While we hardly ever had to complete group assignments in high school, they’re pretty much unavoidable in uni. It’s pretty rare to go through a semester of uni without at least one group assignment, and it’s common to be juggling two or maybe more at one time.

It’s no secret that many uni students dread group work, but when you think about it there are actually some pretty cool benefits. Hear us out.

#1 Meeting People

It can be pretty tricky to make friends at uni because everyone has different timetables, are taking different classes, and the cohort is much, MUCH bigger. While you get to know a lot of different faces, you might not actually get to know them on a personal level.

Group assignments not only force you to interact and cooperate with people but spending a lot of time with people also means you get to know them pretty well. Who knows, your next group assignment might introduce you to your new bestie.

#2 Boosting Your Grades

Let’s face it, assignments can be hard. They’re not like exams where there is a definitive right and wrong answer, and you need to put in a lot of time and effort if you want to do well.

Assuming everyone in your group wants to do well on the assignment, group assignments can be an opportunity to boost your grades without putting in as much effort as an individual assignment. Four heads working together means there’s four times more effort being put in collectively, and four times less you need to put in.

#3 Preps You For The Workforce 

Yes, group assignments can suck and yes, sometimes you just want to write the whole thing up yourself. But! There is a reason your lecturers prescribe so much group work. The whole point of uni is to prepare you for the real world, and the real world loves teamwork and collaborating.

Your working life is going to be full of group work whether you like it or not. There’s plenty of team projects, meetings and more when you start full-time work, and group assignments get you used to these kinds of situations early.

#4 Play To Everyone’s Strengths And Interests

We all have different skills and talents that can either bring us up or drag us down. You might suck at writing reports, but you’ve still got to do it for individual assignments if you want to pass the course.

Group assignments allow you to break down the assignment into smaller tasks and then divide these up between your group members. You can choose the task you’re best at or most comfortable with, and that’s all you have to really focus on.

#5 Learn More Than Just Course Content

It might be hard to understand the reasons behind group assignments when you’re in the midst of completing one, but group assignments are for more than just learning and understanding course content.

Obviously, you learn about teamwork and leadership, but also different perspectives on completing tasks and solving problems. These are all valuable skills in the workforce and aren’t really directly taught in uni.

Thanks to group assignments, you can add “is a great team player” to your CV.

(Lead image: Superbad/Columbia)