Group project member doesn't contribute or show up to any meetings, group removes his name removed from the final report: 'I submitted it with only my name'

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Jul 13, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

What is it with group projects where there's always that one member not contributing? It's like some cosmic rule that if you gather a group of 3-5 people together and give them a common goal that there is going to be someone who seeks to take control of the whole thing, someone(s) who just go along with what that person wants or what they think the group as a whole wants, and at least one person who just contributes absolutely nothing. This person might not even show up to any of the group's meetings until the project is due, just completely unbothered by whether or not the project is progressing, with blind faith in the fact that it will somehow be finished regardless of their lack of intervention.

Without a doubt in my mind, those last members of that project, the ones who contribute nothing, are the individuals who often become coworkers who have historically done little work and now, in 2025, believe they can utilize AI prompts to conceal their lack of productivity. Or, completely unburdened by any introspection, think that they're actually artists just because they typed a prompt into an image generator. 

Hey, some people are talented but lazy, and can get a lot done within short timeframes while spending most of their time doing nothing at all. But even more people think they fall into this category, but really, they're just lazy and don't get a whole lot done at all. This project member was probably one of the latter types and was in for a surprise when their lack of contribution led to their name being removed from the final submission of the project. (Really, what else were they expecting?)

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  • 01

    "He skipped the group project meetings. So I submitted it with only my name."

    It was a two-person project. I reached out right away to plan things, and he didn't answer. I figured maybe he was just slow to respond, so I followed up again. And again. Still nothing. No replies. No shows. Not even a "hey, I've been swamped." Just silence. So I kept going without him. Did the research. Built the slides. Wrote the paper. Proofread. Edited. Honestly, I was proud of the work when it was done. The night before the deadline, I stared at the title page for a minute. His name was st
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  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10527376896
    via Brooke Cagle

    The image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 03
    doctor_rocksoo I wish more people would do this, or rat their partners out when they're slacking.
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  • 04
    Tremenda-Carucha I swear I've seen this exact scenario play out in countless group projects. It's maddening how some people can just disappear and expect their name to still be on the finished product! You did what needed doing, OP.
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  • 05
    OldMetalHead The audacity! I think ghosting him back was even better than tearing him a new one would have been.
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  • 06
    Argonian Candidate This exact thing happened to me only it was a group with 3 other people. I submitted the assignment with a note saying no one else contributed, no one showed up to any meetings, and no one helped write any parts of the paper. I received an A and the three others got zero's. So satisfying.
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  • 07
    Least-Influence3089 I did this. I worked on a ~12 page lit review with a partner for a psych class in undergrad, we had the entire term to do it. They ended up not submitting their entire half of the paper and a few hours before the deadline just texted me "oh sorry it's not getting done". It was 25% of our grade. So I slapped an intro and conclusion together, dropped it off at our profs office and emailed him an explanation of what happened. I think I got a B-, my partner had to retake the clas
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  • 08
    Fluid-Wrongdoer6120 Had this exact thing happen but with a group project of like 4 or 5 ppl. One guy never lifted a finger, never showed up to group meetings. His name was left off and we all gave him a sh peer evaluation. The guy starts frantically emailing and texting all of us after he got his grade, asking happened. What did he THINK was going to happen?!
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