How to effectively conduct group projects

Its that time of year again, with the transition from fall to winter like conditions, the group project work season is well in full swing. Like most college-aged individuals, we are all faced with the chore of being assigned to a group that has to accomplish a variety of tasks. For three years I’ve tried to perfect the art of facilitating group projects, but looking back I’ve learned a lot of new things, but still haven’t perfected the skill. I’ve learned what makes people tick, management styles, spotting the natural born leaders of a group, how to deal with low performing group members, and how to budget time appropriately. But despite what I’ve learned, every group project ends up the same, there are those one or two individuals that take the lead, those one or two that take the backseat, and there is always a scurry at the end to get the task completed on time.

So what I need is your input…what has made running group projects effective/ineffective, are you one of those natural emerging leaders or to you like to take the backseat approach, how can we improve the whole process of being assigned group members and carrying through the tasks?