GROUP WORK (VIRTUAL)

AND HOW TO MAKE IT WORK IN THE MBA

PROGRAMME

MST FACULTY TEAM

INTERVENTION SESSION
Teams
Group work is pervasive in graduate business
programs

• Students dread group project work, Why?

• Why does working in a group make a student

uncomfortable?
 Top 3 Challenges faced by a virtual team
• Communication
• Trust
• Productivity

• Plan, establish and run a high performing learning team

 Life in a Business School
• 2-3 Classes per day (37-38 courses across 6 trimesters)
• Preparatory Work, Readings, Discussions to be done for each class
• Faculty Expectations / Peer Expectations
• Post class work – prepping for the next day
• Cases, Assignments, Tests, Quizzes, Projects, Exams
• Internships
• Co-curricular work and Extra Curricular work
• Health, hobbies, friends, family…… SURVIVE 2 YRS!!!
GROUP WORK CAN AND WILL HELP SUPPORT YOU IN MBA

• BUT - Should group work be left to chance?????

ONE, better than each one!
 What does research tell us?
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory of development suggests that learning
takes place when students solve problems beyond their current
developmental level with the support of their instructor or their peers.

Cooperative Learning ( Positive Interdependence)

Johnson et al. (2006) found that cooperative learning produced

greater academic achievement than both competitive learning and
individualistic learning across their studies.
 Advantages of Group work
• Better Class Participation (content, analysis and articulation)
–Cross learning and Deeper analysis
• Leveraging strengths and uncovering blind spots through Peer
appraisal
–Synergy and faster pace
• Comfortable discussion space to build thought
leadershipPersonality
• Personality Development
–Skill Development Conflict resolution/ Dec making in
groups/ Difficult conversations
 Faculty Evaluation of Group work
• Shared group grades
• Grades that are averages of individual grades
• Strictly individual grades
• Combination of above

• They also suggest ways to assess not only the product of the group
work but also the process. 
• A portion of a grade may derive from individual contribution (helps
combat the free rider problem.)
 HOW TO MAKE GROUPS WORK FOR YOU?
• Raise the Collective Intelligence level of the group
• Create Psychological Safety in the group – Your group should
be a safe place for everyone to share, discuss and argue.
• Work hard at ensuring roles are clear
• Ensure everyone understands the goal well
• Respect team members
• Listen more and with empathy to conversations
 When you begin working in groups…

• Structural issues – How to? What to?

• Behavioral issues – Why ? Why not? How to? Larger issues :

Attitude, Motivation, Effort

• Constants: Group Composition; Group Work; Group Evaluation

• Outcomes: Quality and Quantity of Group effort
 Build Group Norms for Effectiveness
• Develop a group vision – What are we here for?
• Detail out team strengths
• Use organizers or forms for planning tasks
• Structure tasks so each student contributes
• Make individual contributions visible and tie to class participation
• Assess yourself and peers on how much they did
• Give and ask for Feedback based on performance
• Clarify expectations around communication; Conduct of meetings;
Making decisions; Resolving Conflicts
 Group work on “Group Work”!
• Draw up a Group Charter document outlining:

• Members’ learning goals and vision

• Roles, Strengths and areas of development
• Communication norms
• Decision making norms
• Conflict resolution norms
• Feedback mechanism and norms
• Penalties
 Group Charters
• What and when tasks will be done,
• Who will be responsible for them,
• establish group roles
• Students can be assigned specific roles (e.g. group leader or coordinator, chair or
facilitator, note-taker, time-keeper, devil’s advocate, idea generator) within a
group, or be allowed to choose
• How group members will collaborate to complete them
• Standards by which a group member, would be removed if s/he doesn’t perform
their share of the work.
• Defining these “process elements” frees the members of the group up to do the
actual work and the transparency they foster enables the group members to hold
one another accountable.
 Group Charters
• The communication processes they will use (e.g. how often
they will meet, how they will manage group documents)
• JIRA MIRO
• What their group values are (e.g. honesty, good listening skills,
meeting deadlines)
• How they will avoid issues such as members logging in late to
meetings, members not completing work in time
 Preparing for a group discussion session
• Email/ Message the group the night before with agenda

• Structure time from 2.20 pm – 5.30 pm with a break of 15 minutes

• Have clear tasks for the day (Leader to set discussion goals- rotational?)
Invite suggestions from group members for discussion agenda

• Assign clear roles for researching, analyzing, documenting, playing

devil’s advocate, time keeper – rotational)
 Preparing for a group discussion session
• Consult
1. Course outlines for identifying cases/articles/lead questions/topics
for class discussion
2. Faculty for guiding questions/ request for practice questions
3. Senior students for areas within courses/cases to focus on

• Emphasis on : Preparation for next day’s classes ( Most of the time)

» Project and assignment discussion
• Case studies/articles/exercises
Structuring Case Discussion ( Post individual reading time)

• Develop an Executive Summary / Case Synopsis ( 2 minutes)

• Define the problem/focus area (check course outline)
• Vital data points and Analyzing annexures/exhibits
• Use Lead Questions or Session objectives
• Developing and selecting alternatives ( difference of opinion
counts)
• Prepare individual decision sheets
• Once in a while, Group Decision Sheets to be shared with Faculty
 Conducting Case Analysis
• Sequence of questions - observation, analysis, prescription and
then evaluation

• Structure time – Have a time keeper!

• Appreciate – Efforts, Ideas, Star Performers!

• Behavioral ……
 Unwitting Free Riders!
• Check how work is being allocated? More assertive members ?
Member skills checked?
• Are members asking for help?
• Meeting faculty across courses to share discussion formats
• Submit decision sheets to faculty before/after class
• Ask the slackers how to deal with the situation
• Work out group goals and gain commitment
 Creating Sustainable and Effective Group Norms

• Identify a star performer for the week and course, and reward those
who achieve this on trimester wise basis for every course
• Group to identify free riders for the week and course, and if nothing
works, “fire” them for the remainder of the week / trimester
(exclusion from group assignments and project based evaluation).
This escalated action needs to be pre-informed to the Programme
Chair.
 Warning!!

• Group work time is not meant for distractions or doing preparation

then or Cell / Committee work

• Groups must actively dissuade members from messaging / speaking

with cells / committees during this time period

• So: Gain commitment and structure work on the go, continuously,

consistently
Group work audit……..a must at the end of a trimester.

• Is the group :
• Building and maintaining the team
• Meeting the task needs (getting the work identified for the day done)
• Sensitive to individual needs ( need for coaching/speaking/help)
• Learning from other groups
• Is the group auditing:
• Frequency and quality of member participation
• Topics often discussed ( academic / co-curricular/ unrelated)
• Structure of discussions and time spent
• Outcomes ( group task / individual needs)
 Support System

• Group work timings in the time table

• Faculty
• Senior Students
• Tools and Techniques
• Reporting mechanism
 Group work on “Group Work”!
• Brainstorm the question: “How we could wreck our group and
make sure we fail and have a horrible time?”

• Go through the ideas on the brainstormed list, asking: “If that’s

how we would fail, how can we make sure we succeed?”

• Make a new list of actions you can take to make your group
succeed
 Talent wins games, but
Teamwork and Intelligence wins
Championships.

- Michael Jordan