For my final project in one of my game classes, I got stuck with a horrible group. There are three other people in my group and I have been forced to carry the load. I need advice, for having to contend with these three incompetent and ignorant slackers eats into all of my other priorities.
Communication has been the biggest issue in the group. When I try to communicate with them through Discord, I usually get no response, not even a brief explanation as to why they cannot respond. In class, when I try making suggestions, they do not care and continue doing the same inefficient work. One of them even told me to be more clear when communicating, but I have been very clear in communication throughout the project.
In the class, while all of the other groups had specialized roles for each person (as in, one person does art, one person does music, etc.), what happened in my group was each person did a different build. This resulted in four different builds that I had to compile into one build, and took time out of my already crowded schedule. Prior to compiling, all four of these builds lacked the same cohesion exhibited by the other group projects. It was very inefficient and resulted in an inferior product, but my group did not care. As of now, no one has done extra significant work for the project but me.
Worse, the personal qualities of my group are severely wanting. So far, each of them has been absent for at least one class, and they usually do not notify us until the day of. I will go into detail about each of them here. The first is an ignorant slacker who does not appear to have a good grasp of English. He rarely communicates. The second has the same issues as the first, but is even worse. He is a 21-year old sophomore who was the first of my group to be absent for a day. Why? On the day of his absence, he told the group he was studying with a friend in Washington D.C. “and I drunk” (he actually said that on Discord). The third is more competent than the other two combined. Though he is the least unpleasant to communicate with, he communicates the least, and recently took up a job that happened around the same time as class. This resulted in him being late to class and he did not tell us his excuse until after class started. The next class, the last class before break, he was absent without leave. Interacting with these guys has showed them to not take the project seriously, which was a slap to the face.
If your disdain shows to them the way it does to us, can’t blame them for not wanting to talk to you. And sometimes that is the way real life is (I know because I am a project manager, and often people are assigned that lack the skills or time or can’t communicate effectively - I still am on the hook to try to get the work done on time).
Can you schedule a meeting outside of class where you plan the remaining work, then write down a schedule & assignments? If someone misses class, email (so they have in writing) what they need to know, and ask them to please reply so you know they got it.
Your non-native English speakers may require extra checkins to make sure they really understand what is needed. They might not want to admit when they don’t.
If they say you aren’t communicating clearly — maybe you aren’t. Maybe you know more technically and you said something that is over their head. Or they missed it because English isn’t their first language. When you are communicating, go slowly and make sure they get it before moving on.
Bottom line—sometimes when you want a good grade, you have to lead the group, and do more of the work.
This happens a lot. Group work is a total crapshoot. Oftentimes it is the person who cares the most about their grades who carries the major burden of the project. Slackers figure out fast that other people will do the work for them. Sadly, there is little you can do other than allocate the work in such a way that one screw up doesn’t ruin what else has been done. Maybe reach out to the non-slacker who has a job and appeal for help. Otherwise, suck it up and either do all the work or prepare for a poor grade. I hope this isn’t a huge chunk of your class grade.
@intparent I will confess that the group got off to a horrible start that is partially my fault. I initially proposed an idea and, seeing that there was no opposition, though that the group was going along with it. It was not until the alpha due date that the group started to voice their opposition to the idea. In order to keep them on track, I ended up having to be bossy. While I will take the blame for being bossy (albeit with good intentions), the other members of my group are still not clear of blame because they did not bring their objections sooner. They only brought their objections at the last minute.
After the alpha presentation, a group vote decided to change the project idea. The problem here is that the other three members of the group still did not carry their ends of the project, even though it was no longer my idea. I was still forced to carry out most of the work simply because they were not doing efficient work and not voicing constructive opinions on Discord. I will accept the possibility that they may be inactive just to get back at me, but I think that possibility is unlikely. They only started having absences after the project idea was changed.
I personally hate group projects and chose a career (trial attorney) where I do not have to participate in group work. Group projects were not a thing when I was in HS or college the way it seems it is now.
OP, if you are in a major where people will do group work in real life, you need to learn to deal with this now. Either that or switch majors/careers.
