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Effective group work can be one of the most difficult aspects of school—at any grade level. Team members’ personalities can complement one another or they can clash, but with these tips, you can breathe a bit easier while completing your group projects. Consider the following tips to help your team work together on a group project:
Each member of your group should have a clear role. Ensure you have one student who will make decisions and divide tasks among group members. Then, identify several people who are known to produce strong work and do not mind that they are not in charge. Finally, select someone who excels at proofreading/polishing final products. Filling each role, no matter how large or small your group, will help streamline any project.
This does not solely mean completing your work by the due date! Successful group projects utilize small goals with differing deadlines. Your group members may have schedule conflicts, so make sure to spend some time at the beginning of the process deciding when each project component will be started, finished, and edited. Try to hold your group accountable for each of these goals—if you do, you are more likely to avoid last-minute stress.
Many people believe that group projects involve continually working together in a single room. This is untrue, especially in light of new communication options like Skype. Nevertheless, the principles of group work remain the same: if you do not have your work done, do not meet yet. Instead, use this time to complete your goals, and then share your work. This is also true of a group meeting that is no longer productive. If you are not your finishing your tasks together, take a team break and work on your own until those tasks are, in fact, achieved.
If you do not have your part done, or if you will not have time to complete your portion before the deadline, be honest about it. This does not mean that you can fail to contribute. It means that you have to be more considerate of your group members’ time. If you are causing distractions or falling behind, admit to it and address it as a group. If you are uncomfortable with this situation, consider seeking the help of a facilitator (such as your instructor). Additionally, if you believe that you are doing all the work and you feel overwhelmed as a result, be clear about your expectations for everyone else. Group dynamics involve a wide array of factors, but many of them start with you. Whether you are the best person to include in a group, or whether you need to apply yourself more often to truly excel, group work involves a great deal of introspection to keep your emotions and expectations in check. If you are running into a problem or two that you feel you cannot handle, always look for feedback and guidance from your teacher.
How do you deliver storage, versatility, maneuverability, and comfort in a safe, simple, reliable package? We asked the pros.
The following was produced in partnership with Britax and their new B-Free stroller, designed to help families feel free to bring more, free to keep going, and free to stay longer.
Pushing a stroller everywhere you go may seem like a chore, but after a few outings, all new parents quickly learn this important lesson: a great lightweight stroller is a ticket to freedom. Freedom from carrying a rapidly growing, squirmy kid everywhere. Freedom to sip an iced latte en route to the park. Freedom to haul everything a child could need without the need for a dad bag. And freedom to maneuver the grocery store aisles when you have to pick up bread and milk on the way home.
So how does one seat on three wheels provide so much? How is it possible to deliver all that storage, maneuverability, comfort, and versatility while keeping the stroller easy to use, reliable, and safe for a baby? To find out, we asked the folks at Britax, a name long known to parents for easy-to-use, safe car seats, and trustworthy strollers, how they designed their latest lightweight stroller, the B-Free.
“The B-Free stroller is the go-to for everyday use. We wanted to create a lightweight stroller that gives parents more — more premium features, more storage, more ways to make their jobs easier,” says Britax Senior Product Manager Claudia Prager. So she and her team did what product managers do. They talked to parents through focus groups and surveys. They examined the market. They built prototypes to meet rigorous ASTM International standards. They beta tested with consumers across a range of suburban and city environments. And they rolled out the B-Free.
The design and engineering process revealed a key insight: parents don’t need anyone to reinvent the stroller wheel. They just need more of the things that help them do the world’s toughest job.
So the B-Free pairs features easy one-hand fold for convenient storage and portability, and travel system compatibility with a series of innovations that Prager believes will become parent favorites.
First, additional storage, because what parent hasn’t wished for more of that? Britax was able to expand their under-seat basket and also make it accessible from the front. Simply pull up the flip-forward calf rest, and stash or retrieve stuff from under the seat. The company also added in seven storage pockets and compartments, including a hidden one for valuables, a quick-access one in the back, and two in the seating area for Junior’s essentials.
Next, child comfort amenities. Britax’s infinite recline feature allows babies and children up to 65 pounds to lie nearly flat, ensuring that on-the-go naps go uninterrupted and helping parents stay out just a little longer to get that last errand done. The expandable canopy also offers SPF protection, a mesh back panel for ventilation, and a peekaboo window to let parents check in. Prager’s team also made a small addition that proved a big deal. She notes, “Testers said opening the window with velcro would wake sleeping babies, so we made it magnetic. That was an ‘a-ha’ moment.”
To maximize maneuverability for navigating even the most crowded farmer’s market, the B-Free features a three-wheel configuration with a front swivel wheel. The large wheels feature all-terrain, no-flat rubber tires and all-wheel suspension to let parents confidently roll from the house to the subway to the park and over any obstacles between them and their next activity. It also packs an adjustable handlebar for greater control regardless of who is pushing the stroller and how tall they are.
Finally, the B-Free combines Britax’s car seat safety with the fashion and functionality parents want from a stroller. It includes the company’s exclusive Click & Go technology so it can be easily made into a travel system. Other safety features include a five-point harness, linked parking brake, and SPF 50 protection in the canopy.
“We make sure our stroller safety features fit in with the entire system,” Prager says. By creating an entire system that combines a safe seat and stroller, Britax aims to give parents the confidence to maintain their lifestyle without worry.
The genius of the B-Free is all the little details that enhance comfort and convenience and deliver more of the stuff that gives parents the freedom to bring their babies along for the ride while living the lives they already love. In doing so, Britax proves that, in strollers and parenting, it’s the little things that matter most.