I am currently enrolled in college and all of their classes are done online. This is my first class and we have five on my team. Three on the team have not helped do any of the project. I have done all of the research and it is very disturbing. I have a paper due on team dynamics two weeks from today (individual assignment) and a paper on plagiarism for a team assignment. So far working in teams has stressed me out more than help me.

The Team Doc Says…

Working in a team can be a really good experience when the stars align properly or a nightmare on elm street if they don’t. Don’t give up on teams because of this experience.

Ok. So here’s the issue. You and the other producing team members need to hold the non producing team members accountable. Period. End of story. This is an issue that surfaces time and again in all walks of life, both business and personal. There are doers and there are non doers.

You also need to make sure you are not volunteering for too many tasks and then drowning under the work. Resist the urge to say, “I’ll do it.”

Often team accountability problems can be resolved by talking to the offending team member and determining whether they understand their role or not. Sometimes that’s the case and the problem clears up.

Other times, it’s not that easy. But you must face the issue of the team members who are non productive. If you talk with them and things don’t change, I would suggest taking it to your professor and asking for help.

What do you think reader? Please add your thoughts in the comments.

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