First, something not-particularly-useful-now but hopefully comforting: group projects in school, even ones that mimic real world problems, very often are not comparable to Real World projects in the sense of group composition and motivation. In school, you just can’t get away from the fact that your ultimate goal is a grade, which is intangible and at least partially arbitrary. Because of that fact, you will nearly always have less total group motivation and more total disagreement on how much work is required for an “acceptable result” on a project for school than you will once you are out of school. As you noted in your lifeguarding example, being paid for your work helps no small amount. I’d also rather think that the fact that someone’s life rides on the group’s performance (as it certainly will in situations you encounter in nursing) takes motivation to a whole new height.
I had your problem all through high school and most of my undergraduate education. I attribute its fading primarily to learning to trust my group members more, which was facilitated through
1) picking group members carefully when I got the chance, to maximize potential for # 2
2) realizing that in my field, chances were high that at least half of any group I was in would be in the same ballpark as I was where motivation was concerned.
Each time I had to work in a group, I made a conscious decision to trust my group members to do a decent job, which helped me remember not to let my control freak tendencies make me objectionable. Sometimes this involved noting members I didn’t trust and resolving to watch for slack from their end, as well, but quietly.
I also became a good leader by creating and administrating a very diverse group of players in World of Warcraft for almost three years, but I really don’t recommend that route unless you have either an absurd amount of free time or a very low regard for sleep.
First, something not-particularly-useful-now but hopefully comforting: group projects in school, even ones that mimic real world problems, very often are not comparable to Real World projects in the sense of group composition and motivation. In school, you just can’t get away from the fact that your ultimate goal is a grade, which is intangible and at least partially arbitrary. Because of that fact, you will nearly always have less total group motivation and more total disagreement on how much work is required for an “acceptable result” on a project for school than you will once you are out of school. As you noted in your lifeguarding example, being paid for your work helps no small amount. I’d also rather think that the fact that someone’s life rides on the group’s performance (as it certainly will in situations you encounter in nursing) takes motivation to a whole new height.
I had your problem all through high school and most of my undergraduate education. I attribute its fading primarily to learning to trust my group members more, which was facilitated through
1) picking group members carefully when I got the chance, to maximize potential for # 2
2) realizing that in my field, chances were high that at least half of any group I was in would be in the same ballpark as I was where motivation was concerned.
Each time I had to work in a group, I made a conscious decision to trust my group members to do a decent job, which helped me remember not to let my control freak tendencies make me objectionable. Sometimes this involved noting members I didn’t trust and resolving to watch for slack from their end, as well, but quietly.
I also became a good leader by creating and administrating a very diverse group of players in World of Warcraft for almost three years, but I really don’t recommend that route unless you have either an absurd amount of free time or a very low regard for sleep.
Thank you. That’s quite helpful.