I once read a funny story about a meeting that held in a village. The elders were to meet with the King, and for refreshment, each person was asked to come with a bottle of palmwine. The message had been passed across by the town crier early enough, so there was no excuse for being absent, or for not coming with the palmwine.
Abo had finished the palmwine he had at home. Common sense required that he either go to tap some from his palmtree or pay the traders that sold them. But procrastination was his hobby; he kept on moving when he will get it, until the morning of the meeting. Minutes to when he would leave home for the meeting, he still did not have any palmwine. He couldn't wait for the traders that sell to come because they usually opened at midday, and the meeting was an early morning one. He became worried such that his wife, Shade, noticed. She asked him what the matter was and after he had told her, she gave him a shady idea.
"Why not go with a bottle of water? Afterall, no one will notice a bottle of water in a drum filled with palmwine." she said. Abo found this an interesting idea and went along to fill his bottle with water. He knew that every one would be asked to pour their bottle of palmwine into the big drum that was at the doorway of the venue. No one could possibly notice that he had brought water, not palmwine. He thanked his wife for the wonderful idea and sped off on his rickety bicycle to the meeting.
The meeting went well. Matters regarding the village were discussed and solutions given. At the end of the meeting, the king asked for the palmwine to be shared. Servers filled up cups from the drum outside, where everyone had poured their bottle of palmwine. When everyone had been served, the king said a prayer to the good health of everyone and asked them to drink. They all lifted their cups to their lips, and after the first gulp, brought it down again. Everyone looked at everyone else, yet no one voiced out what was on their mind.
They were not drinking palmwine! It was water. Everyone had thought like Abo. They had all brought water along! Afterall, no one would notice a bottle of water in a drum filled with palmwine. Not good, at all.
That story is a mirror of how some people behave when it comes to group works or assignments. They prefer to sit-back and do nothing while expecting to ride on the work of the rest of the group. This ends up being a terrible affair of poor work, and most times no work, being done. It affects tbe performance of every member of the group negatively. From poor grades to pointing accusatory fingers at others to hate speeches to many other things that tend to one outcome: it never ends well.
It doesn't have to be that way. Group assignments can be fun too, and engaging, and a platform for meaningful work to be done. You will need to learn how to bring out the best in your group mates (or team mates), especially when they all seem to have varying levels of commitment towards the success of the task to be done. This lesson will help you get maximum work done from your groups, get you the good marks you desire and will also help you work better as a member of a team.
Want to learn?
Check the next article.
No comments:
Post a Comment