3 Group Work Agreement
3.1 General information
We use the group work agreement to outline how you and your group will work and communicate with each other, and ensure you are engaging in the group work process for the stage one group report. Groups typically experience problems when communication and task responsibilities are built on unspoken assumptions. As you probably do not know the people in your group when we make the allocations, we start the project by facilitating a discussion with you and your group so you can openly outline how you will communicate, respect diversity, and split tasks.
This is a formative task and is not part of the summative assessment for the course, but everyone must complete the task. We use the group work agreement as a way of identifying engagement and potential problems as early as possible. The course or programme leads will contact students who do not submit their group work agreement and students will potentially be placed on an individual submission if they do not engage with their groups.
The deadline is October 11th 2024, where everyone in the group must submit an individual signed copy of the agreement you worked on.
Although you will agree on the document as a group, each group member must then individually sign (electronic or a printed name, you do not need to physically sign it) and upload a copy to the submission portal.
You should submit a single Word document (.docx) or PDF document to Moodle prior to the deadline. The submission link is open from when the group allocations are available in week 2. You can find the submission portal in the Formative: Allocations and group work agreement submission tab.
3.2 Group agreement items
The group work agreement template (available for download in the RM1 Formative: Allocations and group work agreement submission tab) contains five points that we have set, but you may add any additional points that the group agrees.
The mandatory points are:
As a student of the University of Glasgow, I will treat all members of my group with dignity and respect.
I have read and agree to abide by the Student code of conduct and the Dignity at work and study policy.
We all agree to communicate with each other openly and tell the course leads well in advance should any issues arise.
We all agree to use a group chat on Microsoft Teams as our main electronic channel of communication.
We all agree to contribute to the group project and complete the assigned tasks by a deadline agreed by the group.
In addition, there may be other elements of group work that you and your group want to include. Here is a list of items you may want to discuss with your group and add to the document:
We all agree to establish a common timeline for the project and discuss any deviations from the timeline together as a group.
We all agree to communicate with each other openly and honestly about the project and get in touch with the course leads in the event of an unsolvable group conflict.
We all agree to respect each other’s individual ways of working and discuss these openly as a group.
We all agree to respect diversity in our group. This includes cultural differences, neurodiversity, different work/life situations and may manifest in different ways of working/approaching tasks. We agree to discuss our strengths as a group and divide tasks accordingly.
I agree to stay in touch with the group and communicate as established by the group. If I am struggling and I do not feel comfortable sharing that with the group, I will get in touch with the course/programme leads for support.
We all agree to meet on a regular basis as established by the group. If I cannot make a meeting I agree to communicate this openly with my group and get in touch to catch up about things I have missed.
We agree to plan out the individual contribution of each team member in advance before group work starting and openly communicate any changes that may arise during the project.
We agree to establish the best method of communication for our group that’s inclusive and takes into account everybody’s individual needs.
3.3 Effective group work advice
3.3.1 Guidelines
Below are some guidelines to organise and manage your group project for the stage one report. You are welcome to adapt some of these guidelines to suit your group and the nature of the project. However, in the event we need to mediate difficulties, this will involve you providing evidence as record/evidence of collaboration (or lack thereof). Please be mindful of this when conducting your project.
Set up your group Teams chat/channel and a Microsoft Planner for your group
DO: Create a Teams chat for communication with your group.
DO: Create a Microsoft Planner with all members of your group to assign individual tasks (we recommend copying this Planner template for the stage one group report we have created. Please copy the Planner, do not edit it.).
DON’T: Use WhatsApp, Facebook or WeChat etc. to coordinate your project as that excludes people who cannot access this technology in some countries.
Coordinate work schedules/calendars
DO: Be open about when you can meet/study, if you have a busy period coming up, or might be unavailable.
DO: Schedule a regular ‘check-in’ time. This does not need to be a live meeting but stay connected regularly.
DON’T: Commit to meetings/time frames that will not work for your timetable or work schedule.
Agree on document collaboration platforms
DO: We recommend having a shared OneDrive folder or sharing documents within your Teams channel using the files tab.
DO: Use track changes and comments on shared documents.
DO: Think about a shared Zotero, EndNote, or similar reference manager to organise papers.
Work back from the deadline to create milestones
DO: Be mindful of your work/life balance and upcoming busy periods.
DO: Agree on specific dates to complete your responsibilities.
DON’T: Leave things to the last minute.
Determine strengths and assign roles
- DO: Consult the Stage one group work planning advice section below to identify the strengths/preferences of your team.
Assign tasks/milestones to roles
DO: Attach names and dates to tasks and assign milestones using the Microsoft Planner template.
DO: Reassign tasks/adjust deadlines as the project progresses if you need to.
DON’T: Assign time-sensitive roles that might clash with someone’s known upcoming commitments.
Communicate, communicate, communicate
DO: Check-in regularly.
DO: Agree to action points at the end of meetings and put these in writing (e.g., in a shared document / to-do list).
DO: Let your group know if you are struggling with a task/milestone.
DO: Be kind and compassionate (to yourself and others).
DON’T: Take things personally. We all know text/online communication can sound differently from how it is intended.
