I hate group projects.

[Ensiferum]

You mean your group actually met? The last time I was assigned to a group project it included myself and 5 others. We agreed to meet after class every week for four weeks until the assignment was due. Of course, when we "met" it was just myself and one other student who showed up. Tried emailing and calling the other students, couldn't reach them, tried talking to them after class, they were always too "busy" and had to run, tried talking to the teacher and he would always say he'd "talked to them and they said they would be at the next meeting," but they never were.
Suffice to say it the actual day of our presentation came and it was mostly a disaster. Three of us covered the exact same thing and the rest didn't even have a presentation that fit with what we were talking about. Luckily the teacher seemed not to care and gave us all passing grades anyway, so I guess it really didn't matter to begin with. But yes, group projects suck.

 

[Lizardon]

I really don't like group work. I like my work to be my own, and for it to pass or fail based on my own efforts, not from others work, or the lack thereof.

We had to do a group biology presentation at university, where we divided up the topic into sections for the four of us to present. I think the time wanted was 15 minutes. The girl whose job was to present the conclusion assured us that she was prepared and had enough material, however she spoke for only a minute before running out of notes. She just started rambling about irrelevant information and repeating herself until I stepped in and said our presentation was over. It didn't ruin our marks or anything, but it was a bit embarrassing and annoying.

 

[scar_47]

I've never liked them most of the time the group is horrible ie no communication, not following through, bad work if they've even bothered. Even with a good group trying to assemble 1 presentation from 4 or 5 people is a hassle getting the stuff in on time and with the right file types and theres never a time outside of class where you can meet to practice presenting. I much prefer working alone I should be judged on my work and mine alone not that of the stoner slacker I was partnered with that probably the worst part watching someone get an A while they didn't do any work but the instructor doesn't care.

 

[UrieHusky]

I personally despised group projects, I was generally speaking the only person in my classes who actually paid attention, so every single time I got put in a group I ended up carrying everyone else and effectively gave them credits, it irritated the hell out of me every time.
They do it to improve your social skills so you can be better in the work place working with your co-workers but.. in New Zealand, rural New Zealand especially it just doesn't work because most people don't bother to do any work, Maybe it's different in city schools, or in other countries but here it's a massive waste of time

Bottom line, I absolutely detested group projects in my school life but I see why they do it.

 

[burningdragoon]

Listen, there's a number of issues with rehearsing.

1. I'm not the leader.
2. They were told what was needed (4 minutes) and they all agreed.
3. Everyone has to schedule around work and school, we were lucky there was time to meet at all.
4. We had 9 days to do this project.

So no, it's not my fault. I'm not their mother. Moreover, for a project like this you don't need everyone to meet up. Coordination is hardly the issue when you just need a sequence of people to say their 4 minute sections. You just need people to know their 4 minutes (they said they all did). Is it my fault that my teammates were liars?

It doesn't matter. You should have said "hey guys, we need to rehearse our presentation!". You don't have to be the leader to do that. Also, your team mates aren't lairs. This is the product of you not being a good group and practicing your presentation. They might have very well thought their part of the project was just 4 minutes, and didn't realize it took them so long (probably because of a lack of practice). If you had stood up and made your group mates rehearse, then you wouldn't be making this thread. All you are doing now is sitting around and passing blame on the internet. Stop acting like this isn't your fault. If a group project fails like yours did, it is the fault of everyone in the groups. Not the one person who went over, or the second person who went over. It is everyone's fault for not working together. Stop deferring blame. All you had to do is ask that your team mates rehearse the project once, and it would have been fine.

Oh, and by the way: when you get a job, you will constantly be on a team. This is the reality of being an adult... you are expected to work with others. There are very few jobs that will allow you to work effectively alone. Working with other people is how the world works. Chalk this up as a learning experience, and move on.

If this were any other forum, my words would be much harsher.

*deep breath* ahhhh. Love the smell of hard truth in the evening.

OT: Yeah, it sucks. Live and learn and take more initiative next time.

