Handling Students Who Don’t Carry Their Weight

Despite your best efforts to ensure everyone participates in your simulation, some students will not contribute sufficiently. You may become aware of the situation either by noticing the student’s lack of engagement (see our piece on How to Identify and Prevent Slacking), or the team involved may tell you about the situation.

So, what exactly can you do when one team member seems to be slacking off in your business simulation? I recommend three steps to address the individual’s and the team’s needs.

Engage the Individual Student

It’s important to first figure out the underlying reason (or reasons) for the issue.

It’s often easy to assume an underperforming student is simply lazy, but there are many factors that can contribute to someone’s lack of participation. They may be struggling with health issues, feel too shy to speak up, or simply feel uncertain about how to apply what they’re learning.

Uncovering the real issue at hand will enable you to provide the right kind of support and motivation.

Begin by meeting one-on-one with the student. Share your observations and/or the team’s grievances, using non-confrontational terms. If the list of grievances does not prompt the student to explain their lack of participation, try asking questions to figure out what their reason(s) may be.

For example, if the student regularly skips team meetings, you might ask if there is a scheduling conflict.

• Do other classes interfere with the scheduled meetings?
• Is the student working part-time, volunteering, participating in extra-curricular activities?
• Is the team trying to be flexible to accommodate the student’s busy schedule?

Another problem may be that the student is too shy to voice opinions or contribute meaningfully. You may have observed this yourself when in class or meeting with the team. In that case, you might ask, “Is the team trying to include you?” Or, “What has happened when you’ve offered input in the past—on this or other teams?” The student may not realize the value of their ideas or may be afraid of being dismissed unfairly.

Build an Action Plan

Once you’ve uncovered the reason for the student’s performance, it’s time to work together to build an action plan.

The Student Who Feels Unimportant

In the case of the student who feels like their input isn’t needed, you may give them a quick pep talk. Explain that not offering ideas to the team may impact the overall team’s performance negatively. The team may be overlooking something that the student is able to see.

Voicing concerns and offering input may help the team in a significant way, so the student should never shy away from participating. Everyone on the team should have a say. Decisions should either be made by running and analyzing the numbers, or by vote.

The Student Struggling with Wellbeing

For a student who is sick or feeling depressed and unable to concentrate, you might ask questions about whether the student needs or is seeking help. Do they have a good friend on the team who could help through their difficulties? Have they seen a doctor about any health issues?

You likely will not be able to fix these problems for your student, but you can help them think through who is qualified to help them and encourage them to get help now. This may require some accommodations on behalf of the team or just simple awareness.

The Student Who Feels Lost

Another example might be the student who just does not get it. They may not understand how to work in the simulation or feel capable of making decisions, leaving the work to be done for the rest of the team.

In Marketplace Simulations, students pick a primary and a secondary responsibility (vice presidential roles are selected in the first quarter of play). If the slacking student’s primary responsibility is VP of manufacturing and they feel lost, they should work closely with the student whose secondary responsibility is manufacturing. When the two work together, they can help each other to better understand business concepts that are foreign to them.

As the instructor, you may also jump in and provide some help that may motivate the student again.

Involve the Whole Team

Once you and the student have agreed on a course of action, it’s time to involve the rest of the team. Communicate the plan of action to ensure the problem student successfully transitions into full participation.

Often, the plan of actions will require the team to actively re-engage the student in question, but students may not be sure about how to manage this task. Here are some examples for how to coach the rest of the team:

• Have their teammates be responsible for checking on the problem student on a regular basis. This works particularly well when the student feels lost in the simulation or does not understand business concepts. It can also work well for shy students who need the assurance someone can root for them when they are afraid to speak.

• Ask the president or leader of the team to involve everyone during meetings. Before making a major decision, the team should include everyone’s opinion. The president should repeatedly ask the rest of the team if they have objections or recommendations. This should help with any people skills or team dynamic issues.

• Set expectations for each teammate at the beginning of every meeting and check whether the expectations were met at the end of the meeting. If necessary, revisit the team rules that were agreed upon during the norming phase of the team.

• If the issue revolves around the understanding of business concepts, pairing the student with a more knowledgeable teammate (or the VP with that same secondary responsibility) will help the struggling student to learn and be more involved in the decision-making process.

• Open up communication. If relapses occur, ask the team’s president or leader to immediately take action to re-engage the slacking teammate. You, as the instructor, should also be kept in the loop.

If Your Intervention Fails

When a student simply refuses to participate for no evident reason, the team may fire the student. The fired student will then have to complete assignments and play the simulation on their own, as well as face a stiff deduction to their final grade.

Sometimes, however, the issues around a student’s performance are too complex or urgent to solve in one semester. If the issues at hand cannot be successfully remedied, the student might have to drop the class.

While this outcome is disappointing, it doesn’t have to signal long-term failure for the student. Many successful businesspeople have gone through seasons of hardship and setbacks. Dropping a class can give your student time to care for essential needs, learn their limitations, or redirect their studies to a more suitable field.

No matter what happens, encourage your student to keep learning. Their career journey may not be as linear as they’d like, but with the right tools and encouragement, they can find their way.