I totally feel you.

I’ve had my fair share of working with some pretty useless people over the years. In fact, I feel like life has been too generous with them sometimes!

And they’re horrendously insufferable to work with. 

They’re the most irresponsible, uninspired, lazy, and unaccountable people I never could’ve fathomed existing.

Hey, here’s a horror story: We once put a groupmate in charge of refining the sketch for our final ideated prototype since she always bragged about her artistic skills. The sketch was already done; she just had to refine it. But she was always MIA!

What were friendly messages soon turned into threats of reporting her to our lecturer.

And when she finally sent us the sketch three weeks later, two nights before the due date, guess what? It wasn’t even the right prototype!

I’m sure you’re here because you’ve had your fair share of working with slackers too. 

So what should you do? It’s not fair to do double the work because some people are spineless lazies, right? 

And maybe you’re like me in my first year of school. You want to stand up for yourself and your groupmates, but you just don’t know what to say or how to do it.

So in this article, let me show you how to stop accepting any more BS from these slackers!

Firstly, Why They Slack: Inside The Mind Of A Slacker

There are several reasons why they slack off.

First of all, maybe your groupmate doesn’t live a privileged life.

So they have to work part-time almost every day to help their family make ends meet. So do you think they’ll pick choosing to live, or a group project?

Secondly, maybe they just do not care about school or their grades. I know. As their groupmate, it’s a hard pill to swallow, and it’s extremely unfair to you.  

Then why are they even here? Good question. But nobody knows! Maybe not even themselves…

Lastly, Social Loafing. 

It’s where your groupmate assumes that you’ll compensate for their lack of work. 

Why? 

Because they know that there’ll be others like you who’ll do the work because you care enough about your grades and peer assessment scores!

So they slack off, and they’re clueless about the group project before they know it. But hey, you’re there! So why should they bother? 

Or maybe they’re just not confident from the start, so they go in with the mindset that the whole group can’t achieve much anyway. So they… you guessed it. Don’t bother.

So What Should You Do?

You could ask them, point blank. But sometimes they reveal it themselves unconsciously. 

I stopped giving my groupmate the benefit of the doubt and told him about what I expected from him moving forward. What gave me the strength? When he started raving about the great time he had in Bangkok while we were slaving away for our first submission.

But whatever you choose to do reflects on you too. 

People talk. And they’ll remember your actions more than your reasons if you’re rude and condescending, no matter how justified it is. 

This might turn them off from wanting to work with you in the future!

If they’re “slacking” for the first reason I mentioned above, you could be more understanding and choose to bite the bullet this time. Or you could remind them of their responsibilities and make sure they start contributing too.

But let’s take the first reason out of the equation. 

So you just have lazy, irresponsible group mates. How should you handle this situation diplomatically? 

Do Not Accept Excuses

Why should you accept excuses?

Accepting an excuse from them means you’re letting it slide. You’re forgiving them.

And that will only empower them to continue slacking off because they know you’ll let them off the hook again next time!

So instead… 

Assert Your Dominance

Be direct but in a neutral, respective tone. 

Tell them what they did wrong, remind them why their task is important, and offer a solution if they’re passive.

You’re not here to ask questions; you’re here to get answers and action!

Don’t say, “Hi Sally, um, I think I remember asking you to put the code into the thumb drive. before passing it to Rohan. But he says it’s not there. Do you know what happened?”

Instead, say, “Good Afternoon Sally. Rohan informed me that the code is not in the thumb drive. You were supposed to put it in so he could get started on the prototype immediately. You know that this is urgent, as our deadline is next week. Rohan can meet you in Bishan Library tomorrow. So please liaise with him. Thank you.”

But…Might You Be A Slacker Too?

It’s like what my mom always told me. 

People with bad B.O. don’t know they stink because they can’t smell themselves.

Therefore, it can be hard to be reflective and unbiased when there’s someone worse than you! 

You don’t want to be the person who complains about a slacker in the group when you’re a freeloader, right?

So ask yourself, what have you done so far? How have you contributed to the project? Is there anything you could do better? Where can you take on more work?

Now, I’m not asking you to take on even more of the load and overwork yourself.

But I’d like you to think objectively first if you might be a touch hypocritical because you’re biased towards yourself or someone else.

Maybe that’ll cool some of your steam off, then.

What Should You Do If The Slacker’s… Your Friend?

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Don’t mix business with pleasure.” 

Many teachers might’ve also reminded you that just because you’re great friends doesn’t mean you’ll make great teammates! 

So now your best friend, who you joined hands with for this project too eagerly, isn’t meeting the deadlines you set. And frankly, you don’t think she’s even opened the Google Doc link you sent her.

What should you do, then? 

Now, this is tricky. 

Because you still love your friend, right? You don’t want to ruin your friendship over a silly little project. So maybe you’ll just keep quiet and pick up their slack…

NO!

Please do not do this to yourself! If you do, you’ll start harbouring resentment against them, and your friendship might be over before you know it.

Instead, think of it as you being responsible for your friend’s personal growth instead.

Sit them down and explain that this is purely for work. You’re speaking to them as a groupmate now, not their best friend. Then say your piece.

Conclusion

“Many hands make light work.”

And that’s one of the many advantages of working in a group on a big project!

So don’t let one or two pesky group mates ruin the ‘A’ you’re working towards.

There are several steps you can take to ensure the project runs as smoothly as it can and several dos and don’ts, so everyone’s happy. 

So, don’t worry. There’s probably still time left to turn this ship around if you’re reading this! Stay strong, you’ve got this!

And if need help with any project or module, even at the polytechnic or university level, we have such tutors that can help.