Saturday, February 13, 2010
Dealing with Time Pressures in Groups
When it comes to working in groups, time is always one if the main factors that are against us. We all procrastinate and wait last minute when it comes to projects and class work but there is a way to avoid all of this last minute stress. When working in groups planning and coordinating the work load help with effective decision making. Proper planning is key when you have multiple people working together in a group. An example that the Small Group Communication book gives is a professional corporation is working on team building and they are given a task of moving their twelve members from wooden platform to another with only two other wooden planks. They were given five minutes the first time but with so many people working together at once with so little time they were unable to achieve their goal. The second time they were given no time limit and while all working together and organizing their ideas as well as coming up with ideas and a plan through trial and error the group was able to succeed in their task with only taking twelve minutes. When we are assigned group projects in this class working together and listening to each other can help get the work done without the pressures of time breathing down our backs. Just remember to listen to everyone in your group and come up with a solid plan of action before you jump in to anything.
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The example you have given the book is really helpful. It describes a group that we have all been in, crunching everything together at the last second. With the proper plan and ample time that you described, a group will always perform better than when under stress. A group with good time management skills will be able to lay there ideas out better and create a very good project. When we are short on time the group never has enough time to think out their ideas. Laying groundwork for your group project then brainstorming ideas is always better with more time. What I got from this post is that in order to successfully create a group project there should be an agenda that is set forth from day one so time is never short.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree and say that when working in groups time is a main factor that tends to go against us. The example you used from the book help solidify what the main concept means. Group is tricky but with the right knowledge group work can be a great experience. Things like good listening, leadership, and time effective skills are all great techniques used to conduct proper group work. In my personally opinion time management is the most important part of group work and without it the group will suffer greatly. This is very useful information for use to be ready up on with all the group work we have been doing lately.
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