Group projects are hard, both in the workplace and in college. Group projects make you work with people who have different thoughts, personalities, and motivations. It can be difficult and the picture below pretty much sums up every group project (just a little humor for your day)! I personally am the person who does 99% of the work, and I feel so guilty that I still rate my teammates with high ratings. So I have compiled a list of ways to get through those difficult group projects. I hope it helps you or at least gives you some solace.
1. Figure out the best means of communication. There are so many forms of communication: face-to-face, email, phone, GroupMe, and a billion other forms. It needs to be determined which ways to work best for your particular group. That way all group members are able to collaborate on the same document and could even eliminate the need for some group meetings. If you are struggling to put your project together then having your members' contact information could be vital to the project. 2. Set check-ins and deadlines Assigning individual tasks to members and enforcing deadlines will make the project go by faster. This way you can ensure every member is contributing, or not contributing. These check-ins let the group members know that you mean business and allow for sharing of thoughts, ideas, and discussion. Deadlines are meant to establish priorities so nothing important is left for last minute. 3. Stay positive Yes, group projects can be extremely stressful and time-consuming, but they also provide personal growth. Having a positive and supportive attitude towards your group members can make all the difference. It is true that just acting more positive will make you truly feel more positive. 4. Pick your fights Pick your battles wisely. Sometimes, it's easier to have neon yellow PowerPoint slides than to argue with your members and consequently hate them for the rest of the time. It is important to know when to speak up and when it's better to keep quiet. I'm not saying be a pushover, just determine what is really important. Here is Ten Qualities of an Effective Team Player to help you improve your ability as a team player ! Group projects can triumph and be successful. Hopefully following these tips and tricks can ensure your next group project one of your best. Have a blessed day, Ashley This is a safe place, so we can all go ahead and admit that we are addicted to something. Your phone, Netflix, Instagram, late nights at Taco Bell, choose your poison. It seems like all of my friends, and myself included, are obsessed with something. Most of the time something that really isn't that healthy. I wish I was obsessed with eating celery and studying. But as fate would have it, I am not. I am addicted to binge watching way too many episodes of Grey's Anatomy and drinking 10 glasses of sweet tea a day. So why is it that we seem to have these addictions that are almost impossible to stop? I believe we are addicted to the feeling of connection that something gives us. The reason you keep watching episode after episode of House of Cards is because every episode leaves you hanging and you want to make the connection of how the situation ends up. The reason you are addicted to checking Instagram is so you feel closely connected to friends and non-friends alike. We want to keep constant tabs on people and having that social connection is important to us. The reason we are addicted to many of these things too; is because they are instantly gratifying and give us self worth. Netflix automatically rolls over to the next episode, it hardly gives you a chance to decide not to watch the next one. We love how Taco Bell is open till 3 a.m. and we can grab 5 burritos in 5 minutes instead of cooking a home-cooked meal. Our generation is obsessed with connection, instant gratification, and community building activities that we replace with technology. There is a healthy dose, but it draws a very fine line of unhealthy. Next time you start to enjoy your guilty pleasure, think twice. This article in The Atlantic is an incredible article about why Millennials are obsessed with food. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
Have a blessed day, Ashley Ask any freshman why they are going to college. I bet 98% of them will say to graduate and get a job that will pay a lot of money. The other 2% will say to party and have a good time, that 2% will most likely not finish out the four years. But throughout my 3.5 years here at Arkansas State University, I have learned a lot about why college is important. If you had asked me my freshmen year, I would have replied with wanting to graduate and make good money. But college has transformed who I am and each year I have a new appreciation for the college experience. So the question is why should we choose college if it's not just about making a lot of money. 1. Start Fresh
