A Brief Introduction About the Group Contract
In colleges and universities, students work on a particular project in groups, and it can be quite challenging and also rewarding at the same time. Sometimes, it is necessary for every student two of the group to be ready to follow some rules. Who will make these rules? How will all the students bound to follow such rules? It is all written in the group contract. All the responsibilities, roles, expectations and ground rules are mentioned in the group contract during a particular project.
Who Takes the Group Contract?
The group of students who are working for a particular project can make group agreements. It helps to formalize all the expectations and demands’ of the members of the group. The projects can be of different types, but the contracts need to be applied to all of them. These agreements are mostly taken by students who want to work on a project academically or for a sports team sometimes.
Purpose of the Group Contract – Why Do You Need It?
This legal contract helps the students to see a mirror of their work done in the past, and it also helps to develop skills for the future project works and real life. It helps to increase the kind of security among the students, and they also develop a friendship with each other. The socialization skills of the students improve when they don’t have any fear of doing the right thing. The students are able to find out expectations of each other, and this improves communication among them. When the students work in groups, then they are able to retain more information as compared to the work done alone.
Contents of the Group Contract – Inclusions
The agreement of the group should include assigned tasks, responsibilities, and roles of the members in a particular time period.
- It outlines the proper procedure for the task and the rules to deal with when the expectations aren’t met.
- It also includes a place where all the group members can sign on the rules and regulations of the agreement.
- It has a proper feedback method so that all the students can agree for a particular agreement.
- It is important that all the necessary details are added to the group agreed to avoid any issues later.
How to Draft the Group Contract?
The agreement needs to be drafted with the agreement of all the students. If all the students are agreed on a particular contract template for students, then it can be considered perfect.
There are certain things which should always be included in such agreements. The names, along with the contact information of every person in the group, are important, and that’s why it should be added in the agreement. The ground rules or expectations related to the preparation, communication, attendance, and meeting dates are to be mentioned in this contact. The behaviors which are expected by group members should be written in it clearly. There can be around five to seven ground rules.
Negotiation Strategy
Whenever there are any conflicts between the group members, those can be resolved by group voting. The students can vote to make the final decision. The leader is the major person who will finalize a decision, but the voice of the majority is heard in the case of contracts. When the group contract template for students is prepared, then the negotiation strategy should also be discussed along with them.
Benefits and Drawbacks of the Group Contract
The group members would try to reach a consensus, and if that’s not possible, then they can also rely on the leader for the result. If this is also questioned by the team, then the leader can decide a particular time period for the argument and to reach a conclusion. A vote can be called to make the right decision.
The final decision in a group should be of the leader, but he will also be bounded by the contract to listen to the majority of the people in the group. There aren’t any drawbacks of having an agreement because it only increases the secularity of the students in a group. They are able to express their views openly, and decisions can be taken accordingly.
[ Also Read: Unpaid Internship Agreement ]
What Happens in Case of Violation?
Whenever someone violates the ground rules of the group, then the action is taken as per written in the contract. Mostly, punishments in these contracts can include extra work, fine, and in some cases, a person can be removed from the group. The latter happens when the whole team agrees to reach such a conclusion. This makes the student follow all the rules and regulations set in the contract, and everyone works on the project with full discipline.
These group contracts avoid conflict between the students(1), and that’s why it is necessary to keep harmony and make the students understand more about agreements in the real world. Once a person enters to make a career, then there are many points in life when one has to work according to an agreement. So, these contracts are also a major part of development for the students in universities. They can learn to follow certain guidelines to achieve success in a project. This also makes them understand the teamwork and disciple followed on the basis of the contract.