Working in Groups

Much of university study is organised on an individual basis.

This is mainly because tutors have to be sure that the work for which you receive your degree grade is your own work. However, 'people skills' are very prized by employers. For this reason, some universities are building more team and group project work into their programmes. Whether this is happening on your programme or not, it is well worth you creating opportunities to develop your interpersonal skills.

People skills

There is a very wide range of people skills. It is worth identifying which of these are most relevant to the careers that interest you. Here are some that are worth developing:

building a good rapport with others
listening skills & speaking skills
communicating to different audiences
being a good team member and also dealing with difficult people
setting up and running groups
giving and receiving criticism more effectively
being assertiveness
negotiation and leadership skills

Skilful listening

Good listening skills are invaluable when working with others. There is an art to being able to discover what another person is trying to communicate, and this can take many years to perfect.

Setting up a group

A good group/team will have a shared vision - it knows what it wants to achieve and puts the desired team outcome first (individual interests take a secondary place).

Whenever you set up a group, ensure that the group brainstorms, discusses and agrees a set of ground rules. Everybody should have a copy of the ground rules.

Discover more detailed information using the sources below.