When we are starting up a business, we are more often than not working with a bunch of friends. The delicate balance of maintaining a business and our relationship with our friends is a thin line we have to tread on carefully. Similarly, when we are working on projects in school, we will be working with peers taking the same course and sometimes, our friends. This can be a great opportunity to discover the dynamics of working with our friends when we finally start our business.

People do have different levels of conscientiousness when working on a project and when we work with friends with a low level of conscientiousness, it could turn out to be a dangerous pitfall. So how do we get work done without affecting our friendships?

Problems that arise when working with friends :

1. When work is not done, it is hard to reprimand your friends.

2. Chit chat during meetings.

3. Punctuality Problems

Curbing these problems are essential. To do this:

1. Set ground rules when the groups are formed.

This is a very important part of working as a group. Ground rules set out the boundaries of work and sets the work aside from friendship. We need to make sure that friends working with us do not take advantage of the friendship to slack off at work.

2. Balance between conscientiousness and emotional intelligence when managing the team.

Managing a group of peers is especially hard because we do not have a hold on any factor that could possibly motivate our peers such as salary. However, our grades are at stake. Therefore, conscientious management of the group needs to be sustained with emotions taken into account.

We need to constantly be aware of the members of the team. Are they completing their tasks efficiently? Are they happy with their tasks? Are they competent in this area of the task?

3. Leave any unhappiness at the workplace

We all may disagree with each other sometimes. No one way may be right all the time. Unhappiness in teams are very common for an enormous spectrum of reasons but at the end of the day, we need to remember to leave all the heat at the workplace.

Group projects are good opportunities to learn organisational skills whilst keeping your friendships intact.

To all my readers,

It has been some time since I posted but I am now back from a short vacation and school matters have settled significantly, freeing up more time for me to get back to writing on startups and entrepreneurship.

School has just started and the past 2 weeks have been a frenzy of group allocations for group projects for the various modules. Every single one of my 6 modules are heavily project based and non-examinable so I will personally be handling a significant amount of group dynamics over the semester.

Entrepreneurs should especially take every group project chances as an opportunity to hone your leadership skills and social dynamics ability. This skill base will turn out to be essential when we start out on a business. Over the coming week, I will discuss on the various things we can learn from doing group projects. I am not talking about the content of the project here but rather, the process of the group projects.

I was rushing to the Singapore PHP User Group June Meetup this evening and I stopped along the way for dinner. The service was good and the staff there were friendly. I ordered a plate of “Char Siew Roasted Meat Rice”. Shortly after, a waiter came back with what I ordered with a warm smile and he stood by the side, only leaving when he saw that I had settled in and had no other requests. Just when I thought that my dinner experience was going to be above my expectations, I heard a woman’s voice lashing out. I raised my head and saw the lady boss of the restaurant reprimanding the waiter, repeatedly reminding him at the top of her voice that he has “NO RIGHT” to touch the Sales Log of the restaurant.

The waiter had tried to help out but he received a very unpleasant treatment from his boss. It may be that the sales log happened to be extremely sensitive information, but was lashing out at him really the best way to manage the situation? After a moment of apologies, the waiter continued to serve other customers with a customary smile.

I would never choose such a working environment if given a choice.

Large companies can afford to make the mistake of providing a less than desirable environment for their workers who are stuck to the companies for their paychecks. But startups do not have such liberty. Startups work in small groups initially and the work can be really intensive. Success and failure is such a thin line that startups tread on and a great working environment will more often than not give the boost that entrepreneurs need to pull them through a difficult phase.