My S17 is in a major where group work is required. He had some bad experiences in HS and we discussed what he could do in college to make things go differently. I told him to scan each class where group projects were required and where the prof did not assign the group members and select promising candidates and then approach them asap to recruit them. I told him to look for people whose skills and abilities complemented his but did not necessarily duplicate them. For instance, if a project needed an artist, recruit one early because he is not an artist. Then, at the first meeting, have everyone choose their task. If the group has been formed properly, each person will choose a different task. Put that all in writing. S17 gets a googledoc accessible to all members. Then, set up a meeting schedule for people to report on their progress. My son has learned that just exchanging texts or emails isn’t enough, because people lie. There has to be a physical meeting. S17 has his groups meet in the cafeteria so they can eat and chat. Each member has to display their ongoing work. This method has worked well for him. He has done this in several classes and has told me that his group projects have all gone well since he began putting the effort in to try and form a cohesive group. When he is an assigned group, he will initiate a meeting with the other members and try to follow the same format. I wanted my son to do this because he is not a naturally outgoing leader type, but he can lead if he puts his mind to it.
For this project, I would try to call one in person meeting and tell everyone that you have the emails, etc., where they admit slacking or whatever and that if the project isn’t done and submitted properly, you may go to the professor. You will lose friends and people may hate you, but if your GPA is the end all and be all, make your choice.
@techmom99 I actually value group work because in the game industry all companies rely on it to produce games. It just so happens that I unfortunately got stuck with these three slackers, and only because all of the other groups were taken.
Also, I already have gone to my professor several times about my group’s failings. He does not seem to care.
I had a feeling you might be someone who values the group work. My D’s bf works for Google and his work entails a lot of team and group work. Done well,by people who enjoy that type of dynamic, it can be very good. I, personally, prefer to work alone and so I opted for a career that allows me that luxury.
Since you have already gone to the professor to no avail, I suggest just doing the best you can and documenting that you have gone to the prof and tried to work with your fellow group members.
For any projects in the future, I recommend the method I worked out with my son. It has improved the quality of his group projects and his interactions with his group mates.
Group work in the real world is nothing like group work in school. Nothing. I work in IT and we always have cooperative projects but anyone who “mailed in” their portion of the project would be out the door in no time flat. There is no room for slackers in a competitive workplace and all development environments are competitive. It’s completely false that the scenario you hit here will be replicated in the workplace. Yes, you need to learn to work with people but no, you don’t need to learn to tolerate coworkers who don’t contribute.
Professors don’t care because a. they think you are whining and b. there’s nothing they can do anyway. They have to let students “work it out” because the rules of group work dictate that they treat you all as one group, not individual students.
OK, let me give you the teacher’s perspective on this. My class has homeworks and final projects for which the students organize themselves into groups. I tell them at the beginning of the course I don’t want to hear about problems with the group dynamics and I’m not the referee of the group division of labor. Nevertheless I hear about problems from 2-4 groups per course, out of 35 or so. I tell the complainers they can switch groups if they can find another to let them in. Things usually work out OK, but once it got really bad with threats of litigation etc., and I had to send them all a savage letter telling them to get their act together or else. (They did.)
I teach at a well known business school and as other posters here point out, projects in the corporate real world are usually done in groups. Learning to work in groups is part of the education at our school. If students can’t get it together, they need to figure out some way to cope, like it or not. Whining to the teacher is a poor way of dealing with this challenge. But in my course, it’s up front in the syllabus that 60% of the grade is group projects, and the groups self-select. I can’t really imagine how to cope for someone arbitrarily placed in a group when the other students won’t work. Maybe I’d let the teacher know discreetly what the situation was, that I didn’t expect any enforcement, but that I planned to do all the work myself if necessary, and was confident I could make the project a success.
So I assume you have “boss” status presently for this group.
Alas, I feel for you. But you admit you’ve made errors with this group.
My D has run across the same scenario. More than once.
Her GOAL has been to finish a project where HER part was very visible to showcase her talents despite the lack of talent in some other areas. It needed to be something portfolio worthy.
She has way too often done most of the work. But the goal is to do work to her standard.
She’s always been the “boss” so far in these settings. She just always has the most experience.
As to communications and sometimes a foreign language barrier. Put those people together. Make your group comfortable working with one another.
Clearly defined goals and expectations with specific DUE dates.
