Group work can really suck. Not all team members are equal in brilliance or maturity. And yet, group work may be inevitable. Even if you have a lot of freedom and independence, you may have to work on some things with others. When this happens keep these 2 ideas in mind.

1. If your group work assignment comes out terribly—that is not reflective of your worth. 

2. Now you that you know #1, consider letting go of trying to control (or pull weight for) more than your fair share of the assignment. 

It’s tempting to pick up other people’s messes when your name is listed on a project. However, if the stakes aren’t huge, I would recommend sticking to giving just 20% of the project and letting the other 4 people give their own 20% effort. When you take more ownership than is required in a group project, you isolate others, you let them off the hook for not pulling their weight, and you get the reputation for being someone who will do all the work (ahem—someone the underachievers will want to be in a group with). You don’t want that reputation. I know—you’re thinking that it’s worth it as long as whatever has your name on it is up to par. However, I’m arguing here that it is not worth it. 

Being a part of a group assignment that comes out mediocrely is really not the worst thing. It’s not going to hurt your reputation. The 20% that you contributed may have been beautiful. And that’s all you can do. When the stakes are big—say you’re co-publishing an article with other authors, then I would want a team who is going to each carry their weight. But until then, keep your perspective about group work. Don’t give it more power than it deserves.