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How Group Projects Taught Me More Than Regular Classes

I used to hate group projects because of lazy teammates but they actually helped me learn how to talk to people and get things done together.

Written By
Marcus Tremblay
Published
2025-10-07
Category
Courses
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ARTICLE-EDU-2025-047

PUBLISHED: 2025-10-07 | CATEGORY: LEARNING & COMMUNICATION

So here's the thing. When teachers said we had to do a group project, I used to get super annoyed. Like really annoyed. Because there was always that one person who didn't do anything and just copied everyone else's work at the last minute. Or someone who took over everything and didn't let anyone else talk. But after doing like maybe ten or fifteen of these projects through high school, I actually learned stuff that sitting in class listening to lectures never taught me.

Group projects are kinda messy and frustrating but they teach you how real life actually works. In regular classes, you just sit there, take notes, study for tests, and get your grade based on what you know. It's all about you. But group projects? You gotta talk to people, deal with different opinions, figure out who does what, and somehow get everything done even when people don't agree. That's way more like actual jobs and adult stuff than memorizing facts from a textbook.

I'm not saying regular classes are useless or anything. You definitely need to learn the actual information and understand the subject. But the skills I got from working with other people on projects - like how to communicate better, solve problems together, and not lose my mind when things go wrong - those are the things I use all the time now. Even just texting friends to make plans or dealing with my part-time job, the stuff I learned from group projects actually helps.

The weird part is I didn't even realize I was learning this stuff while it was happening. I just thought I was suffering through another annoying assignment. But looking back now, those projects changed how I deal with people and problems way more than I expected.

SECTION 01

Learning To Actually Talk To People

This sounds obvious but it's not. In regular class, you can just keep your mouth shut the whole time and nobody cares. You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. But in a group project, you literally can't do that. You have to explain your ideas, listen to what other people think, and figure out how to work together. And that's actually really hard at first.

I remember this one project in Grade 10 where I had an idea for how we should organize our presentation but I was too nervous to say it properly. I just kind of mumbled something and everyone looked confused, so someone else suggested a different idea and we went with that instead. Their idea was fine but honestly I think mine was better. The problem wasn't my idea though - it was that I couldn't communicate it clearly enough for people to understand.

After that happened a few times, I started forcing myself to speak up more clearly. Like I would think about what I wanted to say before the group meeting, maybe write down some points, and then actually explain it properly instead of just hoping people would read my mind. It felt super awkward at first but it got easier. Now when I have something to say, I can actually say it in a way that makes sense to other people.

The other part of communication that group projects taught me was listening. Not just hearing words but actually paying attention to what someone means. Because sometimes people say one thing but they're actually worried about something else. Like someone might say "I think we should add more information to this section" but what they really mean is "I don't understand this part and I'm worried it's wrong." Learning to figure out what people actually mean instead of just what they say helped me avoid so many arguments and misunderstandings.

Dealing With Different Communication Styles

Everyone talks differently and that was confusing at first. Some people in my groups would write everything in the group chat with tons of details. Other people barely replied to messages and you had to like chase them down in person. Some people got straight to the point and some people told long stories before getting to what they actually wanted to say.

I learned that you can't force everyone to communicate the same way you do. You just have to figure out how each person works and adapt. For the people who don't check messages much, talk to them face-to-face after class. For the people who need lots of details, give them detailed explanations. For the people who are super direct, don't take it personally when they seem blunt. It's just how they talk.

SECTION 02

Handling Conflict Without Everything Falling Apart

This is probably the biggest thing I learned. In regular classes, if you disagree with something the teacher says, you just keep it to yourself or maybe complain to your friends later. But in group projects, when people disagree about something important, you can't just ignore it. You have to actually deal with it or the whole project fails.

The first few times I had to deal with disagreements in groups, I handled it really badly. Either I would just give in immediately even when I thought the other person was wrong, or I would get defensive and argumentative. Neither approach worked well. Giving in all the time meant we sometimes made bad decisions, and being argumentative just made people not want to work with me.

Eventually I figured out this middle way where you can disagree with someone's idea without making it personal or attacking them. You focus on the actual issue, not the person. Like instead of saying "your idea is stupid," you say "I'm worried that approach might not work because of this specific problem." Then you suggest an alternative or ask if there's a way to fix the problem. Most people are way more open to that kind of discussion.

