participation each time you meet.
Have some parts of each meeting where people write down ideas individually and then you talk about them as a group.
Use a talking stick where only the person holding the stick can talk.

If you suspect that YOU are the one trying to dominate (do you always want the stick?) then you need to remember the goals of the project and think about the other skills you could develop if you listened to and negotiated with your other group members.

Free-loaders
Quite often you have a group member that does not pull their weight: not attending meetings, missing deadlines, not completing work assigned to them.

Again, this is something that can be more of a problem if you do not start off right. A lot of students who are thought to be freeloading are actually either finding the work really difficult (in which case you can help), are struggling to find time (perhaps due to other assignments or family or work commitments) in which case you can help by being more flexible with meeting times, ways of communicating etc or they are having other very real non-university problems (in which case you can sympathise and suggest they talk to the tutor to see what can be done).

If they are genuinely just not bothered, this could be due to different personal goals and these should be talked about in the early meetings so that you are aware of how each other feels about the work and how important it is to each other.

Many group work assignments give you the opportunity to rate the input from your fellow group members and marks are awarded accordingly. Alternatively you may need to submit minutes of meetings or contribute to a forum. Non-contributions are therefore noted. If you have a bad freeloader in your team the other members may have to share out their workload to make sure everything is covered - but at least they are unlikely be getting rewarded for your hard work.