The only thing I don't like about groups is that I have never had the chance to be the total slacker of the group. Just once it would have been nice to not have to do anything. Just once *sniffle*

 

[Drenaje1]

Well, I've always despised group projects. Hated them with a passion is more like it, actually. I sort of thought that I would never see them again when I got to middle school. As it turned out, I had to deal with them there, too. Finally, high school. And no balls group projects, until I get into a health class. The teacher there mainly taught kindergarten kids before getting transferred for some reason, and apparently she thinks that the same methods she applies to little children in a classroom setting will apply to a gaggle of teenagers.

Imagine my rage and disappointment when EVERYONE is so thrilled to be making sparkling glittery posters, and buddying up with their friends, and doing completely ridiculous activities, all in the name of learning about alcohol, and tobacco, and drugs.

Meanwhile, every time I hear her announce something like 'You'll need a partner...' or, 'Everyone get into groups of x number!,' I just glare at her, hoping that some how my rage will be converting into laser beams that shoot out of my eyes.

I guess I'm the only one who has ever walked through the doors of ANY school in my town, who learns best when alone and only with generic worksheet type material. I don't need to be pairing up with a bunch of random people to do my work. And I'm pretty sure that we don't need colorful posters and light-hearted group activities to convey the topic of '1001 reasons why smoking will kill you and everyone around you.' Every time someone asks me why I'm so quiet and withdrawn all the time, my reply is 'Maybe when you all stop sucking so much I'll attempt to strike up a conversation.'

 

[BanicRhys]

I hate group projects because I'm always the smartest and most serious one in the group.

For instance, one time we had to make a short movie, I was directing etc. I said I wanted to redo a scene because it was shit. "Who cares, it doesn't matter, we'll pass anyway" they say. I guess they've never heard of having pride in their work.

Another time we had to analyse a website and make a PowerPoint presentation on it. First off I was the one that actually did all the analysis because my "partner" decided he'd rather check out what sales Steam was having. Then I had to make the whole PowerPoint because my partner didn't understand the concept of dot points so he did nothing but read about WoW shit.

I really hate group projects. I hope my class's average intelligence will be higher next year when all the of the high school dropouts have buggered off.

 

[Lord Legion]

hmmm... if you felt that the current leader was ineffective, take over. Trust me, it isn't hard to take the reigns.

That in mind there are some things that are just, well, bonkers... just today I got asked into a group - keep in mind that this is college too - and one member threw a literal hissy fit saying he did not want to work with me... While I was literally 6 feet in front of him. And it's not like I ever spoke to him even once, never had a chance to even make a bad first impression. Nor is it like I am some retard with no clue... that was actually his job, as most of my activity revolved around explaining simple concepts to the guy.
~whatever~ I am actually proud that I held my tongue and managed to work things out (kinda, not like I ever want anything to do with the guy again)

It does feel good to rant, hahahaha.

 

[Jodah]

Well, I've always despised group projects. Hated them with a passion is more like it, actually. I sort of thought that I would never see them again when I got to middle school. As it turned out, I had to deal with them there, too. Finally, high school. And no balls group projects, until I get into a health class. The teacher there mainly taught kindergarten kids before getting transferred for some reason, and apparently she thinks that the same methods she applies to little children in a classroom setting will apply to a gaggle of teenagers.

Imagine my rage and disappointment when EVERYONE is so thrilled to be making sparkling glittery posters, and buddying up with their friends, and doing completely ridiculous activities, all in the name of learning about alcohol, and tobacco, and drugs.

Meanwhile, every time I hear her announce something like 'You'll need a partner...' or, 'Everyone get into groups of x number!,' I just glare at her, hoping that some how my rage will be converting into laser beams that shoot out of my eyes.

