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November 24, 2007
Group Work
Many SI courses have a strong project component...usually, that translates to the often dreaded....group work!
I've done quite a bit of group work professionally and a small amount as an undergraduate. But this semester two of my four classes have semester long projects that require extensive group work.
Gratefully, both teams have been fabulous and I've learned some things that helped them become that way.
As part of one course, the professor spoke about two different personality types that affect group work: convergers & divergers.
Divergers are those who are the free thinkings, devise grand ideas, often go on tangents and like to explore many possibilities.
Convergers are people who like to encourage organization, they are more apt to provide the reality check to the far out dreams of the divergent in order to get the task completed.
We used these personality types to evaluate ourselves and help determine our own teams in the class.
Once my group formed, we started a team website and created bios that built on our converger/diverger details.
We included things like:
- personal interest in the project.
- skills we bring to the group.
- things we like to do and don't (public speaking, writing etc)
- other responsibilities that would compete for our time (family, other courses, job)
- frequency of internet/email use
etc.
I found this helpful because I got a quick yet comprehensive glimpse into each persons work habits, interests in the project, time constraints, communication style, how frequently someone replies to email and their expectation for when others should reply, experience working in teams...etc. It also allowed me to forecast where areas of tension could arise and encouraged the team to plan accordingly.
Other useful acts included creating a communication covenant (how the team would stay in communication, if email was the main medium, how often would we commit to checking it) and a team covenant (when we'd hold meetings, what to do if a member began to slack)
Obviously, if you have combative team members you will have more conflicts but most people are hear to learn, want to do well.
Group work is built into much of SIs coursework. because you will have to participate in it more than once your reputation among peers and professors, becomes important and can effect who will feel comfortable recommending you for jobs and if your peers will be willing to work with you on future projects.
(Often, when teams are assigned, professors allow you to detail who you are NOT willing to work with during the course.)
Posted by krosalia at November 24, 2007 07:41 PM