A class I took last spring included a semester-long group project as a major part of the class. This project was to conceptualize and go through the design process for a new technology. I worked in a 4-person group comprised of one friend and two people I had never met before. Each of us brought different perspectives and skill sets to the table. The mediums we used for collaboration were the class wiki, email, IM, chat, cell phones (both calls and SMS), and FtF meetings.
From the beginning, since one of my group members was a friend and two were strangers, the dynamic was slightly uneven. In addition, one of the members of my group did not show up to class on the first day we held group meetings, the three of us formed a mentality of “us” vs. “him”. For a good part of the semester, that mentality continued, as that group member was not very tactful in stating his beliefs and opinions and tended to be insulting and rude, which was difficult to work with. Since we communicated mostly through the internet, which tends to lead to a lack of conformity, the “us” vs. “him” mentality continued. However, when we worked together FtF, we tended to get slightly more done, with a diminished sense of the group divide.
In addition, a lack of work ethic on the part of some members of the group sowed resentment which undermined a positive group dynamic. We divided tasks according to the skill sets of each member, and each member’s part was usually needed by other members in a timely manner in order to be prepared with a complete and coherent assignment to turn in. Ultimately, this lack of synchronization caused others to have to pick up the slack and pull all-nighters to complete the work, causing the group to fail at effectively and pleasantly completing the project. Although we did turn in a completed project at the end of the semester, and in doing such, met our goal, member needs were not met, and therefore I would say without hesitation that we would not work together again.
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I had a very similar experience with a group that I worked with in class last semester. While none of our members were rude, there was one who rarely came to class because he seemed to have interviews every day. However, I wonder if in your group it would have been more effective to communicate to the outlying member primarily through CMC. Obviously he would not be excluded from FtF meetings, but I wonder what the effect would have been if work division and task description were described through e-mail rather than in person.
ReplyDeleteWow Nzingha, that is a difficult situation to be in. I can only imagine distance would add to the building tension in the group. I wonder, when using phone calls as a medium was it also difficult to get constructive and helpful cooperation? Did the group try to coordinate group meetings through some kind of video conference software? I think this might be a good alternative to the FtF when that is not possible.
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