If you are a group leader or just a very interested and motivated member of a project group, you will have a strong interest in keeping other students motivated. By establishing clear communication practices and a welcoming atmosphere at the start of a project, you will instill interest and pride in each team member.
1. Talk about your goals and motivations.
Hold an open discussion upon your first meeting and discuss what outcome each student needs from this assignment. In other words, figure out what motivates everyone else. Some students are motivated by internal needs and others are motivated by external needs.
People motivated with external needs care most about how others feel about them.
2. Don’t be judgmental about other students' needs.
Let’s face it, some students don’t always consider good grades to be the most important goal. Students might be motivated by the desire to avoid getting grounded; others may really want to impress a certain person. Find out what makes your team members tick and discuss it with them.3. Don’t give in to silly politics.
Avoid dismissing the ideas from a student who isn’t popular or who isn’t known for great academic work. You may find that these students are your hardest workers when you make them welcome.4. Discuss strengths.
Each student in your group may have a skill or important contact you didn’t know about. You may discover that one student is a great artist while another student’s dad is a college professor.5. Make the most of strengths.
Let your group’s talents shape the project. If you do have a great artist in the group, you may end up with some great posters or video.6. Ask for commitment.
Go ahead and put your cards on the table. Explain that you plan to work hard and to stay on schedule. Ask everyone to commit to doing the same.
7. Sign an agreement.
Why not? If you write up a brief commitment statement and ask each student to sign, you’ll look very prepared and professional. If anybody balks at this, just say you got the idea from a goofy web site.
Give praise. People always work better when they feel they are appreciated.
