When students work together as a group to produce a team project, some
traits people have can help the progress of the job, and some can get in
the way.
Some of the traits valuable to the rest of the team include
dependability. When people say they're going to do something, whether it's
type up a preliminary report or gather research, they should do it, and do
it by the time they say they will. Other people are depending on them.
Another important trait is the ability to listen to others and
consider what they have to say. No one has all the answers, and everyone
knows how they would do the job if they were doing it all by themselves,
but they're not doing it alone. They're part of a team, and they have to be
ready to compromise.
Some traits people have can get in the way of group projects. The
trait the bothers others the most might be the people who don't do their
share of work. They coast along, letting other people do as much work as
possible. The other people tend to fill in the gaps, because everyone's
grade depends on the project. Let the slacker get away with goofing off,
and everyone's grade will suffer. But there is no way for the group to keep
that person from getting credit for work not done, so it can cause a lot of
friction.
The other trait that can really interfere with group projects are the
people who waste a lot of time. They want to stop to chat about the funny
thing that happened in class, or cut the session short because they want to
go to a movie, or want to order pizza and turn the work session into a
party. Everyone enjoys a good time, and everyone would like to have pizza
and cut out early to go to a movie instead of doing schoolwork, but it's
not very practical....