something that has been hammered into our brains for as long as we can remember is that we have to learn to work in teams. We’ve been told that we have to be able to compromise and communicate with each other, but why is this important? Why must we suffer through a seemingly needless barrage of group exercises during our school careers?
The answer is rather simple. No one can exist as an island, and while, yes, I’m sure certain tasks can be accomplished singularly; a greater many have been vanquished through joint efforts. Group exercises throughout high school serve to cultivate this type of attitude in students. It hopes to teach students that they cannot accomplish everything by themselves, and that they can even achieve higher standards when working with others.
However, often times you find that students do not take this away from these group projects. They see them as burdensome, irrelevant and just difficult to do on a whole. Yet the skills that are gained from these simple projects are carried on throughout life. For example, after doing many group projects throughout high school, it becomes easy to identify the type of person you can depend upon to do a particular task, and the type of person who will procrastinate, do subpar work, or do nothing at all. And while, some argue that in the future they will be able to choose whom they work with, this skill of being able to discern types of people will become pertinent when selecting partners.
Something that’s important for students to do is to use group projects as an opportunity to get a feel of what it’s like to work at different levels within a group. Don’t always be the group’s leader. In the future, you will probably have to work under someone (or even a team of people), and you will have to be able to interpret their directions and follow them exactly. You will have to get accustomed to listening and complying with instructions even if you do not believe they’re the best idea, and you will have to learn when and how, (if at all) to air your opinions. Similarly, don’t always be a subordinate. There will be times when you will be placed in charge of a team, and you will have to be able to multitask and check up on everyone. You will have to learn to communicate with those working under you, you will be expected to make major decisions, and you will be held accountable for the actions of the group. If you don’t learn such skills early, in the future, a similar situation could become unnecessarily stressful, because you aren’t accustomed to the responsibility of being in charge.
Lastly, working in groups can actually help you with your individual work. By being around persons you are exposed to their thoughts and ideas, and may even begin to adopt some of their healthy work ethic. This can range from something as simple as always bordering your assignments to becoming more serious about deadlines. The multitasking skills that you develop as a group leader can be applied to your own life, as you try to manage schoolwork, family, friends, voluntary work, club activities, sports and other hobbies. Remember, universities nowadays look for highly rounded students, so it could be very important to learn how to balance all of these areas of life.
