Let's consider the case of a "team" project for a college course in which the team needs to create a written assignment. This team consists of two contributors and each is equally knowledgeable of applicable material pertaining to the project and each is equally as talented in the field of writing about the subject-matter.
In order to get the highest grade there must be a level of coordination during the project. Coordination is crucial because if one student has to do all the work, then he will "whistle-blow" on his non-contributive partner and the teacher will have to give him a failing grade as a result of the effort, or lack-there-of. If both students were to contribute equally, it will create some work to integrate the thoughts of each into one cohesive written assignment, but they will feel equally accomplished and take pride in the final project as a result of collaboration and problem resolution. In the theory given by the "How to Get the Rich to Share," the students will each give their best efforts in order to both receive a high grade. This is a result of the fact that one student may be a phenomenal writer while the other understands the theory of the subject matter. One will contribute his writing skills with the understanding that in return the other will contribute his knowledge of the subject. By both maintaining high levels of skill in different areas the two can engage in a simple gift exchange where they both gain by putting forth best efforts.
As I said, this is simply a theory and I have found that this does not tend to be the case (especially when expanded to include more than three players). Last year, I involved myself in a two person writing project which was later followed by a powerpoint presentation. While my partner certainly was knowledgeable about the subject matter, she displayed through her efforts during the project, that she did not care about the class. I tried, repeatedly, to get her involved in the project, but simply could not give her enough encouragement to put the effort forth. This is a case where I pulled both ends of the rope myself, and because I'm a nice guy, I didn't "whistle-blow" on her. Looking back, maybe that was a mistake. Maybe I should've told the professor we were having issues, but at some point it just doesn't seem worth it to me to spend my time telling on someone else. The way I look at it...she'll get what's coming to her eventually. I would imagine that she didn't fair very well in the class anyway, since the project was only about 15% of our grade. But, alas, maybe that was the problem, had the professor increased the value of the project, maybe she would've tried harder. In the end I knew I was proud of the work and I knew I earned the A, but she was going to have to live with her actions.
I would say that this is generally how things work in a position where you are incentivized with money. Those that want the extra money (in my case, high grade) will work harder than the others, and those that don't care and are happy with their minimum paycheck, just keep chugging along.
On the other hand, if the entire group is strong, it presents the proposed theory in the article. This goes back to a post where I talked about my positive office-mates, where we kept each other strong by sharing our bits of knowledge to make the others in our office better. If we had one weak link, she may not have stopped the other two of us, but she certainly would not reap the benefits. In that case, we did share the marbles, and as a result all three of us have been promoted.
I've commented already on another student's post who wrote something similar that I only get these sort of posts from students who have done the lion's share of the work. I never hear about these things from the other student(s). One wonders what they would say if pressed to do so.
ReplyDeleteOne of the issues with class projects, such as the one for our class, is whether teamwork actually raises productivity or if it is really an individual writing assignment that is being divided among the various team members. In the latter case the incentive for a team member to shirk is greater than in the case where each member of the team does have unique skills that are necessary for the project. Then each team member knows they are being counted on to deliver.
There is also the question of whether the members of the team have had a prior association and if so what impact that has on project participation. It is easier to shirk when they don't know the other people so don't feel their pain from their own lack of performance. That one we will talk about in class on Monday.
One last comment is on your mention of being a nice guy and how to unpack that thought. Not knowing you well enough, I will talk about me here. I have some dread of unpleasant confrontations. Part of that is knowing that when I get angry I lose my ability to be rational and to see things from more than one perspective. So I try to avoid anger and will sometimes pretend there is nothing bothering me, when there actually is. As I've gotten older and have had positions with increasing responsibility, I've found this approach fails too often. Things escalate sometimes. We will discuss this in class in a week when we do Bolman and Deal's chapter 8. In the meantime, it is worth noting that sometimes the other person is simply oblivious, which is different from the other person knowing but not caring. In the former case, bringing the issue to the person's attention might correct the behavior. When that is true, being quiet about it ahead of time really isn't being responsible. There are risks either way.
I'll comment on being the one that shirked. Currently, I'm shirking work on my teammate in this class due to the high level of stress and work I have at my job. I will make up the work I have not been producing for the group, but I will be perfectly honest, I just haven't had the appropriate amount of time to dedicate to my team or the project.
ReplyDeleteI think that in my experience, there have been many times that I've forced team work. Even if that meant we split the assignment and I encouraged someone in the group to edit the entire work. This forces a more cohesive written work and does show some level of teamwork. I think your point about not knowing each other is very valid though. Honestly, I feel so guilty every time I see my partner and know I have not completed my share of the work. For me, that is my penalty for not working as hard as I should. I think many students feel this way, so the ones that shirk are the ones that don't go to class, because going to class would bring on feelings of guilt and may encourage more effort toward the project.
When it comes to unpleasant confrontations, I'd have to say, I'm with you on that front. I become very angry and so avoiding the confrontation is sometimes better than not having one at all. But as you said, many times this approach fails. I will discuss my failure to confront soon and often enough in our next blog post when we discuss B&D's conflict section.