Learning to Work in Risky Group Projects

I am currently a double major in finance and accounting in the Neeley School of Business at TCU. I started my time at TCU as an Accounting major with the expectations of staying at TCU for the Masters of Accounting program. After taking both an introductory accounting course and an introductory finance course, I quickly found that I found the science and judgment aspects of finance to be much more interesting than accounting. However, I brought a decent amount of credit hours into TCU. I knew that my parents would make me graduate early if I genuinely did not need to take classes anymore to get a degree. To avoid graduating a semester soon from TCU, I decided to pursue a double major in finance in accounting. Ironically, the accounting courses I have taken as a senior at TCU have been some of the hardest classes I have taken during my time.

I am currently in a class titled “Risk and Controls,” which is an upper-level accounting course that focuses on the internal controls of companies. Although the class is relatively interesting, our teacher has gone out of her way to give us an excessive amount of work – particularly group work. The course has about 20 students, and I know about 10 of them from prior accounting classes. We were assigned a group to work on group projects for the semester, and I found myself with 0 of my friends in my group. Not to complain, but all of my friends ended up in better groups than myself.

Although I am a senior, I still have some motivation to finish my time at TCU strong. I care about my GPA and care about how teachers view me in terms of my effort. My team members that will remain unnamed do not have the same motivation or level of expectation for projects to be submitted. There have already been two separate group projects assigned and submitted.

The most recent project was quite exciting. We were given three excel files from a company that provided comprehensive data on the operations of the company. We were assigned steps to analyze the data and provide answers to questions regarding the company’s services. The final deliverable was to turn-in an Excel workbook that described the actions taken to solve the various problems and making interpretations regarding the company’s operations based on the data.

Fortunately, I have gained considerable exposure to Excel through my various internship experiences and classes. I found the project somewhat tricky, even with my slightly above average (not to brag) Excel skills.

The project was assigned so that each individual in the group would turn-in an original version of the project. Then we would collaborate to create a finalized version to submit as our group version of the project.

Three days before the project is due, I received the following text from one of my group members in our group project text message group: “Ben, do you understand this assignment? I have a hard time finding out what I’m supposed to do and where to start.”

I knew at that moment that I was going to have to pull a lot of weight for this group project. I spent the majority of the next few evenings, always providing instructions for my teammates to complete their own versions of the project. I ultimately finished the project on my own. I sent them my finalized version, suggesting that we submit mine for our group version of the project because I knew that my team members honestly had no idea how to complete the assignment.

After reviewing the project, my teammates responded with the texts “Thanks Ben” and “Thank you, Ben, it looks incredible.” My teammates did not take any responsibility or do anything whatsoever for this project. They will be receiving a grade on this project solely as a result of my efforts on the project. This group project made me learn how important it is to hold yourself to the highest standard. Group projects are risky (pun intended). Even in a group project, you can control your own destiny. Although it is frustrating to put in so much work and others to receive credit for it, it is more important to manage your own destiny in your path to success. You can’t let others lower your expectations and effort levels. I will continue to pursue academic excellence and do the best I can to achieve the outcomes I desire in the classroom.