Working in Groups

       Ever since I came to college I have enjoyed group projects in classes, because not only is the workload shared between a few different people in a group, but also because if one person struggles with a certain topic, your teammates are there to guide this struggling person. I had never really had a problem with a group project up until my sophomore year. I do remember that it was an economics course, and the project was a bit extensive, but I can't remember what class it was specifically. In any case, our class was broken down into teams of three, because it was a pretty small lecture, and numbers broke down easiest in threes. Our teacher assigned the teams, which is not usually the case. In most of my other courses who use group projects as a tool for learning, our teachers usually give us, the students, the freedom to select our own teams. He announced our team numbers, and then at the end of the class he said we had five minutes to meet with our team and discuss our presentations. I walked around the class looking for my team, and after a bit of looking I found them. One of the students was a foreign exchange student from Japan, and the other one was a student who I had never seen in class before (I assume this was the first lecture he had come to because the syllabus specifically stated that groups would be formed on the current date). We got to talking, and it was extremely difficult to understand the student from Japan, while the other kid had no idea what our topic was. Not only was it hard to communicate with my teammates in our first five minutes, but it was hard throughout the entire project. I attempted to e-mail my two teammates, waited a day or two, no response. Our next lecture I pulled them aside and said we should meet at the UGL at this time, on this day. They both agreed, and we took down each others phone numbers. Turns out, the foreign exchange student shows up, and the other kid does not. The foreign exchange student and I struggle to graze over the easiest of our subjects, and after an hour or so of tough communication, I assigned him a certain part, and I took the other. Within an hour I had made slides for my portion, and so I looked over at my teammate, and he was on Facebook writing something in Japanese to some girl. The group project quickly became a project that was left in my hands, and so I finished the whole thing on my own. I sent the powerpoint to my teammates and hoped that they would look over it before the presentation the following day. This time, the foreign exchange student doesn't show, and the other kid does. Personally, this was one of the most frustrating group project experiences that I could think of, and it led to a very poor grade.
       A story to oppose that strenuous first story would be a group project that ran smoothly, which in turn led to an A grade. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of my teachers who use group projects for grading purposes usually allow the students to pick their own groups. A couple friends and I decided to take an elective course together, and a couple of weeks into the semester we were asked to form teams for group projects. My friends and I teamed up and worked perfectly together. We only had to meet one time, the communication in our group was excellent. We each took a portion of the project, finished each part in about an hour or so, and then we added each of our parts together and created our overall presentation. We went a little above and beyond with a funny video that was relative to our topic, as well as a little skit that we performed  in front of the class. The presentation went very well, and we got out A that we were really looking for.
       The thing about working in groups is that some people like it, and others like to work alone. For me, when working with people I know and trust, I really enjoy group work. If I am working with people I don't know, I still think group projects can be fun and effective as long as my teammates put forth effort, and maintain communication throughout. These examples both correlate to the business world, because a lot of tasks in corporate America require teams and groups to take care of them. Creating bonds with co-workers is a huge part of the longevity of your career at a certain place. If people in the office like you, and you work hard, there is a very low chance that you will lose your job, and most times, you will be rewarded for your good work (In examples the A grade vs. the bad grade) through a raise, or a promotion.