Read this incredible article from nerdwallet: 10 Surprising Reasons to Go to College. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Have a blessed day, Ashley Millennials often get a bad rap for being over-educated, underemployed, entitled, lazy, and narcissistic. But today.com announced today that "Millennials are really innovative when it comes to saving, possibly the most money conscious generation yet!" To read the full article click: here. Millennials are going to the extremes to plan financially and save. The 2015 Northwestern Mutual Planning & Progress Study found that 53% of millennials have set financial goals, compared to just 38% of folks age 35 and older. Further than that 64% say they are more inclined to save rather than spend. Our generation has honed in on and even made it "cool" to be efficient and minimal. There is a trend now of removing all the excess in our lives, and focusing on what really matters. Our generation is more interested in travel and spending money on experiences rather than material. We are essentially the most extreme economical generation that has ever lived. So the next question is; how is this generation being so economical and saving so much money? 1) Being minimal: This means literally cutting the excess material out of your life. Maybe you have 10 pairs of jeans, but you really only need two. You could sell your extra jeans to a second-hand shop such as Plato's Closet or Clothes Mentor and make a little extra money. Millennials are doing this with many aspects of their life and it is saving them both space and money. Imagine if you did this with all excess materials that you hardly ever use! 2) Increasing retirement savings rate annually: More millennials have increased their 401(k) savings this year compared with baby boomers, T. Rowe Price found. Almost double the percentage of millennials are saving a higher percentage of their income in 401(k) contributions in the past 12 months compared with those who are generally in their parents generation. 3) Seeking professional advice: According to iQuantify survey over half of millennials have sought professional advice or used an app or online financial tool. Younger consumers are excellent at using digital tools that give them the best scoop on financial savings and investments. Millennials are so informed that they are making more concise financial decisions short-term and long-term. 4) Wait to buy things you really can't afford: Millennials have captured what it means to "wait till you have the money." Many people will run out and pull out a line of credit to buy new furniture for a new home they just purchased. Our generation is waiting on the things that can wait. (Like that nice $2,500 sectional that would look fantastic in their living room.) You have to distinguish between a need and a want. Do I really need new furniture? Or can I just wait to save up some money from a few paychecks, then purchase some furniture debt free? All in all, I am so proud of a generation that is realizing consumerism isn't everything. We are being financially conscious but also taking risks with investments. (image from Forbes: Millennials: The Money-Conscious Generation?) Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed, have a blessed day. Ashley The number one question I am asked by interviewers: How do you plan on leading a group of people; when some of them have been working here for longer than you have been alive?
Quite a loaded question right? But they have a point. How am I, a 21-year-old, fresh out of college, young lady supposed to lead a group of diverse workers who range from ages 16-65? Many of you may be in this exact same situation. I have always been a natural leader. I am organized, structured, and I enjoy having control. My entire education career I have been the leader of almost every single group project I have been in. About 99% of the time I am not assigned as the leader. I just end up taking charge and delegating duties, and many of you are this same way. So how are we to answer this question? I normally answer the question in one simple statement. I first gain their trust and prove to them that I am a hard worker who cares about them and deserves their respect. If who you are leading sees you as a suit, and nothing else, they won't care to meet your numbers or take into account what you say. Most of us will be put in a leadership position and it is so important to think about how to be the best leader for that group. I believe there are a few very important keys to being an impeccable leader.
Thanks for reading, I hope you all enjoyed! Ashley Since I am graduating in December, I have been participating in quite a few interviews; face-to-face interviews, phone interviews, online interviews, and basically any other type of interview you can imagine. It can be very tricky to find:
1. a good job that pays decently 2. a job that suits you well and 3. a job that will use your talents to help the company I had been to a handful of interviews before but very few "big-girl-career-interviews" so I starting doing my research. I got advice from professors...a lot of professors. I also practiced interview questions with my friends and I even watched interviews on YouTube. I know after that last YouTube comment that you may think I am the lamest person currently on earth. But please don't stop reading quite yet. I think the most useful piece of interview advice I have been given is to use the STAR method. S -- Situation: describe a specific situation T -- Task: explain the task you had to complete highlighting any specific challenges A -- Action you took: describe specific actions that you took to complete the task R -- Results you achieved: close with the results of your efforts I have used this method in every interview so far and it is a complete 100% success rate! It gives you the opportunity to tell a story of what you have accomplished and highlight your desirable traits without blatantly stating them. It also shows potential employers that you can follow through and finish tasks with great results and even show figures to quantify results. The STAR method is a fantastic resource, but I also have some personal tips that I have learned in my few interviews. 1. Be yourself, no really be yourself.