There was this one project in Grade 11 where two people in my group had completely different ideas about how to structure our video project. They were both getting frustrated and it was getting tense. I suggested we try both approaches really quickly - like spend 20 minutes setting up each version - and then see which one actually looked better. We did that and it turned out a combination of both ideas worked best. The conflict stopped being about who was right and became about solving the problem together.

The Lazy Teammate Problem

Okay so everyone has dealt with this. That one person who doesn't respond to messages, doesn't show up to meetings, and then wants their name on the final project. It's super frustrating and honestly it still makes me mad thinking about some specific situations. But dealing with this taught me some important stuff too.

First thing I learned is to document everything. Keep records of who did what, when people were supposed to finish tasks, and what actually got done. Not in a mean way but just so there's a clear record. That way if you need to talk to the teacher about someone not contributing, you have actual evidence instead of just saying "they didn't help."

Second thing is to try talking to the person directly first before going to the teacher. Sometimes people aren't lazy - they're just overwhelmed or confused about what they're supposed to do. I had one group member who seemed like they weren't doing anything, but when I actually asked them about it, they were dealing with some family stuff and were really stressed. We adjusted their tasks to smaller things they could handle and they actually contributed a lot after that.

But sometimes people are just lazy and don't care. In those cases, you do what you can, document it, and let the teacher know. You can't force people to care about school. What you can do is make sure their laziness doesn't destroy your grade or make everyone else suffer.

SECTION 03

Time Management And Organization Skills

When you're studying for a test by yourself, you can procrastinate until the night before and then cram. It's not great but it works sometimes. With group projects though, you can't do that because other people are depending on you. If you don't finish your part on time, everyone else is stuck waiting and they get mad at you. That pressure actually taught me how to manage my time way better.

I started using this system where at the beginning of a project, we'd break everything down into smaller tasks and give each task a deadline. Not just one big deadline at the end but multiple smaller ones throughout. Like "research done by this date, outline done by this date, first draft by this date" and so on. That made it way less overwhelming and also meant we could catch problems early instead of discovering everything was wrong the night before it was due.

In Canada, especially in Ontario where I am, teachers really push the idea of breaking projects into stages with check-ins along the way. At first I thought those check-ins were annoying but they actually helped a lot. Having to show progress regularly kept everyone on track and made it harder for people to leave everything until the last minute.

The organization part was important too. We'd use shared Google Docs so everyone could see what everyone else was working on. We'd have a group chat for quick questions and a shared folder for all our files. Having everything organized in one place meant less confusion about which version of things we were using or where to find information. This seems basic but when you're juggling multiple people's schedules and work styles, having clear organization systems makes everything so much easier.

SECTION 04

Understanding Different Strengths And Working Styles

Not everyone is good at the same things and group projects made this really obvious. Some people are great at coming up with creative ideas but terrible at organizing details. Some people are amazing at research but get nervous presenting in front of the class. Some people are natural leaders and some people work better just focusing on their specific task without worrying about the big picture.

At first I thought everyone should just do an equal amount of everything. Like we should all research the same amount, all write the same amount, all present the same amount. But that doesn't actually make sense because people have different strengths. It's way more effective to let people do what they're good at.

I'm pretty good at organizing information and making sure everything flows logically, but I'm not great at coming up with really creative visual designs. So in most of my group projects, I would focus on structuring the content and writing, while someone who was more artistic would handle the visual design parts. Everyone contributed but we played to our strengths instead of forcing everyone to do everything equally.

This also taught me to appreciate skills I don't have. There were people in my groups who could make presentations look really professional and polished in like half an hour, something that would take me forever and still look mediocre. There were people who could explain complicated concepts in simple ways that everyone understood. Recognizing that other people have valuable skills you don't have makes you respect them more and work together better.

The Leadership Question

Every group needs someone to keep things organized and make sure stuff gets done. But being that person is harder than it looks. You can't just boss people around because then they get annoyed and stop cooperating. But you also can't be too passive or nothing gets done and deadlines get missed.

