Last year I was in a group with three boys for a social media class and there were a few times when one of them did not do their portion at all. There was a small project that we had to do as a group so naturally, we delegated the work so that everyone had something to do and it would all be completed on time. There were check-ins that occurred and I noticed one of the guys did not do his part until the very last minute. This gave me a lot of anxiety because I wasn’t sure if it was actually going to get done or if we would end up having to turn it in late, but luckily he did do it before we needed to turn it in. After the check-ins, we continue working on the project and the day comes when we are to turn it in. The same guy had not done his part yet and because of how close it was to the time it was due I ended up being the one to finish his part. I didn’t say anything to his work ethic because I do not want to cause any problems or make him annoyed to the point where he boycotts actually doing any work.
Instead of not saying anything there are a few things I should have done instead. The first thing I should have done was express my concern about timing to the group. So that they were aware of my time anxiety with projects and their due dates before we had started them. I could have also talked to him to see why he waited until the very last second to do his parts. Another option was to delegate his portions to myself and the other team members so that he had less to work on ensuring that only a small portion of it wasn’t done till the last minute. Or gave him the portions that were not as important in a way.
In terms of this class and group, I plan to be real and ensure that we are all on the same page. If there are any conflicts I feel confident in my group members and me to where I think we can talk things out to decide what the best plan of action is in terms of conflict. If we need to I think we can negotiate something to where we are all relatively happy with the outcome.
