Lessons Learned On Group Projects As An Adult
Did you like group projects back in school? I didn’t. I’ll admit that I dreaded group projects back during my school years. You see I was always the one who ended up doing the majority of the work, and then got sucked into the procrastination cyclone when the other members decided to show up. Not cool. However, here in the last few months of summer, I have had the opportunity to work with the women of Colorado Women in Social Media to prepare for Denver Startup Week and an amazing panel session we organized. It has changed my perspective on group dynamics.
Here are a few observations of why we worked so well:
- We know each other. Colorado Women in Social Media is a group of business owners and social media experts who are all regularly building their business. Our goal is to collaborate and grow together. I call them my sword; they keep me sharp. We’ve been meeting now for over a year and in that time, we have gotten to know each other and develop trust. When we had the opportunity to go after Denver Startup Week to do a session, we already knew each other on some level. I truly believe this foundation was what helped us succeed. Without the initial trust, there could have easily been fractures and dissension. Instead, we actually built deeper trust with each other, getting even more immersed in each others’ strengths and weaknesses.
- Motivation. My worries of the procrastinating slackers from back in high school was put to rest with this group. One main observation I made was that we are all doers; we wouldn’t be in business if we weren’t. So, when something needs to get accomplished, we all jumped in to do it. Often there were multiple people jumping in and raising their hands to take care of items. At the same time, we’re not only doers, but we’re invested in our personal and group success. When the group succeeds, we succeed. We can each build influence for ourselves and our brands by the success of this panel
- We are different. The differences really shined through in this process. For example, if you read the intro to this article, it is no surprise that I am NOT a procrastinator. We had a healthy mix of people that jumped right in, and then some that waited til the deadline. This allowed us to have input and see the work that others’ had already done. Then, we knew how to tailor our input or modify our input accordingly. There’s weren’t ten cooks in the kitchen at once, but instead, it was staggered. One thing that I do as a non-procrastinator is allow a huge buffer of time because I know that life happens and sometimes you just don’t have time until it’s a matter of a deadline. Requests and assignments were posted to our group Facebook page and email threads with a clear expectation of WHEN we all needed to provide input. Then, it was up to the individual team members to employ their unique work style to execute their portion.
- Technology Helped! Our group regularly utilizes social media to stay connected, not only through our Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn profiles, but also through our closed Facebook Group. This allowed us to communicate regularly in a central space. The other main tool we used was Google Drive to create a central folder. In this folder were documents based on our topic outline, equipment/items needed, and the actual powerpoint. The ability to have a working document that all members had access to allowed us to each throw our talking points into the mix, without forcing one person to organize everything.
- Leading & Following. While I took point on this project, there are a number of other ventures our group is doing throughout the year that have other people leading the initiative. This is not the Valerie Morris show, but it was Valerie Morris leading all of the details with the venue and the Denver Startup Week team. Having a main point person to organize all team meetings and keep the process moving allowed everyone else to do their part, provide new input, and promote the event, without feeling overwhelmed that the basics were being overlooked.
While the group dynamic still requires some work, it also provides you a great opportunity to collaborate and pull together something really great. I walked away from this experience with a deeper understanding of each panel speakers’ strengths, work styles, and service offerings. I know how to refer business to each person much more clearly than I did even three months ago. I also have full confidence that I could partner with any of these women successfully on other future ventures to create content or programs to promote our businesses.
This project could not have happened without our panel: Valerie Morris, Melody Jones, Erin Cell, Michelle Hoglan, Hollie Clere, Lisa Haas, Joyce Fuestal, and Beth Johnston . We also had the help of new members Aimee Skillen and Kimbirly Orr.