Working on a group project (by myself mostly) - AfroChat - African American

sugahoney87 · December 1st, 2005, 06:25 PM

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ok , im supposed to do a group project (for my comm. class) next week, but the group that im in really hasnt been doing anywork. like we might go over some of the stuff that might be in the assiginment , but then the rest of the memebrs of the group will start talking about stuff that has no relation to the work. im like to only 1 that has been doing something for my part of it. the "supposed" group leader really hasnt been letting most of the people in our group know when the meetings are. so when I ask another fellow memeber of the group when are we having the meetings, She gonna tell me that " oh, well we already had a meeting last night from 7-9" im like and no 1 told me!!!! they have not only both my phone numbers but my e-mail addresses as well, WHY THE FUUK WASNT I NOTIFIED . then the same situation happened again 2-day.

I ran into the chick at lunch , and then she gonna tell me that "we just had a group meeting, i thought i told you? " WELL NO CHICK YOU DIDNT" im just really pissed off b-cuz i feel like i aint even apart of the group, and when i do offer some great ideas (say 4 instance we could do a powerpoint prestintaion instead of just going up there w/nothing) on how to present the project , its like no 1 want to take the time to even help me work on it (or at least put some of thier input on it). Im really tempted to just do the whole damn thing by myself. MY FINAL GRADE RELIES ON IT , AND I DAMN SURE AINT TRYIN TO GET AN F FOR IT!!!

i kinda feel like it may be cuz im the only black girl in the group and they feel that i should be the only 1 to do the work (and for the answer, HELL TO THA NAW, im doing mines and mines only)

what should i do?

DBlack · December 1st, 2005, 07:10 PM

I had this problem twice in college. I ended up going off on the group, drawing a line in the sand. I threatened to go to our professor and basically just took over the project. The group tried to do their own thing and squeeze me out, but some of them started breaking rank when they saw my progression.

Proceed and do your own thing. I would mention the problem to the professor and do the entire project by myself.

urfan2c · December 1st, 2005, 07:17 PM

I agree with DBlack, I hate group projects seems like I get coupled with slackers if I don't pick my own group. Try to talk to them if that doesn't work go to the professor.

stiab3 · December 1st, 2005, 07:40 PM

At university, in the first year, the very first group project I did, I was with a couple of slackers. As we were all new, the groups were pretty much picked at random. It was a nightmare working with one of the guys in particular.

After that, first semester, me and some others got together and decided that wherever possible we would work together on group projects. It was like a virtual dream team.

And don't just pick people who you're friends with. Make sure they've got the same dedication to the project as you do.

s3

Corals · December 1st, 2005, 07:49 PM

I hated group work as well. I had the same problem when I was at teachers' training college. All the assignments were based on group work. I was in a group of six, and they all were older than myself and some had been teaching for 10 and 15 years and were some of the top students/lecturers who had trained at The Royal College and Central St. Martins. It was so competitive.

With our final project we were going to be marked as a group and also individually. On Tuesday afternoons we supposed to meet up after lunch as a group to work on the assignment and presentation. I would sit in the room waiting and no one would turn up. In the end I got fed up and went and complained. I was told to do what I can and present what I had. I had nothing, so I got to work.

What the others didn't know, was that I was good at presentations and research. Anyway, I did what I had to do. On the day of presentation everyone came in, took their seats and waiting for the group to be called. I volunteered to go first because I knew that most of them would just be repeating what I say. I went up with all the slides and illustrations and did what I had to do. Everyone was like "where did she get that information from?"

I did very well; I even got a higher mark than my lecturer from Central St. Martins, who taught me. He could not believe it. He was in a different group from me, and he had the same problem working with his group.

So as DBlack said, mention it to your proffesor, and do your own thing, because the others are probably doing their own thing.

MadameX · December 1st, 2005, 09:11 PM

From my expreince in Undergrad & Grad School, I found it was best as a safe net to align myself with individuals who were studious like myself. Once you do that, you won't have any problems with slackers. In my case, I was a Dean's List Scholar and so I could not afford to mess up my GPA.

Samoon · December 1st, 2005, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadameX

From my expreince in Undergrad & Grad School, I found it was best as a safe net to align myself with individuals who were studious like myself. Once you do that, you won't have any problems with slackers. In my case, I was a Dean's List Scholar and so I could not afford to mess up my GPA.

There you go....agreed. "How you start? May be very well how you end." (and in this case, pissed off. I see this poster's position.)

MadameX · December 1st, 2005, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samoon

There you go....agreed. "How you start? May be very well how you end." (and in this case, pissed off. I see this poster's position.)

So what's the big deal with the

attitude. Again, as I said previously, it's all a matter of aligning yourself with individuals who are top of their game in class an you won't have problem with

slackers when it comes time for group assignments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corals

So as DBlack said, mention it to your proffesor, and do your own thing, because the others are probably doing their own thing.

Agreed. This is also a good option. After you have brought the

slackers to light, your professor may decide to put more weight on your individual grades than your group grades.

sugahoney87 · December 2nd, 2005, 01:38 PM

what i did (since the profeesor aint available and the project is due this monday) was i found some of my group memebers e-maill adresses on facebook.com, and i sent them an e-mail on how to be aware and to take notice on how to notify other group members on upcoming group meetings (just for future reference), so no 1 will be left out. i wrote it in a way so it dosnt sound mean or bitchy, but it gets the point across.

saraphen · December 2nd, 2005, 03:53 PM

I had this same problem with my first "group project" in 9th grade. It also happened to be my first year in an integrated school. They shut me out, they got A's, I got a C. I complained, the racist teacher said I should have done my own thing. Go figure.

The next time I had a group project (when you can't pick your own group), I took over, made myself the leader, and the rest of them had to follow. We all got A's.

By graduate school, I realized that group projects are unavoidable, particularly in the Business Administration track. This is what life in the business world turns to be...you get stuck with a team, and you get some slackers, and some people who will stab you in the back. (Have you watched "The Apprentice?) The only way to shine is to take the lead, and get to the point where you can choose your own team.