Working successfully with others requires practical as well as personal skills. One of the main advantages of working with others is that you can benefit from the skills of others that you may not have yourself, and share your own skills. In this activity you are going to solve a puzzle and explore some of the typical challenges of working in a group. Nine students have been instructed by their tutor to work in three groups of three to perform a course task. Your task is to decide on the best way to form the three groups taking into account the students' personalities and different skills, so that they compliment each other.
Instruction
Think about the personalities and skills of the different students and decide who should be in each group. Move each student into an appropriate group. One member of each group has already been selected. When you have solved the puzzle, read the feedback.
Here is the solution to the puzzle:
Student group 1: Naomi, Tomas and Betty
Student group 2: Stefano, Lei and Francis
Student group 3: Cindy, Andrea and Weng
How many of the skills which these students have are particularly useful when collaborating? Which of their skills do you already have?
Other ways of forming the three groups of students may also be possible. This puzzle illustrates an important point: in any situation where students are required to work together on a course task, there may be personality clashes but there should also be the opportunity for group members to benefit from each other's different skills.
To work well in a group collaboration on your course or as part of a team, you will need certain skills such as being able to negotiate and being able to listen to, support and challenge each other's ideas if necessary. You may already have some of the necessary skills; others may be skills that you still need to develop.
If you are asked by your course tutor to carry out a challenging activity in groups, remember that this is also an opportunity to develop key skills that will be useful later in your professional life such as the ability to set appropriate goals, organise regular meetings, take turns in speaking and keep to time. Working in groups is not always straightforward. It can be challenging and even difficult at times but you can learn an enormous amount from the experience.
Skills for collaborating
