How NOT to work as a team

A conversation between me and another member of our projectteam.
The projectteam started off as a 5 man team, during the christmas holidays however, 2 quit the education, so we were left with just us 3.
The assignment we'd been given had been designed to be done with 4 people in 6 weeks. However since we've been with 5, our planning was based for 5 people, thus putting us in a canload of problems.
During the entire assignment period, the guy I'm talking managed to do well.. almost nothing. He made one chapter of questions for Business Economics, which was the most simple stuff you can imagine.
The other guy has to go to the hospital, so naturally we asked for a delay... it was denied, noone know why, but it was.
Then the guy doing nothing, comes to me on msn, whining about how hard everything is and that he doesn't understand anything and that he doesn't have enough time. Meanwhile I've already finished typing up two complete cases and am halfway through the third. 'Cause well, time isn't something we've too much of. He says he's going to write a letter asking for a delay (which, remember, we were denied).
The conversation goes like this: (translated from Dutch -> English for your reading pleasure and toned down a tad on the cussing )

him: F' this, this is too hard and too much.
him: I'm going to write a letter asking for delay.
him: This is just impossible.
me: we're not going to get a delay.
me: so that letter isn't going to do us any good.
me: spend your time usefully, you'd actually DO something instead of lifting along on the work of others.
him: I didn't!
me: THAT is EXACTLY what you did.
me: be honest and admit it, you didn't do a whole lot.
him: you don't hear me saying I did a whole lot do you?
him: I've got my reasons you know.
him: I know it sucks for you, but I can't help it.
me: yeah, your reasons are: soccer, beer, driving lessons, broken monitor while you had a spare one, grand pa dying* (valid reason) and that's it.
me: that doesn't say to me "I want to but I can't."
me: it says to me "I can but I won't".
me: surely you get that, do you?
him: yeah well, there are several things...

* his grand pa passed away 4 weeks prior to the start of the assignment, thus rendering it irrelevant.

 

Thinking...
Can you resign from the project team and join another? or co-opt other project team members to jump teams or help your team, perhaps with some persuasion, e.g., buy a few beers? Perhaps we can help here...

A pity the reduction of team size to less than the optimum 4 was not sufficient to merit a delay. Is there no grievance or complaint process?

 

lol, yeah, true
my bad, been at it since 0900 and it's now 0044 in the night.
I'm beat.

 

We've 'worked together' with another project team, but we've still not managed to get everything done.
Our 'chief' (or mentor) didn't get why we didn't get the delay either.
There is a grievance / complaint process, however it'd take too long to merit a result.
We're still going to complain though, you never know what you get out of it

 

It was driving me nuts, so I fixed it.

 

hehe, thanks, couldn't fix it myself anymore

 

Awesome!

Now can you change my 011101 to 011106

 

Yeah, but then the rest of that thread wouldn't make a lot of sense. And it's funnier the way it is Ms. Funnyware.

Sorry flep. Sounds like you're between a rock and a hard place. Do follow up the complaint chain; it may help some.

 

Hehe..you mean that thread makes sense???

Flep.....I went through a very similar thing when I was in Uni, with a team of 5. The others were all guys and lived in the same house together. They didn't feel like hooking up the Saturday morning we had agreed to do the project, so all agreed to lay in, while I sat waiting somewhere else, not knowing this.

In the end I worked their game out. So I divided the project into 5 areas of work. I focused on the one I preferred, took the completed section round to their house and told them to get on with the other 4 sections. They didn't like it, but it was their own fault, and we had run out of time to hook up another time, and frankly, I had other priorities going on.

You just do what you can - that's all you can do. Do you get the opportunity to rate the other members in your team as part of the project? I know we did. Gosh, they were so nice to me until that part had passed by. Heheh.