Submit your Assessment
DO: Assign one person to prepare and submit the final documents when everyone has approved them. Remember to turn off track changes.
DO: Give yourself time to look at the Turnitin Report.
DON’T: Forget to check you are uploading the correct intended file.
3.3.2 Points about inclusivity
Language: Many/most students in this programme are studying in their second, third, or even fourth language. Consider the challenges you might experience if you were studying beyond your first language and be mindful of making implicit judgements about someone’s writing or communication.
Timing/working patterns: Be mindful that everyone’s work/life balance and commitments are different. Some people prefer studying during traditional working hours, some in the evenings, and others on weekends. Communicate your preferences openly and as a group be as flexible and accommodating as you can. Can the times/days of meetings be flexible if this helps everyone contribute and feel engaged?
Technology: The technology/platforms we recommend might not be your favourites, but we recommend them for a reason. These are things we can directly support, and they are the things that we make sure all students in different countries can access. Using some apps/tools can explicitly exclude some members that want to engage and contribute.
Neurodiversity: Different people work and think in different ways. If someone discloses that they find particular things challenging, or that they are at their best with a particular type of task or activity, consider how you can support/reflect this in the allocation of roles and tasks.
3.3.3 Supporting self-efficacy/group dynamics
Ostracism: Group dynamics can be one of the trickiest things to manage in a project, especially if you feel like you are the “new person” coming into an established group. For the sake of everyone and your project, avoid implicitly or explicitly creating an in-group/out-group situation and ostracising people.
Positivity: Try to maintain a positive tone about the project, even if you find it challenging. There is a fine line between having a little vent/catharsis and creating an atmosphere of toxic negativity. Some team members might take this to heart more than others and become dispirited about the activity, their abilities, and the completion of the task. If you are feeling frustrated or finding a particular thing challenging, talk to your group and consider seeking advice or support from the teaching team.
Imposter syndrome: It does not matter how we might be coping, sometimes it is impossible to avoid feeling like you or your work might not be good enough. If you are anxious about sharing something with your group, seek feedback from someone you trust first for their advice. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Think about your shared documents as ‘working drafts’. Do not think you have to be anything other than who you are with your group. The pressure of thinking you must pretend to be a “model” student or meet the perceived expectations of others can get in the way of your being able to contribute your unique skills and experience.
3.4 Stage one group work task sharing advice
As you start working in your groups, one key decision will be sharing out the tasks equitably. In the stage one report template, there are several sections and sub-sections to complete. For each component, try to summarise the following when you first meet with your group:
What information have you already established in that section?
What do you still need to think about for that section?
How are you going to find answers to the things you do not yet know?
For example, you might say for the rationale, research question, and hypothesis component of the introduction:
What have you already established?: So far, we know the research question and the hypothesis, and we have a general summary of relevant papers written by the team.
What do we still need to think about?: We do not yet have a fully formed rationale or a solid understanding of the general overview.
How will you find answers to things you do not yet know? Helena, James, and Ashley will read the papers that have already been collected and the general literature review. From there, they will try to summarise the rationale so that it builds on what previous research has found. They will then present that to the group for further revision and discussion.
Once you have done that for each section, go through and answer the following question: Who will lead on each section?
Each group member should make an equal contribution, but this does not mean every group member works on every section. Some sections might work better with one person leading and another editing, while other sections might work better with several people leading and editing.
The introduction is a larger section with fewer clearly segmented tasks, whereas the method is shorter with clearly defined sub-sections. It is important you understand all aspects of the prospect, so we recommend if you work on writing the introduction, you edit or at least proof-read the method, and vice versa.
For example, you might separate the tasks as:
Introduction literature review: Phil, Helena, and Ashley will lead on this section.
Introduction rationale, research question, and hypothesis: Helena, James, and Ashley will lead on this section.
Method participants: James and Phil will lead on this section.
Method materials: James and Wil will lead on this section.
Method procedure: Ashley and Sarune will lead on this section.
Method design and data analysis: Sarune and Wil will lead on this section.
You might choose to separate the tasks differently, but this is one suggestion to work through. We support this the Planner template for the stage one group report, so we recommend at least starting with this plan and allocate roles, and then adapt as you need.
For this separation or another approach you agree in your group, question what you know, what you still need to think about, and how you will fill in the blanks:
Introduction literature review
What have you already established?
What do you still need to think about?
How will you fill in the blanks?
Introduction rationale, research question, and hypothesis
What have you already established?
What do you still need to think about?
How will you fill in the blanks?
Method participants
What have you already established?
What do you still need to think about?
How will you fill in the blanks?
Method materials
What have you already established?
What do you still need to think about?
How will you fill in the blanks?
Method procedure
What have you already established?
What do you still need to think about?
How will you fill in the blanks?
Method design and data analysis
What have you already established?
What do you still need to think about?
How will you fill in the blanks?
Who will lead on each section?
Introduction literature review:
Introduction rationale, research question, and hypothesis:
Method participants:
Method materials:
Method procedure:
Method design and data analysis:
You can either copy and adapt these questions to work on in your own document, copy the Planner template to your own Microsoft University account, or download this template to structure your group discussions.