How To Collaborate Remotely With Your Classmates, College Guide 

Educating students nowadays is more different. We now maximize technology and as you may have noticed, students will need to try harder to collaborate.  

Yes, there will be birth pains and a bit of adjustment. And sometimes, you might think that it’s going to be impossible. However, if you use our techniques below, you can successfully collaborate with your classmates.  

So, let’s begin.  

Set A Clear Time And Date For Meeting  

If in case your professor already grouped you, reach out to your classmates right away and set a quick meeting. You do not have to talk about the nitty-gritty of the project. But rather, it’s where you plan your regular online meetings. Everyone should share when is the best time for them to meet so they could also share their findings.  

Assign A Project Manager  

If everyone will lead the project, it can be chaotic. At the onset, ask your team who’s going to be the project manager. But this doesn’t mean that the bulk of work would be on their shoulders. They are tasked to coordinate and to check if the deliverables are provided on time.  

Always Have An Agenda  

Come to think of this. You have already set the time and date and all the group members attended. However, you do not have an agenda. What are you supposed to talk about? It’s a waste of time, energy, and effort.  

When you are about to have a meeting, don’t randomly run it. Instead, make sure you have a list of what to discuss. It’s better if you send the agenda ahead of time so the other group members could also prepare. This gives your online meeting a direction and you get the most out of it.  

Use Collaboration Tools  

The good thing about technology is that you always have something to use for a specific goal. For example, there are many collaboration tools perfect for students and even workers. Here are some of the best ones in the market today.  

You might want to use Slack or Asana. While these are targeted for workers, students can take advantage of it. Plus, if you are familiar with these tools, you can easily adjust whenever you are to work for real.  

Don’t Over Send Messages To Your Team  

It’s also annoying to receive a lot of messages asking for updates on projects. If you feel the same, we’re pretty sure that your groupmates do too. So, as much as you can, control your urge to bombard them with messages. Just set ground rules on when they should provide an update. If they don’t, then that’s the time that you can send them a follow-up.  

Support One Another  

You also have to consider that some of your groupmates might not have the same resources as others. Maybe they have a slow connection, or they are using a shared gadget. In that case, you need to be more understanding and ask them how much they can contribute.   

Use Cloud Services  

Gone are the days when you have to send reports through email, and then a groupmate will have to edit from there. Now, you just need to save it via Cloud and your team members can revise real-time. This makes it more efficient, and you can also track the changes.  

Google Drive and OneDrive are the popular choices, and you can use some of its features for free. You can take advantage of these while you are still studying.  

Call Out Freeloaders  

It’s frustrating that there are freeloaders in a group. If you think a member is not doing their job, do not hesitate to call their attention. You need to be assertive and to remind them that such behavior isn’t tolerated.   

Commend Your Team For A Great Work  

You also need to boost each other’s morale even when working remotely. If you have achieved milestones in your project, you can always celebrate with the group. How about a virtual drinking session or a watch party? These are simple things but could build camaraderie.  

As we’ve said, it’s not going to be easy at first. But with just the proper organization and right tools, we bet you can collaborate the best way possible.