This document provides guidance on effective teamwork and creativity for group projects. It emphasizes the importance of caring deeply about the project idea, minimizing unnecessary dialogue, prioritizing visual storytelling, avoiding cliches, and carefully planning details. Effective teamwork requires active participation from all members, shared decision-making, flexibility to changing circumstances, and leveraging diversity. Teams should use constructive feedback and listen actively to different perspectives. The document outlines a "two card system" to address free riders who do not contribute equally to the group work.
2. CONSIDER THIS 01
Make a film you really care about…
To get to this point as a group you really have to spend quality time
and open up with each other.
Do you really care enough about your idea to spend hours and hours
making it and then editing it?
If you don’t care enough, don’t be afraid to throw away the idea and
start again.
It’s almost always the case that the most compelling and gripping
storytelling comes from the investment and intimacy of real
experience.
3. CONSIDER THIS 02
Don’t depict scenes of graphic violence unless you are drawing from
personal experience. If you think this is limiting, think about the fact that
what we imagine / don’t see is often more evocative than actually seeing
something.
Try to minimize your use of scripted dialogue. If you can’t figure out a way
to tell your story without constant talking, this might indicate that you’re
not thinking visually enough. For each line of dialogue, try to imagine a way
to communicate the same thing with images alone. There may be some
places where dialogue is indispensable, but a well-chosen image can often
communicate your ideas much more eloquently than words.
Details really make a difference, so spend enough time and plan ahead to
get the details right. Don’t film in your flat just because it’s there. Don’t just
settle for filming with your mates because they are around. There’s no
substitute for thoughtful, careful casting of people who enjoy acting, and
atmospheric locations that work visually.
Eradicate clichés! Be hard on yourselves and try to catch elements in your
work that seem hackneyed or derivative.
4. THE NEED FOR FIRST-CLASS
GROUPWORK…
Your career success will largely
depend on your ability to work
effectively with people who have
different perspectives, attitudes,
and backgrounds than you.
One of the most challenging and
important skills you will be asked
to develop during this project is
that of effective teamwork.
The basis of good teamwork is a
shared desire for the team, and
not just individuals, to excel.
5. WHAT IS A SUCCESSFUL TEAM?
Effective teamwork does not mean
avoiding conflict; it means:
1. Drawing out all viewpoints and
ideas
2. Commitment to informed debate
and analysis
3. Active listening
4. Ability to give constructive
feedback
5. Openness to changing one’s mind
6. Management of conflict
If your team is “getting along” quite
peacefully, it may actually mean that
you are not thinking critically as a
team.
Acknowledgements:
Conference Board of Canada. Employability and Innovation Skills 2000+, summary
from http://galileo.org/tips/rubrics/t-c_rubric.pdf
Sinetar, Marsha. (1991). Developing a 21st century mind. New York: Villard Books.
Also, Texas A and M University.
6. FOUR SIMPLE PRINCIPLES
Active participation
Shared decision making
Ability to adjust to circumstances
Using diversity to build strength
7. IF MEMBERS ACTIVE PARTICIPATION
IN THE PROJECT IS…
Poor Medium Good Very Good
The team does not define the
task and few members
participate actively. There is no
follow-up.
Team informally defines the tasks
but not all members understand
them so not all members are able
to make meaningful
contributions. The follow-up is
sporadic.
Team clearly defines the tasks to
be accomplished, assigns aspects
to various members and
anticipates future needs. The team
engages in follow-up activities to
monitor progress.
Team has an extensive project
management plan that outlines
the tasks to be accomplished,
resources that are needed, due
dates, assigned aspects to various
members and anticipated future
needs. The team engages in
regular follow-up activities to
monitor progress and provide
feedback to team members.
8. IF MEMBERS PARTICIPATION IN
DECISION-MAKING IS...
Poor Medium Good Very Good
Because there is no decision-
making process, individuals make
decisions, and they do not reflect
the thinking or the desires of the
team.
Decision-making procedures
were established informally,
leading to inconsistency in
implementation and a failure to
involve all members in decision-
making.
Clear procedures for making
decisions are established and
clearly articulated. Decisions, the
process by which they were made,
and the involvement of members
are also clearly articulated.
All team members mobilize
personal strengths to set forth
their ideas and to negotiate a fit
between personal ideas and ideas
of others, using contrasts to spark
and sustain knowledge
advancement of the entire team,
acknowledging that each member
has a significant role to play and
personal responsibility in
decision- making.
9. IF ADJUSTMENT TO
CIRCUMSTANCES IS…
Poor Medium Good Very Good
The team seems to be thrashing
about. Activity plans (if they
exist) are unfocused, and thus
there is no ability to adjust and
make corrections.
The team is not always able to
adjust as needed to meet goals.
