Being in college, we’ve probably all had the great pleasure of working in a group for a project. Don’t you just love group projects? I always seem to have so much fun — said no one ever. People that say they love group projects during interviews must be either insane or the best liars ever. In my day, I’ve dealt with many kinds of groups, and have realized that there seem to be the same kind of people in these groups. There usually are 5 different kinds of people, all of which are equally terrible. Below, I’ve listed these kinds of people, so you may identify them in your current group project — or identify yourself.
1. The Careless Wonder.
This person is the one that meets with the group at the very beginning, says a few words, and you never hear from them again. This person can be either really great for the group or terribly awful. In the "really great" kind of circumstance, this person might be horrible at projects in general, so having them actually participate in the group could bring your grade down. The "terribly awful" side of things is that they will do no work, yet get the same grade as you, unless of course you have an understanding teacher that lets you rate each member of the group. Pray for this.
2. The "let me do nothing and take all the credit" Group Member.
This person is similar to the careless wonder, but in this instance, they do nothing yet take all the credit for the assignment. I’m sure you’ve dealt with this when you or someone else in the group spent hours on a PowerPoint, yet this person decides to act like they made it and then they take over. Yet because they don’t have any clue about what they’re actually talking about, things get awkward, fast.
3. The Try-hard.
The try-hard of the group is always the person to take over the ENITRE assignment. Some might think, "Wow — love this person." But if you really think about it, it might not turn out to be so great. The try-hard could either make the assignment a pass or fail. Always keep a close eye on this one; you never know how it could turn out.
4. The Tiiiiimeeeee Waster.
This possibly might be me … regardless, this person calls meetings for the group, yet never seems to get anything done. This person isn’t really a hindrance to the group, but they also don’t really help it either. At all. Try to just stay away from the time waster; you’ll be more productive.
5. Lastly, the Middle-Aged Woman.
I know what you’re thinking, “this isn’t always true”, and yes, I know this." But think about it. I’m sure in your college career (not high school, that would be weird), you’ve had that woman who is about 45 with kids, coming back to get her degree. Props to her! But sometimes it gets awkward with group texts, since she most likely has mom humor. AKA, no humor. Anyways, she doesn’t really do much for the group. Except that she just might be a tad of a buzz kill.
If you found out your group identity, then feel proud! If not, then you must be the most perfect group member who everyone wants on his or her team, which is rather hard to come by. Any who, try to be the best group project member so you don’t feel annoyed by the other members of your group. They might possibly be a mixture of all 5 kinds of group members. To that I say, good luck friend.
