WRITING A GOOD GROUP
CONTRACT
The Power of the Written Word
Working with Others is not easy
• Some team members will slack off and leave the rest
of you hanging
• A team member might call in sick and forget to e-mail
their work into the group or teacher.
• Team members distract each other instead of keeping
each other on task
• The team may not agree on how to handle a problem
• Team members don’t divide the work evenly
• Personality conflicts prevent working together
professionally
So ..
Why work in groups?
So ..
Why work in groups?
Because there are very few high paying jobs
available where you do not have to work closely
with different kinds of people and upon who you
will depend for your own.
We want you to get high paying
jobs
But you need to become a masterful
collaborator by…
• Learning to work with a variety of different people to
get the most out of each one
• Finding ways to divide the work to improve team
productivity
• Rewarding people for doing a good job and holding
others accountable for not
• Helping others become successful so that you can
be successful
Your next class project will be a group project
and after you are broken into teams, you will
create a group contract that clarifies the role
of each team member.
The Group Contract has two purposes:
1. Set goals and expectations, build a professional
relationship, motivate each other, divide and
delegate the work
2. Hold team members accountable to their
performance on the task or project
Characteristics of STRONG contracts:
1. Includes the names and contact information of the people in
the group
2. Clearly states the goals of the group
3. States specifically the rolls and responsibilities of each team
member
4. Lists the rules and behavior expectations of the group
members
5. Describes the warnings and disciplinary actions that the
group can take (including appropriate steps to being fired
from a group)
6. Hold team members accountable to their performance on the
task or project
7. A place for each team members signature as a sign of their
understanding and commitment to the team.
Here is an Example
Group names/ Contact Information
555-2365
555-2325
555-2385
Group Goals
1.Have each group member play an equal role in the project, so that we can divide the group points evenly
2.Finish the project with enough time to do peer edits and revisions
3.Do enough work in class so we don’t have to do any homework
Group Members Responsibilities
You will not be able to do this until tomorrow
Lazy LarryDiscussion Director
Bossy Betty Illuminator
Tardy Thomas Connector
Group Rules:
1.No group members will plagiarize, since we don’t want to get a zero.
2.No group members will play games, talk to non-group members, or walk around the room.
3.Each group member will stay caught up on the reading so that we are able to complete the project.
4.If a group member is absent, they will contact the other group members and complete their missing assignments or parts of the
project
Individual Rules:
Lazy Larry- No playing video games/ surfing the internet.
Bossy Betty- If Betty tells the group members what to do, she will do it respectfully and will not insult or belittle the group members
Tardy Thomas- If Thomas is absent, he MUST contact us, and complete all of his missing work. Also, he can not talk or email his
friends during class
Steps to firing group members
If a member of the group violates the rules, they will be fired. Here is how it will happen:
1.Verbal Warning
2.Meeting with Teacher
3.Group Member will be fired and will have to do the project alone.
Lazy Larry
Bossy Betty
Tardy Thomas
lazy@snths.org
bossy@snths.org
trady@snths.org
Group Signatures
Characteristics of WEAK contracts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Not clear on who is responsible for what
Poorly written language leads to loop-holes and confusion
No real consequences for poor performance or behavior
Not all members of the team committed to the contract
WARNING!
At the end of this project, your group will be
given 100 points to divide between your
members. You will have to unanimously agree on
how the points will be divided and your contract
will be an important tool in helping you decide
how many points each person should get.
Group contract warm-up
• Sit in a circle with your group
• Discuss your goals for the project .. What grade to you hope
to get?
• Each member shares two of their strengths and weaknesses
and the kind of tasks they prefer to do
• Create a list of primary roles each member will be playing in
the group
• Discuss what should happen when a person fails to do his or
her part
Writing the contract
•
•
The contract must be written by hand
Each contract must have these six parts
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
•
•
•
Group names/ Contact Information
Group Goals
Group Members Responsibilities
Rules for the group and each group member
Steps for firing group members
All members of the group must sign the contract
Teacher must review and sign contract
Contracts must be posted on the wall before the end of the
period