Apps to Get You Through Your First Group Project
Group projects. The bane of many of our existence when in university.
It's not that you don't love working with others (you really do). It's just that you have so much to focus on in your post-secondary career that managing a group of people you have likely just met isn't the highest on your list of priorities.
Not to mention that these "new friends" ultimately control your success in this class - unless you go all LBJ and steer this group of characters to the promised land and a sterling GPA.
Of course, there are some that relish this opportunity as this is your first post-grad group project and you promised yourself in the summer after high school that you would put yourself out there and make new friends. Or you just really like working in a group setting.
Regardless, these apps that I am going to suggest are still for you.
Through four years of under-grad and one year of post-grad I have had more group projects than I could possibly fathom. In some situations, you have The Dream Team - Magic Johnson keeping everyone organized, Michael Jordan coming through with some great ideas, and Larry Bird doing all the grunt work. However, in other scenarios, you're group is the '04 Cleveland Cavaliers and you're trying to be LeBron James. So to say the least, I have had experience in many different group settings and have learned to adapt to each and mostly by using these three apps.
Mindmeister
Mac: Free / PC: Free
I actually discovered this awesome organizational app after reading a Tobias van Schneider (for that I am forever in his debt) article in the last few months of my post-grad. I was always struggling to find an organizational app that was: 1) aesthetically pleasing 2) easy to use and 3) had extensive sharing capabilities - Mindmeister then proceeded to walk into my life. I find this tool to be incredibly beneficial for groups to get all of their ideas out in one nicely designed mind map that can be further used even in a presentation setting. It is a collaborative platform in which all group members can gain access too and make additions, add notes, create new ideas, and so on and so forth. Highly recommended.
Skitch
Mac: Free/ PC: Free
Yes, this is another app I discovered through van Schneider. Yes, I am subscribed to his newsletter and yes, I pretty much do anything he tells me. Skitch is an app I was shown not too long ago that I have found incredibly beneficial. Once you start your career in marketing you are likely going to have to look through a bunch of creative content - storyboards, illustrator art etc. Instead of trying to explain the changes you want through an e-mail and not really getting your point across Skitch allows you to add colourful arrows with descriptions to the image to explain exactly what you want. You can then flip the image with the requested changes on it back to the individual handling creative in your group and get the changes you want done correctly the first time *marketing swoon*.
Google Hangouts
Mac: Free / PC: Free
Nothing unusual here, this is just a personal preference as I enjoy the functionality of hangouts. This really simplifies the communication process of your group project as every member doesn't need to have a google account to access it. This simplifies messaging, file sharing, and video messaging for your group. I personally used this frequently for video meetings with my groups while in school and have no complaints about it. This also removes the necessity of getting that group members phone number to communicate with even though you don't see yourself talking to them after this project is over. Nothing like getting a message two month's after you graduate from the unproductive group member saying, "Hey man, it's Tom from that marketing final presentation. How about them Leafs eh?". Delete.
Noizio
Mac: Free / PC: Free
My current boss actually introduced me to this app not too long ago and I don't know how I have survived this long without it. Noizio provides you with a list of ambient sounds that help individuals such as myself that can't work in complete and utter silence focus in on the work they are doing. It's a great app for when you really just need to hunker down and get your own tasks done and reducing distractions while in a group setting. This is also incredibly helpful when that one group member won't stop talking about their weekend and you're just really trying to get work done. Oh yes, just smile and nod politely as you listen to the majestic sounds of a sperm whale calling for its mate.
Personal recommendation: go with "Deep Space" - no sound in the Noizio library gets me more zeroed in than this one.
So that's it. Four apps that will hopefully help you out in your next group project. Hopefully these help you as much as they helped me and can make the whole process much more manageable. I am of course leaving out multiple storage tools that may be of use but this is more so a list of apps that you may not be fully aware of that can be beneficial!
Until next time!
- D.
