Group Work, Essay Example

Working in groups has been a common occurrence for several decades not only in educational spheres, but also in work and social environments.  In the latter two situations, people usually break up into groups to brainstorm, something that is too difficult to do in a large gathering.  Although that same reasoning is sometimes present in educational settings, it is not the main reason in these locales.  In colleges and universities—and even high schools—the main objective of group work is to learn how to work effectively in such settings.  Knowledgeable and dedicated people with a healthy self-esteem and good people skills find such work enjoyable and productive.  For some, however, it is pure torture. Being an introvert, group work was somewhat difficult for me.

The task of the group to which I was assigned was to write a group paper.  If there was one thing that I could say that this group did great, it was dividing up responsibilities amongst its members.  We were able to do this on the very first day that we began working on this writing project.  We were also able to decide on our writing project topic on our very first day, something that is often the toughest part of group work.

Although our group, as a whole, lacked effective communication skills, one member was actually quite adept at it.  After each group meeting, that person would email all the members with the details of what occurred.  While some of us replied, the majority did not.  This was quite frustrating because those who did not respond, did not update either on what they were doing, with the result that the rest of the group did not know what to do.  Also, one member did not show up for most of the meetings, which resulted in the group being concerned about whether

this person would do the required work or whether somebody else would have to do it.  At the end of the day, all members completed their assigned parts; and the project turned out good.  However, at the beginning, it was rather scary when I looked at the condition of the group and wondered whether or not they would slack off.

One person took the lead, which helped us make some quick decisions and get started quickly.  I did most of the listening.  However, at times when I felt that something was not right or something should be added, I did speak up and sort of spit out my opinions.  However, when it came to the actual work, I did well.  Later, I became so concerned about one of the group not sending in the assigned work that I emailed this member reminders about the fast-approaching deadline.  Nevertheless, there were no actual slackers.  Everyone took responsibility and did his or her part.  The only conflict within the group revolved around emails not being replied to by certain members and that some of us had to constantly remind them about the deadline.

I am most proud of the fact that through my entire experiences of working in groups, I do not remember a time when I spoke up as much as I did in this group.  I had confidence in my opinions, and I stood up and shared what I felt.  As for dissatisfaction, I really did not feel that much, only just at first the fact of working in groups.  I like to get my work done as soon as possible. If there was something we could improve upon, it was communication.  My greatest challenge was sharing my ideas as it is difficult for me by nature to speak up.  The paper turned out great:  It went as we planned.  However, if we could start over, I would speak up more.