A look into my room or the +10,000 unread emails in my Gmail would tell you all you need to know about my organization skills – or lack thereof. Generally, I can get by with my scattered brain and even more scattered things (I have a system, I swear), but when working with a team, this simply won’t work.
This past 1.5-ish months, I have learned a lot about organization and group work, so now I will pass it on to you all. Get ready to take notes! Class is now in session!
To-Do or Not To-Do
A To-Do list is your best friend. There’s really not much more to say here. Not only do they help you sort out your life, they give you so much satisfaction when you can check another task off your list. I like to write To-Do lists for each Day, Week, and Module (for each class). I write the due dates next to items for my weekly or module list. For example, Write Blog Post (DUE 11/12). If something is high priority, it is in all caps or maybe with a lot of exclamation points! Whatever works for you is the best method.
Team lists also help immensely. I have found when writing our team documents that creating a To-Do for each document, listing the required sections and who is going to do it, has been a game changer. Everyone knows what they are responsible for getting done, and the whole team can see how much progress we have made towards our assignment. It is a great way to see which members may be falling behind and need help, and prompts group communication.
Which software do I use? Why, thanks for asking! I am absolutely in love with Notion! I use it to take all my class notes and lists. It is so customizable, and allows things like code, image, and video embedding. You can also get the app on your phone. 10/10 recommend!
Outlook Calendars
All students at OSU have an Outlook account, so what better resource to use! We all get notifications, and all have access to important dates and email reminders. Setting up our weekly/biweekly Zoom calls with the Outlook calendar has been an amazing addition! Not only do we all have the link and meeting information, our Project Partner does, too. With the Outlook events, team members can RSVP, so you can see who will be there and who won’t. Team members also get emails if the meeting time or date changes. This is so important when working as a team with a wide range of time zones and schedule availability.
Discord: The King of Communication
Group communication is the most important part of any project. Without it, a group cannot be successful. Finding a method of communication can be difficult. Email is very rigid, text is too informal, and meetings for everything are overkill! Solution? Discord.
Discord is a very easy method of communication. Most people have it on their phones, so sending a message while away from your computer is easy. I get message notifications, so I can keep up with group conversations and chime in. It also makes a quick check-in very easy. Sometimes you are really busy – life happens! – but you need to tell your team you are still alive. A quick message in Discord saying: “Hey, guys! Super busy the next few days. I plan to get started Thursday” is all it takes. You have now communicated with your team that you are aware of a deadline and are working towards it. So simple!
Discord also allows for Polls, which have been instrumental to my group. Should we have a meeting on Halloween? Which diagram design looks better? And questions like these can be quickly answered by the whole team. Another great feature allows for pinning messages. Important updates, deadlines, or links can all be pinned, so the team can find them easily.
Google Drive
Google Drive is a great team organization tool for obvious reasons. Working on a document together requires keeping it in a place where everyone can access it. But the benefits go beyond this. My team has made the Google Drive into a treasure chest of resources. Meeting notes and recording, cool resources, summaries of YouTube videos, and more can all be kept here.
Not only has this made our group and individual assignments easier, it has made them more fun. An exciting part of learning something is sharing it with others. By adding an interesting article link or a YouTube video that answers the question we were perplexed by last meeting, we are learning and sharing this experience with each other. And it’s all in one place!
Conclusion
Staying organized is hard, especially in a group setting. There are deadlines, resources, and life events that come up. You need to find a way to organize them all and communicate them with your team. I shared some great resources like Notion, Outlook Calendar, Discord, and Google Drives and some tips to use them! Hopefully they will help you as much as they have helped me.
Until next time!