Good luck & thanks for reading! Ashley There are a lot of times that I am not proud to be associated with "that generation". The generation that is known for being irresponsible on social media. The generation that is known as lazy and uncaring. But, I am most proud of my generation for coming about and transforming social norms. If you think about it...how many rules do we follow that are not actually rules. Let me explain. We almost all follow the laws such as not speeding or not going around stealing peoples' cars whenever we feel like it. But, we also all follow "unspoken" social norms. One major example of this is dressing professionally for an interview. It isn't a law that we have to wear a certain type of pantsuit or heels for an interview. Instead it is a social norm that we all follow, because we probably won't get hired if we don't. If you think about it we all tie ourselves down by these social norms, that we really don't have to follow. I am not talking about the social norm to hold the door for someone or to be polite. I am talking about exhausting ourselves with what people consider rules, that we actually don't have to follow. Our generation has started drastically transforming social norms in the workplace and at home. The best example of this is our work/family life balance. Our parents, and our parents parents, have a work ethic that emphasizes hardly taking off any work except for emergencies, not even using all of their vacation days, and essentially working like a dog 24/7. Why can't we transform the work/family life balance? Were we really just born to work ourselves to death everyday? I don't think so. We want to enjoy life and we can do that while being great workers at the same time. We are using our hard-earned vacation days and encouraging workers to take time for their family. It is proven that employees with a greater work/life balance are more productive and overall happier. Some of these transforming societal norms also include how workers look at the workplace. Many Millennials are no longer hiding their tattoos or shaving their beards. They are carving themselves into the world and not taking no for an answer. Not hiding their uniqueness is making them no less of a hard worker, it also causes for more creativity within companies. Millennials are driving a fundamental change the way we think about corporate culture and many see potential for impact in the social sector by both companies and employees. Forbes author Jean Case wrote an inspiring article that goes perfectly with this post called: The Business of Doing Good: How Millennials Are Changing the Corporate Sector. Let yourselves breath, work hard, but take your vacation days. It is so important that we get to the end of our lives and see that we accomplished more than making a good salary. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Ashley Odds are if you are reading this right now you are on a smart phone. We all know how radically the smart phone has changed the social lives of each and every one of us. Your grandma texts you instead of calling. Your best friend in Hong Kong can send you an instant message on Facebook. It's literally insane the amount of communication we have; within a little device in our hands. Social habits have had seismic changes on the way that products are marketed to us. I will search for a wedding gift on my laptop and then flip through Facebook on my phone five minutes later. On the margins will be an advertisement for that exact wedding gift I was just looking for; on a totally different device. Kind of scary right? Data collection on us, as individuals, has swept the world. Not only do they have the access to everything we have searched for, purchased, and even talked about. They store and use that information to make us embrace and buy their products. The fact that Snapchat stores each one of my photos is actually quite terrifying. (No one needs that many selfies of me.) So there are many positives to this social phenomenon. Some of which include communication with friends and family thousands of miles away, along with the ability to do work from essentially anywhere. But there are so many negatives that have come from this social time; due to the lack of ethical behaviors using social media and other communication outlets.
Read this incredible article from socialnomics all about how 25 years of internet has changed the way we interact! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Ashley The workforce is about to be flooded with 88 million Millennials. Harvard saw the seismic changes about to occur in the business world and were interested to see exactly what young professionals wanted. They polled over 2,200 professionals across many industries, asking about what was important to them. I narrowed down the research and pointed on a few key things that Millennials want from: their boss, their company, and what they want to learn. ...from their boss
...from their place of work
...to learn
As more Millennials take leadership positions around the world, organizations are becoming increasingly concerned with how to ensure success of their companies. Hopefully this post helped to broaden your understand of what Millennials want at work! To see the full business review click here! Thanks for taking the time to read! Ashley Kristen Sumler is the embodiment of a motivated, millennial, college student. She juggles college, sorority life and, collegiate cheerleading! This interview was meant to show others how they can stay on top of their game while handling a busy life and ultimately how all roads lead to business. What is the key to balancing college? Going to every single class period. If I miss a class period, I feel so behind. I always make sure to get a head start on my homework and finish it before my other obligations. I also keep a planner with all of my assignments and events written down; otherwise I would forget everything! What is your major, and how does it pertain to business? My major is special education, and it pertains to business in many facets. With a growing number of students qualifying for disability services, investors are actually looking to the special education market as one with ripe profit potential. I think it is important that they focus on the enrichment of the student's life but this could open up many new doors. I also have to be educated on all of the business regulations and follow laws in dealing with special education. I thoroughly enjoy the business side of such a fantastic major. I am so glad that I found a major where I can work hands on with students and improve their academic life. Why is it important to be involved on campus (other than for obvious reasons)? I am involved on campus to get the full enjoyment out of college. Also to gain a huge support system and exceed my opportunity base! I have so many opportunities now that I would have never dreamed of before. Why do all majors ultimately lead to business? Without business structure we would have no jobs. I have a "non" business major job, but without the infrastructure of a business/school for me to work at, I would be unemployed. Everyone has to have a good handle on how their particular industry of business is ran and how they can make it a more efficient and advantageous business. I am so grateful that the Millennial generation is represented by bright young students like Kristen! If you want to see the full article on business looking to capitalize on special education click here. Thank you for reading! Ashley |
About MeJust a curious twenty-something college business student trying to make sense of senseless things. Archives
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