OT- Group dynamics for a school project

[Chuck Wintle]

This is quite off topic but since there are many knowledgeable folks on this forum here goes.

My son, for his final year in university in Civil Engineering, has to do a group project involving an aspect of Civil Engineering. Currently he is very fed-up and frustrated by the lack of cooperation and effort of the other group members. he is telling me some do not show up to the weekly meetings, some only turn in poor work when asked to do something and today he says that the meeting went into a meltdown with accusations coming from everyone. He tells me they all expect to earn an A+ yet do little or no work. So much for the group dynamic. My question is this....What can be done to get this group back on track if anything. I don't how to advise my son on this.:(

[Rob Russell]

Treat it like a management exercise. Track who shows up, who does what and to what quality level. Share that information with the group and make it clear that he'll turn in his assessments with the project. Welcome to the real world.

[Greg Funk]

Get rid of the deadweight. Going through the process of 'firing' one or two underperforming group members will bring the issue to a head even if they aren't technically allowed to eliminate members.

Greg

[Rob Wright]

I had the same thing in my Civil Engineering Senior Design Class. I approached both the faculty adviser and the public sector "Client" and asked if one person could be the project manager. I explained the situation - and I told them that I wanted to delegate seperate areas of the design to each member. We had to each explain the final design of each of our areas in a final oral presentation to the senior design class, faculty and "clients". We were graded both on our individual portion as well as the team design. It was very apparent at the presentation who did and what and who didn't do it. I think that I was able to pull off my "A" since I attempted to address this issue, and I was on top of a majority of the design. I answered the questions straight to the point when asked why things were incomplete - I wanted to get a job out of it and wasn't really looking at keeping friends from my group. Tell him to take the reins and don't look back.

I don't even want to hire new grads right now - If I was in the Gen X generation these kids are in the Entitlement Generation and think that everything should be handed to them!

- Rob

[Wes Bischel]

As Rob said "Welcome to the real world". There is a reason for the group project senior year - your son is learning how to work (or not) with peers. :rolleyes:
One way to go is to begin building a coalition from a core group that wants to get things done. In other words build a team and get moving - others will follow if smart enough. As Rob mentioned document everything, in a constructive manner. Meeting minutes with attendees listed, bulleted discussion points (avoid long paragraphs like this), and most important - on page one, top of the page - action items - responsible parties and completion dates. CC the instructor if necessary/required.
When items are completed make sure they are noted as well - positive reinforcement. If other steps are being delayed due to inaction, that is noted. It is a simple and fairly passive device that puts pressure on all parties to perform usually without confrontation. When I was managing projects the minutes were a very good tool for clear communication and could be an easy tool when leverage was needed.
Naturally all of this took place after the team was formed and had a kick-off meeting to lay the project out including key milestone points and dates.

I wish him luck. Just remind him, that from this, the major take-away is to learn about team dynamics/dysfunction. Yes his grade is important, but if he learns the ins and outs of working together.

OK off the soapbox now.:D
Wes

[Bob Rufener]

I would tell him to talk with his professor and explain the situation. It is definitely unfair to your son to have to be stuck with a couple of lazy kids who don't want to pull their fair share of the load.

[Todd Franks]

Like everyone else said, it's a foreshadowing of the working world. I would suggest to use it as a learning opportunity for your son. Slackers like your son's group members in the working world may get by in the short term, but in the long term they usually get what's coming to the them in the form of unemployment. My attitude is you sometimes have to make up for slackers. You may get rewarded or you may get screwed. But one guarantee, if you join the slackers you're going to get screwed more often than rewarded.


I don't even want to hire new grads right now - If I was in the Gen X generation these kids are in the Entitlement Generation and think that everything should be handed to them!

Rob, I think you mean Gen Y. According to Wikipedia, Gen Y was born in the 80's and 90's. Gen X was born in the 60's and 70's which I suspect is a large number of the membership here.:eek: As a Gen X'er I don't consider myself the entitlement generation. I consider myself apathetic, cynical, disaffected, a streetwise loner and a slacker:D (description from Wikipedia for GenX).

[Matt Meiser]

That doesn't really suprise me, and its not a new phenomemon. Over 12 years ago when I was working on my senior project (EE) it was a pretty similar situation, and not just on my team. And over the past 12 years I've seen it happen more than a few times in the "real world" at a major engineering firm--everyone from young new hires to good-ole-boys who'd been there 30 years--actually they were the worse because about the only thing they did was watch each others' backs. To coin a cliche, life's not fair (I'm sure he'd love to hear that one again!)

If he goes to complain, I could see that working against him. If he goes in for advise on getting his team back on track he'll get a lot more respect from the professor.

Every project needs a project manager. This might be an opportunity for him to give that a try--not by appointing himself to be the project manager, but by stepping up and taking on the role. Dividing up the project with a project plan and assigning due dates and responsibilities is a great way of holding people accountable. Plus, its how its done in that pesky "real world." It won't make someone do something, but it will sure help to point out who is and isn't pulling their weight.

Of course I'm just an apathetic, cynical, disaffected, a streetwise loner/slacker. :D