I guess I'm the only one who has ever walked through the doors of ANY school in my town, who learns best when alone and only with generic worksheet type material. I don't need to be pairing up with a bunch of random people to do my work. And I'm pretty sure that we don't need colorful posters and light-hearted group activities to convey the topic of '1001 reasons why smoking will kill you and everyone around you.' Every time someone asks me why I'm so quiet and withdrawn all the time, my reply is 'Maybe when you all stop sucking so much I'll attempt to strike up a conversation.'

You aren't the only one my friend. Thankfully I got in most of the AP courses where group projects didn't happen.

 

[Lord Legion]

whoah

Literal flashback to my highschool health class... not fun. I couldn't even stand crayons and glitter when I was in elementary.

I hope I don't run into any paper mache midterms...

 

[dancinginfernal]

I only find group projects to be annoying when there's no reason for it to be a group project.

I was recently given a painting (not literally given) to interpret and compare and contrast to a piece of literature. Then I'm to present the results.

With a partner. No fucking clue why.

 

[Frozen Donkey Wheel2]

Sounds like you guys should have met up more then the one time with this thing.

Anyway, I don't mind group projects with a good group. Last year, my friends and I ended up in a group with an extra seat open, so a random girl sitting near us joined as well. Now, this group was for the long haul: We were doing projects together for weeks. And EVERY TIME we got up to a due date, the girl would text us and tell us she couldn't quite finish her part because of FUCK YOU THAT'S WHY.

I mean, each time, she gave this really vague excuse, like "It's been a busy week" or something like that, which was OK. ONCE. Then the second time it was annoying. And the third time it was expected.

We mysteriously forgot to put her name on the second and third ones.

But was a BAD group member. If you have a good group, then it's great. Less work for everyone, and it's easier to get stuff done when you can bounce your ideas off some other people.

 

[Varitel]

I didn't like group projects until I got to college. I'm an electrical engineering major, and in engineering it's extremely rare that you will get an individual project, so I figured I'd better damn well get used to it. I eventually learned that as long as the other people are capable, a group project is so many times better than an individual one. If you have an idea, and you bounce it off of someone else, the chances that a mistake will be caught early on are much higher. You also learn to rely on the different technical backgrounds of the various people you're working with.

 

[himemiya1650]

Group projects kickass and more or less work out to my favor,it sounds like a case of bad coordination and a lack of command. In group work I always pass off the parts that I hate like researching, data mining and essay writing for more favorable activities like making spreadsheets and keeping everything on schedule. Even if you're not in charge I find its always good to take charge unless people can prove themselves competent and/or willing to do quality work otherwise give them lego to play with in the corner or something...

 

[Draconalis]

I group hate projects!

 

[Chalacachaca]

My time in college was awful, I don't remember meeting up once with any group I was in because of time conflicts. So on presentation day, everybody just sort of took as much time as they wanted talking about whatever topic we needed to expose. And most of them just read and whatever they copy pasted on the presentation.

Good for me that I don't have to deal with that any lon- oh wait, sometimes people forget to say their lines in a play, and I have to go ahead and do some improv so the public doesn't notice that someone just forgot their line.

 

[J.J]

Listen, there's a number of issues with rehearsing.

1. I'm not the leader.
2. They were told what was needed (4 minutes) and they all agreed.
3. Everyone has to schedule around work and school, we were lucky there was time to meet at all.
4. We had 9 days to do this project.

So no, it's not my fault. I'm not their mother. Moreover, for a project like this you don't need everyone to meet up. Coordination is hardly the issue when you just need a sequence of people to say their 4 minute sections. You just need people to know their 4 minutes (they said they all did). Is it my fault that my teammates were liars?

It doesn't matter. You should have said "hey guys, we need to rehearse our presentation!". You don't have to be the leader to do that. Also, your team mates aren't lairs. This is the product of you not being a good group and practicing your presentation. They might have very well thought their part of the project was just 4 minutes, and didn't realize it took them so long (probably because of a lack of practice). If you had stood up and made your group mates rehearse, then you wouldn't be making this thread. All you are doing now is sitting around and passing blame on the internet. Stop acting like this isn't your fault. If a group project fails like yours did, it is the fault of everyone in the groups. Not the one person who went over, or the second person who went over. It is everyone's fault for not working together. Stop deferring blame. All you had to do is ask that your team mates rehearse the project once, and it would have been fine.

