Group projects can be either a fantastic way to meet new friends, or they can be bane of your existence! After finishing up a term-long project for my MG213 Information Systems module, I have some fresh tips to help you make the best out of doing group projects for your courses. 

Scheduled Communication
In person or online meetings, a WhatsApp chat, and consistent check-ins to track progress can help group members stay focused and not fall behind. This also offers a way to make sure everyone pulls their weight, as you are constantly communicating rather than waiting until a few days before the deadline to ask what everyone has finished. In my project, we set up a recurring meeting at the same time every week to discuss our work, help each other with any issues, and plan our next steps. We also used a group chat to talk about any questions that came up in between meetings. 

Plan
Having a plan for what you want to get done by the next meeting breaks the project into bite-sized pieces that are more achievable. We sorted this out during each week’s meeting and if something could not be accomplished by the next week, we made sure to let everyone know and revise our plan to accommodate that. Starting early also makes planning the project easier and more flexible. 

Self-reflection
One final and important note is to track your own strengths and weaknesses to determine what parts of the project are best suited for you, or how you might be coming off to other group members. Try not to let stressful emotions dictate your interactions. As an impatient person, I wanted to finish the project a few days before the deadline, but this was not feasible with the other group members’ schedules. I had to realise and understand that from their perspective, which occurred through discussing our schedules and project progress in a calm manner. As for allocating different parts of the project, we used everyone’s interests and backgrounds to determine how we could best contribute, rather than stubbornly insisting on what part of the project we did or did not want to work on. 

This was one of the longest running group projects I have completed, and worth a large portion of my mark for the course. Despite encountering some challenges, I used communication, planning, and self-reflection to make it an enjoyable learning experience. Shout-out to my group members who also brought a bright attitude and made working together fun!