Last week, a group of PRSSA students from Ohio University came to Chicago to tour various large agencies, including Edelman. This came on the heels of the announcement that Edelman had been named agency of the year, and one student asked what we thought it was that made Edelman stand out.
My favorite answer (and forgive me for not remembering who said it) was simple: we check our egos at the door. The successful professional is the person who is not afraid to ask for help where help is needed—the person who can run with ideas from colleague rather than getting hung up on his or her own ideas—the person who can work across age groups and levels to find the best possible solution to any problem (for example, we have a reverse mentorship program called “ROTNEM” that pairs young techie/digital types with those who want to learn more about digital).
So how does this compare to group projects in college?
Unlike group projects, which tend to have one stand-out leader and at least one slacker, work in an agency (in my experience at Edelman, anyway) is much more balanced across team members—if you don’t pull your weight, or if you can’t work collaboratively with the rest of the group, you’re not likely to last long in an agency setting.
Finally, many college students tend to be a bit selfish about their time. Where I’ve found my colleagues to be very collaborative and open to sharing new learnings, news or trends, college students are often more focused on their own grades—and why shouldn’t they be? The grading system is typically set up on an individual basis.
Is there any way to make the college group project experience more similar to the real working world? I think it’s difficult to duplicate in an educational setting where the stakes are lower—which is why internship experience is so important.
Photo Source: jisc_infonet under Creative Commons
Tags: PRSSA
Karen Russell
Two words: peer evaluations. If they count toward the final grade, students are much more likely to do their fair share — or suffer the consequences.
Allie Osmar
I thought about mentioning this, and maybe I should have because it’s a great point. Evaluations do make a difference in many (although not all) cases.
Sheema
I recently had to do a Senior Project for my school that involved working in a team. There were 3 of us, and just like you said, there was one stand out leader and one person who barely did anything. In the end, our peer evaluations reflected our grades, but it left me feeling disheartened at the fact that this is what the “real world” would be like. Reading this post makes me feel better about the fact that most people in professional agencies are team-players who are willing to give their best. I just wish it was that way in college as well!
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