WRITING A GOOD GROUP CONTRACT

The Power of the Written Word

Working with Others is not easy

• Some team members will slack off and leave the rest of you hanging

• A team member might call in sick and forget to e-mail their work into the group or teacher.

• Team members distract each other instead of keeping each other on task

• The team may not agree on how to handle a problem

• Team members don’t divide the work evenly• Personality conflicts prevent working together

professionally

So ..

Why work in groups?

So ..

Why work in groups?

Because there are very few high paying jobs available where you do not have to work closely with different kinds of people and upon who you will depend for your own.

We want you to get high paying jobs

• Learning to work with a variety of different people to get the most out of each one

• Finding ways to divide the work to improve team productivity

• Rewarding people for doing a good job and holding others accountable for not

• Helping others become successful so that you can be successful

But you need to become a masterful collaborator by…

1. Set goals and expectations, build a professional relationship, motivate each other, divide and delegate the work

2. Hold team members accountable to their performance on the task or project

The next part of your project (Success Guide) will be a group project and after you are broken into teams, you will create a group contract that clarifies the role of each team member.

The Group Contract has two purposes:

1. Includes the names and contact information of the people in the group

2. Clearly states the goals of the group

3. States specifically the rolls and responsibilities of each team member

4. Lists the rules and behavior expectations of the group members

5. Describes the warnings and disciplinary actions that the group can take (including appropriate steps to being fired from a group)

6. Hold team members accountable to their performance on the task or project

7. A place for each team members signature as a sign of their understanding and commitment to the team.

Characteristics of STRONG contracts:

Here is an ExampleGroup names/ Contact Information

Lazy Larry lazy@snths.org 555-2365Bossy Betty bossy@snths.org 555-2325Tardy Thomas trady@snths.org 555-2385

Group Goals1. Have each group member play an equal role in the project, so that we can divide the group points evenly 2. Finish the project with enough time to do peer edits and revisions3. Do enough work in class so we don’t have to do any homework

Group Members ResponsibilitiesYou will not be able to do this until tomorrow

Lazy Larry- Discussion DirectorBossy Betty - IlluminatorTardy Thomas - Connector

Group Rules:1. No group members will plagiarize, since we don’t want to get a zero.2. No group members will play games, talk to non-group members, or walk around the room.3. Each group member will stay caught up on the reading so that we are able to complete the project.4. If a group member is absent, they will contact the other group members and complete their missing assignments or parts of

the projectIndividual Rules:

Lazy Larry- No playing video games/ surfing the internet. Bossy Betty- If Betty tells the group members what to do, she will do it respectfully and will not insult or belittle the group membersTardy Thomas- If Thomas is absent, he MUST contact us, and complete all of his missing work. Also, he can not talk or email his

friends during classSteps to firing group members

If a member of the group violates the rules, they will be fired. Here is how it will happen:• Verbal Warning• Meeting with Teacher• Group Member will be fired and will have to do the project alone.

Group Signatures

1. Not clear on who is responsible for what2. Poorly written language leads to loop-holes and

confusion3. No real consequences for poor performance or behavior4. Not all members of the team committed to the contract

Characteristics of WEAK contracts:

WARNING!At the end of this project, your group will be

given 100 points to divide between your members. You will have to unanimously

agree on how the points will be divided and your contract will be an important tool in helping you decide how many points each

person should get.

Group contract warm-up

• Sit in a circle with your group• Discuss your goals for the project .. What grade

to you hope to get?• Each member shares two of their strengths and

weaknesses and the kind of tasks they prefer to do

• Create a list of primary roles each member will be playing in the group

• Discuss what should happen when a person fails to do his or her part

Writing the contract

• The contract must be written by hand

• Each contract must have these six parts1. Group names/ Contact Information

2. Group Goals

3. Group Members Responsibilities

4. Rules for the group and each group member

5. Steps for firing group members

• All members of the group must sign the contract

• A facilitator must review and sign contract

• Contracts must be posted on the wall before the end of the period