Business: Effective Groupwork Tools and Processes

Effective group work is essential for success in many upper-year Edwards School of Business classes.

Understanding personality differences is crucial for successful group work. Recognize that different personalities process information differently; extroverts may prefer immediate verbal discussion, while introverts might need more time to form their ideas. Encourage all members to share their thoughts, even if it means using different communication methods. This ensures that everyone can contribute effectively.

Effective communication is key to managing group dynamics. Encourage all members to voice their opinions and concerns to avoid groupthink, where individuals conform to what they believe the group thinks, even if they disagree. Active listening is essential—pay close attention to the speaker, resist the urge to interrupt, and paraphrase what was said to ensure understanding. By fostering an environment where everyone feels heard and valued, you can leverage the diverse skills and perspectives of each group member.

1. Exchange Contact Information and Complete a Groupwork Contract

At your first meeting, exchange contact information and complete a groupwork contract. This contract should outline roles, responsibilities, and expectations.

Resource: Groupwork Contract Form

2. Effective Meeting Management and Accountability

Start all meetings by agreeing on the goals for that meeting. Commit to using meeting recording forms and processes to document these goals and the results of the meeting. Record which group members agreed to do what and by when.

Additionally, outline the actions that will be taken if commitments are not fulfilled. This includes both supportive actions to help ensure commitments are met and summative actions if someone does not fulfill a commitment without an acceptable reason. This approach helps maintain accountability and ensures that everyone is clear on their responsibilities and the consequences of not meeting them.

Resources: Group Meeting Record Form

3. Decide on Leadership Structure

Carefully decide on your group's leadership structure. This can range from empowering one person to take the lead to having a more collaborative approach. If the group doesn't naturally work by consensus, it might be best to have one member coordinate the project. This prevents time loss due to indecision and ensures tasks are completed efficiently. The coordinator can also serve as the final checkpoint to ensure nothing is overlooked.

4. Implement an Efficient and Effective Workplan

The overall goals for any assignment should be provided by the course instructor, including a detailed description of all deliverables along with due dates. In many upper-year university cases at the Edwards School of Business, the preferred way to start is to divide the group assignment, report, business plan, or other document into sections and assign different people to write different parts. Another way to start is to have all group members contribute to all parts of the first draft of the document. However, this might be less efficient.

For example, Comm 447 students writing a business plan might have the operations/supply chain, human resources, marketing, and accounting/finance majors independently write, respectively, the operations, human resources, marketing, and financial parts of the plan to generate the first draft. If students start by writing the parts they are trained best for, they must understand that it will then be necessary for all group members to fully understand what is in all of those draft parts and work together to ensure that the content in all of them fits together well. The information in the sections of most assignments must be aligned perfectly with the information in all other sections. This is especially true for business plans because all the sections need to be fully integrated, and a change to one will affect some or all of the other sections.

5. Establish Goals and Timelines

Each group member will have their own ideas and goals. To avoid conflicts, discuss and align on the main goals at the start of the assignment and establish supporting goals at each meeting. Ensure everyone is on the same page. Efficient time management is crucial. While developing your workplan, determine the order in which tasks need to be completed and set a precise timeline. Build in extra time to account for procrastination and unexpected events. This cushion helps keep the project on track and allows for necessary adjustments.