I learned that good leadership in group projects is more about facilitating than controlling. You make sure everyone knows what they're doing, you check in with people if they seem stuck, you help solve problems when they come up, and you keep track of the overall timeline. But you're not doing everything yourself or micromanaging everyone else's work. You're helping the group function smoothly.

Sometimes I was the leader and sometimes someone else was, and both experiences taught me things. Being the leader taught me responsibility and organization. Not being the leader taught me how to support someone else's leadership and contribute effectively without needing to control everything. Both skills are useful.

SECTION 05

Problem Solving Under Pressure

Things go wrong in group projects. Technology fails, people get sick, ideas that seemed good turn out not to work, deadlines get moved, requirements change. When you're working alone, you can just adapt on your own. But in a group, you have to solve problems together while everyone is stressed and under pressure. That's when you really learn problem-solving skills.

I remember one project where our entire presentation file got corrupted the night before it was due. Like completely unusable. We all panicked for about ten minutes and then forced ourselves to calm down and figure out what to do. We found an older backup version that was missing some stuff, divided up the missing sections between us, and all worked until like 2am rebuilding it. It sucked but we got it done and actually did pretty well on the presentation.

That experience taught me that when something goes wrong, freaking out doesn't help. You need to quickly assess what the actual problem is, figure out possible solutions, pick the best one, and execute it. Having other people there actually helps because you can brainstorm solutions together and divide up the work to fix things faster.

Another time, we showed up to present and the projector wasn't working. We couldn't just reschedule because everyone else was presenting that day too. So we had to quickly adapt our presentation to work without the visual component. It wasn't as good as it would have been with the slides, but we made it work by explaining things more verbally and using the whiteboard for key points. Being able to adapt quickly when plans fall apart is such an important skill.

SECTION 06

Building Actual Confidence

This might sound weird but group projects helped me become more confident in a real way. Not fake confidence where you pretend to know everything, but actual confidence where you trust that you can handle situations even when they're difficult or uncomfortable.

Every time I successfully navigated a difficult group situation - whether that was resolving a conflict, organizing everyone to meet a tight deadline, or presenting our work in front of the class - it proved to me that I could handle challenging interpersonal situations. Each project was like practice for real-world scenarios where you have to work with people who might be difficult, unmotivated, or just different from you.

In regular classes, you can get good grades just by understanding the material and doing well on tests. That builds confidence in your academic abilities but not necessarily in your ability to work with others or handle social complexity. Group projects force you to develop both kinds of confidence - confidence in your knowledge and confidence in your ability to work with people.

I notice this now when I'm in new situations with people I don't know well. I'm not nearly as nervous or unsure as I used to be because I've already dealt with so many different personalities and group dynamics through school projects. I know I can introduce myself, contribute ideas, listen to others, and find ways to work together effectively. That's really valuable.

CONCLUSION

Why This Actually Matters

I started off talking about how much I used to hate group projects and honestly, I still find them frustrating sometimes. They're messy and unpredictable and you can't control everything the way you can when you work alone. But that messiness is actually the point. Real life is messy and unpredictable and involves working with people you didn't choose who do things differently than you do.

The skills I learned from group projects - communication, conflict resolution, time management, adaptability, leadership, teamwork - these are skills I use constantly now. Way more than I use most of the specific facts I memorized for tests. I'm not saying subject knowledge isn't important, because it definitely is. But knowing how to work effectively with other people is just as important, maybe more important in a lot of situations.

If you're a student dealing with group projects right now and finding them frustrating, I get it. They can be really annoying. But try to see them as practice for real-world situations rather than just another assignment to get through. Pay attention to what works and what doesn't in your groups. Notice how different people communicate and what happens when there's conflict. Think about your own role in the group and how you could be more effective. All of that learning is valuable even when the actual project topic isn't that interesting.

And if you're someone who already works well in groups, help the people who struggle with it. Be patient with the quiet people who need time to share their ideas. Help organize things if nobody else is stepping up. Model good communication and conflict resolution. Making your group projects successful isn't just about getting a good grade - it's about everyone learning these important skills together.

LAST UPDATED: 2025-10-07 14:32:08 UTC

Author: Marcus Tremblay
Published: 2025-10-07
Category: Courses
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