Last semester, I was faced with an astronomical amount of projects. It seemed like an impossible task to overcome and I received an absurd amount of stress because of this. By the end of it all, I learned more about perseverance than ever before. School group projects are a fundamental part of a student’s academic journey. You can expect to be part of a project multiple times throughout your life, making it an important skill to master. With this guide, you can expect yourself to be an expert at managing any type of school group project that comes along your path during your time in school.
Sometimes, when you are put into a group with your friends, you might have more mindless side conversations rather than necessary discussion about the project at hand. To solve this problem, the first step in your group project should be setting a proper goal. Having a defined goal keeps you and all your group members on the same page about the objective of the project. Now that everyone is focused, you should then continue to help everyone in your group understand the expectations that they all must work to accomplish. After all, don’t you hate when there is someone who doesn’t put enough effort into their part of the project? By stepping up, you can prevent this possibility from arising.
Another big issue in group projects, especially larger ones, is communication within your group. With people having different schedules and after-school activities, it can become tricky trying to communicate with one another outside of the classroom. This can lead to a lack of communication, causing issues over knowing what is going on within your group. To solve this problem, you and your group members should spend at least five minutes, or create regular check-ins where you all can discuss what issues have been solved or if any problems require attention. Remember that keeping an open mind about everyone’s ideas and decisions is essential, as building strong bonds with your teammates will motivate one another and yield greater results through teamwork. By now, most of you as high school students are active on social media and have some sort of way to communicate with friends outside of school. Use this as an advantage to make communication with your peers easier. Who knows? Maybe this will help you be friends with them as well if you aren’t already!
A key factor to proper group management is having your ideas planned and staying organized. This step is more about noting down the key details in the project. You can contribute by creating a document with everyone and asking for people to document everything. Creating deadlines and breaking down the smaller tasks that need to be accomplished can do wonders for your group by ensuring everyone has a role and keeping them accountable. It’s not rocket science when it comes to being the leader!
It goes without saying that procrastination isn’t going to get you that desired grade you are looking for. You can’t expect your project to be completely perfect if you have been goofing around the whole time and not putting in the effort. Identify the high-priority tasks and work on them first. With this, you will take a lot of pressure off your shoulders, and the rest of the work will seem like a piece of cake. Remember to make occasional edits and revise your work to ensure perfect quality and that you have fulfilled all the requirements.
If your project requires a live presentation, practice presenting with your group to ensure a smooth, quality presentation. You never want to look like you’re a deer in the headlights when it’s time to present in front of the entire class!
Lastly, keep in mind that you should retain a positive mindset and encourage your group members throughout the journey. Reflect on the challenges you faced throughout the project, and continue to make changes to guarantee better results for next time. Whether or not you like working on group projects, you must face them at school at some point. Mastering these skills is important for your future as well. Group projects are about more than just working with a bunch of students: it’s about building connections, collaborating, and so much more. I hope this guide helps you gain an understanding of the key points to help you succeed in your upcoming projects and motivate you to work harder to get the grades you deserve!
