3.6 Teamwork: Challenges

It is important to be aware of the way your group interacts—are you bonding and developing a sense of cohesion? Are individual members maintaining their own sense of identity in the group? If not, there is a risk of “groupthink” –when members of the group begin to think alike, agree with little to no discussion, and start making decisions without adequate exploration—the critical thinking and debate aspect that helps work out potential pitfalls and challenges is lost. Thus, groupthink is something to avoid and can be a reason groups are not successful.

Groups also may not be successful when group members fail to cooperate with one another, are not accountable to their workload, miss deadlines, and when there is poor leadership in the form of low manager support and failure of leaders to delegate authority. It is also important that group members hold each other accountable for what they’ve committed to do in working toward achieving the group goals. The presence of these factors can decrease morale of group members, leading to frustration and demotivating the group members. To help your group succeed, consider the characteristics of successful teams shown above, as well as your own role in helping your team to be a success! The following are eight ways to add value to and survive team projects:

1. 1. Draw up a team charter.
   2. Contribute your ideas.
   3. Never miss a meeting.
   4. Be considerate of each other.
   5. Create a process for resolving conflict.
   6. Use the strengths of each team member.
   7. Don’t do all the work yourself.
   8. Set deadlines.

This section is adapted from “Class Team Projects” in Professional and Technical Writing by Suzy Baker (2025, June 01), licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International.