20 Guide to Group Work
Introduction to Group Work
This guide is intended to help you engage in successful group work, which is an important part of not just the college experience, but the workplace as well.
Watch Video 20.1: Introduction to Group Work. Closed captioning is available. Click HERE to read a transcript.
Understanding the Team
Your group is most likely to be successful when you build a solid foundation for the work and stages that follow.
Watch Video 20.2: Understanding the Team. Closed captioning is available. Click HERE to read a transcript.
Groups are most likely to be successful when members attend to both the climate within the group and the process by which they accomplish their tasks. Click on each item in the interactive lists below to learn more.
Skills for a Healthy Group Climate
Skills for an Effective Group Process
Communicating Effectively
Regular open communication, in which group members share their thoughts, ideas and feelings, is a must for successful group work. Unspoken assumptions and issues can be very destructive to productive group functioning.
Effective communicators do the following:
- explain their ideas
- express their feelings in an open but non-threatening way
- listen carefully to others
- ask questions to clarify others’ ideas and emotions
- sense how others feel based on their nonverbal communication
- initiate conversations about group climate or process if they sense tensions brewing
- reflect on the activities and interactions of their group and encourage other group members to do so as well
Watch Video 20.3: Communicating Effectively. Closed captioning is available. Click HERE to read a transcript.
Planning the Project
There are a number of strategies and techniques for effective group project planning to help your group stay on track and meet deadlines. These include identifying and negotiating roles and learning about tools and approaches that can help you plan effectively.
Watch Video 20.4: Planning the Project. Closed captioning is available. Click HERE to read a transcript.
Chapter Attribution
This chapter is adapted from:
Learning Commons, York University (2020). The student guide to group work. https://learningcommons.yorku.ca/groupwork/. Licensed with CC BY 4.0.
Media Attributions
Video 20.1: Teaching & Learning at York U. Libraries. (2021, January 8). Introduction to group work. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UL0uEywO-EA. Licensed with CC BY 4.0.
Video 20.2: Teaching & Learning at York U. Libraries. (2021, January 8). Understanding the team. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/L_uMkCwqSsw. Licensed with CC BY 4.0.
Video 20.3: Teaching & Learning at York U. Libraries. (2021, January 8). Communicating effectively. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/1svJa8epAMA. Licensed with CC BY 4.0.
Video 20.4: Teaching & Learning at York U. Libraries. (2021, January 8). Planning the project. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/DDK924YPBf4. Licensed with CC BY 4.0.
