De one with Project Group

Air of complaints

Honestly, those who love (I said "love", not "like" or "enjoy") project work, raise up your hand so that I could see or perhaps discharge my project load onto you. Not my fault, I'm just doing likewise what some of my projects mates are doing to me. Alright, cover your ears, Mr J's complaining.

Thanks to my low-esteem-hindered socialising, I never quite relate myself with group projects which amplifies my preference to go solo. Well, except it's mandatory for group work which I recalled once in which my group came up top and was invited to presenting at assemblies, I did fine at individual projects during primary to secondary. The other part which accounts for my dislike for group projects is the undesirable consequences of doing group project. Trust me and as most would agree, it gets alot dreadful when you have less-than-expected performance from those which the group recruited. 

Let's lay out these "undesirable consequences" shall we? First on the hussle list is "troubles in forming concesus". It involves three or more to constitute group work. It spells troubles when the members have different ideas and opinions. I'm stating a case notwithstanding the creativity, ideas-generation, equal distribution of workload so as to achieve productibility and quality of the project as a whole. Unfortunately, decision making is tough when you have people of different minds. People live apart. All these factors often land the group the initial problem of where and when to meet and approaches to completing the project. Recently, I personally encountered the problem of meeting up. We came up with a solution, pathetic but it was the best of all. We acknowledged the need to spilt up our work and just do separate parts before consolidating. "Mere patching up of individual works" we often call it. It doesn't take the reader long before he or she or he-she notice the non-cohensiveness in the completed work, nonetheless incomplete as it lacks synchonisation. Recently, Zhen Ze and I made use of technology. We applied work etiquette - net-meeting to discuss our projects.

Second hussy derives from unfairness which is inherent in every group projects. There is always a leader as well as the "under-performers", or "free-riders" or "slackers" in modern lingo. It gets off the scale as to how much work load each accepts and actually accomplish. Seriously speaking, it is group work which expose people to unfair treatments. Gurrh, I hate it when people fail to realise how much you've done. Instead of appreciating and acknowledging your contributions, they conveniently ask you this favor and that, on basis that you're free and in capacity to accomodate more. It's very sad.

Project work doesn't guarantees increased efficiency. On the contrary, it lowers efficiency when the group lacks discipline. You can have people on the laptop, distracting you with conversations or phrased-out. Definitely no no. When I'm with such members, I often pray hard for my mutation cells to evolve during my life-span for me to have special powers to control the behavior of these annoying people like a remote control!

Nevertheless, despite being an advocate towards group work, I think group work does has its beautiful sides. Apart from those earlier mention, I guess group group extends your contacts in a way and thus, builds your character in dealing with your peers sitting at the same table. Through the quality of the work they produce or notice the way they presents themselves at project meetings, you genuinely learn more about your associates. The strengths and weaknesses are identified. For me, I learnt and it teaches me who I could approach for their fortes.

Much discussed, I shall revealed today I was kinda pissed after reading what a p-mate sent me. He instructed me what to do and I.. took it in a bad way coz I felt I done quite a fair bit already. Aww.. and I reconsidered again.. it's just not worth getting too bothered. Whichever we are asked, we just help whenever we can. Taking it like a mouthful of bitter medication. It would be accounted by those above, "you-know-who". Better use the time to complete whatever there is left and expediate on closure.