Have a VERY clear idea of the real talents of your group. The “worst” person may be the best speaker and do a great presentation.
I don’t know what Discord is actually as a communication device. But sticking with something that
isn’t working is like digging a hole in soft sand. Obviously you have e-mail–use something common and easy for everyone in your group.
Sounds like a program named Harmony or Responsibility might be a better choice for group projects…
One possible strategy (although with some drawbacks in that the prof may find it irritating) is to go to office hours and show them what you’ve done so far. Note in calm voice that you haven’t had any input from group members yet, and you want to be sure you’re on the right track.
I personally hated group work in college. I joked for years that my tag line should have been #doesntplaywellwithothers. It’s a control thing for me along with hating procrastination which always seems to happen in groups. I will also say that I didn’t like it in my professional life but thankfully I choose a career that didn’t require it much (and when it did, I was actually the boss).
I can empathize but the bottom line is that you need to figure out how to get this done. My daughter is much better at group work than I was, and actually likes it, but also has had some struggles with crummy team members. Seems like part of the learning experience these days. Her approach now is taking the first meeting to figure out everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, along with likes/dislikes. She usually starts by sharing her own which often breaks the ice with others. They then try to breakdown the project responsibilities based on that. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t and they have to make adjustments. I don’t know how long you have left in your semester to try to regroup with this team but it sounds like you need a face to face with everyone.
@morningsider In business, if one person isn’t doing their job you should go to the boss so that the boss can talk to them. ANd if they don’t increase the effort, they will get fired.
I should think you would have structures in place to ensure that all do some of the work and that a poorly performing person can get “fired”.
OP: I would talk to your professor during office hours and tell the the methods that you have used to try to get the others to contribute and ask for advice.
Bopper, instead of having some system to make sure everybody works, I let them know I don’t care who does what. If they want to draw straws to have one person do all the work for the group, that’s OK with me, and everybody gets the same grade. In fact if I were a student, I’d group up with the most capable person in the class and offer to get the pizza and do their laundry while he or she did the whole assignment. Some students have difficulty understanding this attitude, but others do get it. In basketball, there’s no rule saying every player in a game has to take the same number of shots.
I have to disagree with that approach, Morningsider. A group project usually includes enough work for 3 or 4 people. Saddling one student with all the work defeats the purpose of having a group, doesn’t it?
In my opinion, each member should actively contribute, and when they don’t, they should not get the same grade as the others. I once had to complete a group self-evaluation sheet on which we evaluated our group members’ performance, and that evaluation was part of each student’s grade.
You mentioned basketball - of course players don’t take the same number of shots. Players have different roles. Everyone has a job that together forms the team. Your approach promotes the opposite of teamwork.
My son had to do most of the work for a group more than a few times in HS. It’s in no way like a work environment where, as others mentioned, people can get fired for not doing their share. If other people don’t care about their grades, there isn’t much one can do. That said, there are definitely a few things a self-appointed group leader can do better, e.g. distribute work early and consensually, send frequent reminders, set intermediate deadlines, not come across as bossy and disdainful, etc.
@yucca10 Right now, a major section of the project will be due at midnight this Sunday. My patience with the group has ran its course at this point, since all of my other projects have suffered. The one person in charge of the social media for the project has not responded to a single message on Discord since he said he would take up the task, and he was absent without leave the last class before the week ended. I posted two long posts on the Discord to convey that my patience has ran out and the magnitude of the project. I requested communication, but none of them responded.
It doesn’t sound like anything is going to change. Do your best and hand in what you can. Not sure why you think two long posts criticizing your teammates would be more effective than one.
@StipendAwarded Boy, I feel for you. My D has found herself doing the majority of group work several times in order to maintain her GPA. Like you, she tried several times to make it a “group effort” but if someone else or everyone else is fine with a B, you’re screwed. No way are they going to put in the effort just because you want an A. But usually they are more than willing to let you take the reins and control the situation and gladly accept the A you worked four times harder for than they did.
I hate group work. Because, much like my D, I won’t settle for anything less than my best but haven’t found that true of most co-workers. I can be a team player in a situation where everyone has their piece but I avoid situations where a group is responsible for an ultimate outcome.