Forming a group

Whether you choose your own group or are allocated one, you'll need to work together to form a successful group.

Choosing your group

When you have to form a group with others, you should consider:

Schedules

Aim to choose team members who can stick to a similar schedule to you. Make sure your group schedules in time to meet and discuss your assignment. If you're unable to meet in person, you can communicate online.

Diverse skills and experiences

Try to work with a diverse range of people – they'll bring different perspectives, skills and experiences to your group.

Remember that different team members will have different strengths and weaknesses. To form a well-structured group, try to choose group members with a range of strengths and weaknesses.

Commitment

Try to choose team members who are as committed to the assignment as you are. Make sure you don't invite someone to your group and expect them to do all the work. You should also try not to invite people who will miss meetings or procrastinate.

Roles in groups

Your group may develop roles naturally. If not, your group may choose to assign roles to people to ensure work is distributed evenly among the group. Roles in your group may include:

• Leader: someone who gets the group organised, keeps the group on track and makes sure that everyone contributes.
• Sceptic: someone who asks questions that help the group to understand the assignment and pushes the group to explore other possibilities.
• Recorder: someone who ensures there is agreement among group members and records the group's solutions.
• Mediator: someone who can help to make sure everyone feels safe to give their opinions and resolve any conflicts that may arise.
• Explainer: someone who can re-emphasise the main points of the assignment and ensure that each member understands the assignment and what they have to do.

Stages of group development

Whether or not you choose your group members, most groups go through stages of development.

When you form your group, there will usually be some uncertainty about each group member's role and what's required. Follow our advice on working as a group to help you get started.

Once the group begins working together, members may be unsettled. The group may struggle with the assignment requirements or conflict between group members. If your group is having issues, use strategies to resolve conflicts.

Once any conflicts are resolved, the group should begin to work well together and team members should organise themselves to meet the assignment requirements and produce results.