Oh, and by the way: when you get a job, you will constantly be on a team. This is the reality of being an adult... you are expected to work with others. There are very few jobs that will allow you to work effectively alone. Working with other people is how the world works. Chalk this up as a learning experience, and move on.

If this were any other forum, my words would be much harsher.

Take this with as much rage as you want, OP. This is a harsh truth about group projects. You MUST take whatEVER initiative you can. "Leader" or not. You were a good follower, but you are still as responsible as the next guy to do more than what is merely asked of you.

With that, I got plenty to rant about, too ;P...

Bleedin' hate group projects. But initiative helps. I had a group that had shotty attendance at best. I showed the teacher my work on the project, that none of them had personally signed off on or gave me information about their project statuses, and I requested that I work solo to ensure the project gets done. He let me, and I told my group straight (at least, whoever showed up), "You guys are doing a terrible job. I am breaking off from your group. I'm ready, you are not." Be mean if you can be successful. (Straight A'd that class, what's good?)

Had a group member disappear on us during the whole week-long spring break after being assigned a project because of a funeral. We did not know this until the end of spring break, so I took it upon myself to do his part, and my part (since it was viable to do two parts). I think he's a lying jerk that he left us for a week, didn't inform us before or during his trip, despite having e-mail and cell phone to contact us (nor responding back). Yes, my grade took a huge hit, and I missed the A in that class because of it, but it could have been a LOT worse.

Even to the point where you stand up in the front of the class, say that you want a group that does NOT bullshit around and will be wanting and willing to work and will keep you updated when, or when not, asked. If they are that kind of person, then to group with you. <-True story; ONLY group project to ever go well.



tl;dr: Sometimes, you gotta be the, well-organized and hard-working, ass to be successful. It's up to you, OP...
You can learn this the hard way: Through many gone-wrong group assignments.
Or the easy way: People telling you you're gonna have to buck up and take necessary precautions to up your game.

Either way, the project is over. Get it off your chest, see what YOU could have done differently, not OTHERS, and move on.

Good luck

 

[minuialear]

So no, it's not my fault. I'm not their mother. Moreover, for a project like this you don't need everyone to meet up. Coordination is hardly the issue when you just need a sequence of people to say their 4 minute sections. You just need people to know their 4 minutes (they said they all did). Is it my fault that my teammates were liars?

First of all there's the very real possibility that your partners were rambling due to nerves, rather than because they failed to do any sort of preparation beforehand. But regardless of whether they did practice independently or not, it frankly doesn't matter if you weren't the official leader: if you saw issues with how the group was being led, and if you cared that much about the presentation, you should have spoken up and made sure those issues were being addressed (and should have gone to the professor for help if you couldn't get your team to agree to get its act in gear). When you get into the real world, where this project could have made the difference between you getting paid or being unemployed, you won't be able to use the excuse, "But it's not my fault; I wasn't the leader."

This is one point of having group projects in college: to prepare you for the real world. And in the real world, you will have to deal with a broad range of colleagues (some of which are extremely competant people, and some of which are significantly worse than the people in your group). And in the real world, your client's not going to cut you any slack for allowing the rest of your group to drag you down with them, regardless of just how bad they truly were. You will be held equally accountable for your group's presentation. Accordingly, you have to learn how to work with other people (which includes making sure things get done, understanding how others work so that you can ensure those things get done, etc). If you don't, then you are indirectly guilty for anything that happens as a result.

You made a mistake (which is a normal, common occurrence in college), so accept it, learn from it, and move on.

