Hey Fluther,

I’m learning I’m not necessarily the best team player. I’ve had two major group project experiences so far in college and the same thing has happened both times. I’m looking for some tips on how to prevent this from happening over and over again.

I am not a procrastinator. Unfinished work eats at me, so I like to get things done early. Unfortunately in college this puts me in the minority. When I’m working in a group, what ends up happening is I’m always the one initiating meetings, and I start working early on my own, usually earlier than other people are willing to start thinking about the project.

This is a problem because I’m making it obvious that I’m heavily invested in our work and that I’m willing to do hard work. And they take advantage of that and I end up doing the majority of the work.

If I don’t want people to take advantage of me, it seems I need to pretend I care less than I actually do. But people who don’t care about their project don’t start working on it several weeks in advance, and I’m just not comfortable saving things to the last minute.

Any advice, O Fluther jellies?

Topics: school, work, social, college, professional, groups, teams