The Challenge of Working in Groups

Over the course of the last two days I have been actively working on my first group project of my college career. I have found this to be a challenge to say the least. The project is a group presentation lasting 25 minutes detailing a chapter from our textbook, specifically "Communication and the Mass Media." I won't bore you with the small details, just know that we need to include a PowerPoint presentation along with an outline and a class handout. The work is not the challenging part, although the chapter is rather long.

The challenging part about this assignment is the people that I have to work with. As with any group, certain people assume certain roles. There are five of us within the group, one seems to be controlling and overbearing which is supposedly necessary for the leadership of the group. However, this person in particular has been making everything more complex than it needs to be. Another member of our little group doesn't seem to care much about the project at all but simply seems to think that she has better things to do than to waste her time doing classwork with the rest of us. The remaining two members of the group, excluding myself, are quiet and passive and have little input for the task at hand; it is my belief that either they wish the project was simply over with by now or that they are trying to avoid doing the work. I'm not sure where that leaves me, I have been simply trying to make the project as easy as possible as well as keeping it from being overly time consuming.

I made the mistake of offering my services as a graphic designer, a mistake I often make in such situations. This makes me more valuable to the group but unfortunately this leads to the group leaning on my skill set in order to complete the assignment. As a result, as usual, I will do the majority of the work. I will most likely single-handedly generate the PowerPoint presentation on my own and I predict that the handout and outline will also be products of my work. Had I not offered my talents, I wonder if I could have faded into the rest of the group and gotten away with doing a smaller amount of work. I know the answer to that. I can never simply be a small part of any group that I'm involved in; it is in my nature to take some leadership responsibilities and to help out as much as I can. Although this makes me question myself, does it make me a good leader or am I just being used for my talents to benefit the group? I'll let you be the judge.

May your work flow smoother than mine,
J.F.Q.