 

[Newtonyd]

It doesn't matter. You should have said "hey guys, we need to rehearse our presentation!". You don't have to be the leader to do that. Also, your team mates aren't lairs. This is the product of you not being a good group and practicing your presentation. They might have very well thought their part of the project was just 4 minutes, and didn't realize it took them so long (probably because of a lack of practice). If you had stood up and made your group mates rehearse, then you wouldn't be making this thread. All you are doing now is sitting around and passing blame on the internet. Stop acting like this isn't your fault. If a group project fails like yours did, it is the fault of everyone in the groups. Not the one person who went over, or the second person who went over. It is everyone's fault for not working together. Stop deferring blame. All you had to do is ask that your team mates rehearse the project once, and it would have been fine.

Oh, and by the way: when you get a job, you will constantly be on a team. This is the reality of being an adult... you are expected to work with others. There are very few jobs that will allow you to work effectively alone. Working with other people is how the world works. Chalk this up as a learning experience, and move on.

If this were any other forum, my words would be much harsher.

No, I'm sorry. This is wrong. I asked them to make sure it was 4 minutes. They did not. We couldn't rehearse together because of scheduling, especially one person who had two jobs (the other person who didn't get to speak). Nor should we need to, it's far easier to rehearse your part by yourself. Anyone else added would have made it extraneous.

They clearly didn't rehearse at all, if they had they would have noticed. I did rehearse. They made mistakes on the project, my only mistake was overestimating their competence and work ethic. Thus I come here to rant. You've never complained about idiots at work?

I suppose I could have spent hours with each person making sure their presentation was excellent, but I really shouldn't have to. I don't expect anyone to make each baby-step with me, not in a 300 class in college. Honestly, if they tried, I would get annoyed. I've done dozens of presentations by this point. I suppose it's the chef's fault if the cook doesn't know how to boil water?

And please, keep your harsh language in its holster. You might frighten the children.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Well, I've always despised group projects. Hated them with a passion is more like it, actually. I sort of thought that I would never see them again when I got to middle school. As it turned out, I had to deal with them there, too. Finally, high school. And no balls group projects, until I get into a health class. The teacher there mainly taught kindergarten kids before getting transferred for some reason, and apparently she thinks that the same methods she applies to little children in a classroom setting will apply to a gaggle of teenagers.

Imagine my rage and disappointment when EVERYONE is so thrilled to be making sparkling glittery posters, and buddying up with their friends, and doing completely ridiculous activities, all in the name of learning about alcohol, and tobacco, and drugs.

Meanwhile, every time I hear her announce something like 'You'll need a partner...' or, 'Everyone get into groups of x number!,' I just glare at her, hoping that some how my rage will be converting into laser beams that shoot out of my eyes.

I guess I'm the only one who has ever walked through the doors of ANY school in my town, who learns best when alone and only with generic worksheet type material. I don't need to be pairing up with a bunch of random people to do my work. And I'm pretty sure that we don't need colorful posters and light-hearted group activities to convey the topic of '1001 reasons why smoking will kill you and everyone around you.' Every time someone asks me why I'm so quiet and withdrawn all the time, my reply is 'Maybe when you all stop sucking so much I'll attempt to strike up a conversation.'

It's not that you're alone, it's that educators like to pretend that students who work best alone don't exist. As far as I can tell, about 90% of what they teach prospective teachers about how to do things in class is stuff that was thought up by some psychologist who never actually worked with students, and hasn't been in a classroom since getting that PhD. There is supposed to be some amount of research that shows that working in groups benefits all students, when in reality it's usually one student who takes it seriously and does all of the work, while the rest of them just sit their, thankful that somebody else is doing the work.

OT: I hate group projects. It was bad enough in Highschool, where the worst I had to deal with was a group that didn't really care about their grades. In college, I have all that, plus the added bonus of scheduling time to work with people whose schedules don't really match up. It is not pleasant. That said, I'll probably have my students doing the occasional group project, because some students actually do work better in groups. I'll just be sure to always give students the option to do things on their own, because with some of them, that's what they'll be doing regardless of what group they're in.

Edit: Darn it, I just noticed an embarrassing typo, and the post has already been quoted, so fixing it won't get rid of it completely. I need to stop posting late at night.