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| Photo by Anthony Intraversato on Unsplash |
Working in a group could be a nightmare for some of us, I dare to say. When I was in my foundation studies, I keep hearing stories about how my friends had to deal with free-rider and etcetera. In university, I thought people would act much professionally considering everyone had reached an age which can be considered mature enough to think about the good or bad - for some of us, it get worse. Despite all of that 'experiences', let's call it a day. There are thing which would remained unless we decide to change that.
Dear high school leavers, not to scared you but uhm welcome to adulthood?
Where all the catastrophe are.
Lol, joke. No worries, you will have fun.
This semester, exceptionally, I have to work and coordinate a lot in group rather than individually. Not only academically speaking but also in co-curricular because this fellow here somehow is daring herself to go out of her comfort zone. I tried, well, pushing myself to meet people outside my normal bound circumstances and mingle around. It was hard at first but uhm, again, there is nothing wrong with trying.
There are few things I learnt while working in group. It just my two cents but I decided to pen this down since I have been dreading to post this entry no matter rain nor drought (Yes, I just literally translate that lol).
#1 You are going to get chances to look at someone closer.
You have to admit this. When you spend most of the times with your group mates, you somehow would be able to look at them from different sides and perspectives. You could look at their work ethics, their personality, their characters, their response when they were pressed with tremendous pressure. If you are lucky, or observant enough, you might even able to catch a glimpse on things they have keep hidden under the rug or inside the closet.
Personally, I have few people who after I worked/mingled with this semester, my impressions on them drastically changed. Rather than condemning their attitudes, I somehow learnt the reasons for them to be acting like that.
You will have that privilege.
#2 You will have better chemistry.
As the time goes by, as the time spent together were much longer; you learnt to coordinate better with your group members. I guess, this might suggest why we need to understand people better. In order to have better chemistry with people, you ought to learnt about them. You shall spent more time with them. You basically live in them lol.
In one of my drama performance, my lecturer commented that we are lacking in terms of chemistry. There is spark but no chemical reaction I guess. However, during our last performance (last Thursday) our chemistry seems better. Probably because we have spent almost the whole semester with each other despite the ups and down.
#3 You learnt to be more open-minded.
... because you are not always right. Lol. Sometimes, we have to be neutral when dealing with people with 'strong' personality. There's nothing wrong with it to be honest. An act of consideration would help. You do not actually want to break the momentum you have gained in the group. The trust and such, it will bring a long term effect on people. I found out that it is okay to voice out your opinion but you have to prepared yourself to be evaluated, condemned or even rejected.
There are reasons for that.
Besides, group work enabling us to share the missing piece in us. We learnt from people, and if it is good practise - why not adapting it in our own life style?
#4 You will be left with memories.
Undeniably. Either good or bad, you will have experiences and memories which would always stayed in the deepest part of your heart. You will bring this memories everywhere you go and you ought to stay with that.
Because memory is one of the biggest component that makes us human.
There would be time where you were just sitting while enjoying your food and your group mates silliest jokes on the earth just came across your mind. Even if you were alone.
You will have their photos, tremendous of them, filling your memory card because they just love spoiling you with their own selfies.
The people who you used treat as stranger would now greet you, waving their hands in big motion just to get your attention in the middle of the streets.
Those kind of things.
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In conclusion, I could tattletale about all the horrible things while working in group. How a person could be such an asshole you never think would ever being encountered - a weird species and such. However, working as a group is making me realized that there are still a bunch of good things I could learnt and adapt to my own life. It just, you have to cleverly handle your life.
If you have something you are not satisfied with, talk.
If you cannot make it to your meeting, try to find another solution to make up your absentees.
If you have trouble, ask for help.
It's a group work after all. People would not know unless you speak up :')
What do you think?
Until the next time, adios!