Realization of the need for mid-
course corrections sometimes
comes too late.
When working to achieve goals,
the team is able to adjust plans
as needs arise. There is a clear
understanding of the nature of
mid-course corrections and why
they were needed.
Team members know that
working to achieve goals requires
flexibility in thought and action,
being creatively adaptive,
“unfreakable”
in the face of challenging
problems and changing situations.
10. IF THE TEAM’S USE OF THEIR
DIVERSITY TO BUILD STRENGTH
IS...
Poor Medium Good Very Good
The team atmosphere is
competitive and
individualistic rather than
cooperative and supportive.
There is a general
atmosphere of respect for
team members, but some
members may not be heard
as much as others.
Acknowledging others'
work is serendipitous
rather than planned. Some
members may not feel free
to turn to others for help.
Every team member is
treated with respect. All
members listen to all ideas.
The work of each person is
acknowledged. Members
feel free to seek assistance
from others or to ask
questions.
Team members recognize each other as
legitimate contributors to the shared goals; they
build on each other’s ideas and take
responsibility for the overall advancement of
knowledge of the team. They see diversity as a
strength that helps to strengthen the overall
outcomes. Team members encourage diverse
points of view, openly negotiate emerging
understandings and provide and accept specific
feedback to and from each other to improve
team processes and project outcomes.
11. ACTIVE LISTENING AND GIVING
CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK (1)
Team members’ opinions are not
what you want. What really
matters and what will advance
your project is your analysis of
choices and issues. Here analysis
is distinguished from an opinion
in that it involves use of evidence
and/or use of criteria in decision
making.
Instead of formulating a
response in your head while
others are speaking, listen to
them with the intent of
understanding, then paraphrase
what you think they said. Repeat
until you get it right.
12. ACTIVE LISTENING AND GIVING
CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK (2)
Constructive feedback depends
upon the following realizations:
each of us can be an expert on
our own feelings and on how
other peoples’ behavior affects
us, but we have no idea of other
peoples’ feelings and how our
behavior is perceived by others.
Try using the following method
when giving feedback to others:
When you/we… (FACTS of
observable behavior, without
judgment or exaggeration)…I
feel…(explain how their behavior
affects you)…because I…(explain
connection between observable
facts and your response). I
would like…(describe the change
you would like to
see)…because… (why you think
the change will help). What do
you think?... Listen to response,
ask for and give clarification,
discuss options, and agree on a
solution.
13. FREE-RIDERS…
A free-rider, in economics,
refers to someone who benefits
from resources, goods, or
services without paying for the
cost of the benefit. The term
"free rider" was first used in
economic theory of public
goods, but similar concepts have
been applied in other contexts,
including collective bargaining,
antitrust law, psychology and
political science. Have you ever
experienced a free-rider in
group assessment?
14. IF THINGS GO WRONG – THE TWO
CARD SYSTEM…(1)
Students want a fair assessment of
group work. Probably the two most
common problems which occur are
social loafing and free riding. Social
loafing is when an individual exerts
less effort when they pool their work
towards a common goal than when
they are held individually accountable.
Free riding is when an individual
collects the benefits of group work
without giving an equal contribution.
Free riding is essentially the most
extreme version of social loafing.
If students find that one person is not
pulling their weight, they should give
that person a deadline to reform. If
there is no reform, they should
contact the tutor, who may issue a
'yellow card' demanding that the
student reform, again within a
timespan.
15. IF THINGS GO WRONG – THE TWO
CARD SYSTEM…(2)
If the student reforms, the yellow
card can be rescinded. In an extreme
case, if the student still does little to
contribute, the group can apply to
the tutor for a 'red card' and a
student can be removed from the
group and given an appropriate one
person task to submit.
If a yellow card and not a red card is
in place at the end of the
submission, the student will be
marked down from the group mark
by 20 percent.
Note the responsibilities that the
remaining group members should
take – they should try to reform the
individual, they should apply for the
first sanction and they may apply for
the ultimate sanction.
16. ALL IS FAIR…
People who fail to show up for work
or who fail to perform useful work in
their job are fired.
If there are no yellow or red cards,
the presumption will be that all
group members worked equally and
an equal mark will be awarded for
the project. The option of the red
card is not a desirable outcome as
the student will have a steep task to
perform.
The sanction system is based on the
application of two academic papers
to our circumstances at UH. Those
papers are available in Teaching
Resources.
Abernethy, M.A., and W.L. Lett. 'You are fired! A method to control and sanction
free riding in group assignments'. Marketing Education Review 15, no. 1: 47–
54, 2005
Maiden, B and Perry, B. 'Dealing with Free-riders in assessed group work:
results from a study at a UK university'. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education, 36:4, 451-464, 2010.