Lots of people dislike working in a group – especially if the groups are not formed by the students themselves –, because they feel that the performance of the group is hindered by some members who are not pulling their weight.

Don’t forget that once you are in a workplace environment, you’ll also have to adjust to your colleagues, and you will certainly not be able to pick them at your will. Even if you start your first job working 100% remotely in a home office setup, there will be a certain group dynamic, and you will have to pick up the rhythm fairly quickly.

That is what group work at uni prepares you for: it teaches you to adapt to different types of people. And there will be some, unfortunately, who will not want to lift their little finger for the common good. Don’t let them use you, getting you to do all the tasks involved in the assignment, just as you will not want anyone to do the same later on at work.

Another benefit of group work is that it teaches you to think as a team. It makes more sense to get to grips with the problem all together, rather than two or three people starting to work on it separately. A lot of time can be saved this way.

Working in a group, you can discover what tasks you find easy, and that is definitely useful, as it will help you to realize what type of jobs or positions you might want to apply for later on.