English 365

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Chapter 4 Overview:

Writing Collaboratively

• Advantages and disadvantages of collaboration
• Managing projects
• Conducting meetings
• Using social media and other electronic tools in collaboration
• Gender and collaboration
• Culture and collaboration

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Collaboration has six advantages:

• It draws on a wider knowledge base.
• It draws on a wider skills base.
• It provides a better idea of how the audience will read the document.
• It improves communication among employees.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Collaboration has six advantages (cont.):

• It helps acclimate new employees to an organization.
• It motivates employees to help an organization grow.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Collaboration has six disadvantages:

• It takes more time than individual writing.
• It can lead to groupthink.
• It can yield a disjointed document.
• It can lead to inequitable workloads.
• It can reduce a person’s motivation to work hard on the document.
• It can lead to interpersonal conflict.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Follow these seven suggestions
for managing your projects:

• Break down a large project into several smaller tasks.
• Plan your project.
• Create and maintain an accurate schedule.
• Put your decisions in writing.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Follow these seven suggestions
for managing your projects (cont.):

• Monitor the project.
• Distribute and act on information quickly.
• Be flexible regarding schedule and responsibilities.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Conducting meetings involves five skills:

• listening effectively
• setting your team’s agenda
• conducting efficient meetings
• communicating diplomatically
• critiquing a team member's work

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Follow these five steps to
improve your effectiveness as a listener:

• Pay attention to the speaker.
• Listen for main ideas.
• Don’t get emotionally involved with the speaker's ideas.
• Ask questions to clarify what the speaker said.
• Provide appropriate feedback.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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There are eight tasks in
setting your team's agenda:

• Define the team’s task.
• Choose a team leader.
• Define tasks for each team member.
• Establish working procedures.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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There are eight tasks in
setting your team’s agenda (cont.):

• Establish a procedure for resolving conflict productively.
• Create a style sheet.
• Establish a work schedule.
• Create evaluation materials.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Follow these four suggestions for conducting efficient meetings:

• Arrive on time.
• Stick to the agenda.
• One group member should act as secretary and record important decisions.
• At the meeting’s end, the team leader should summarize accomplishments and assign new tasks.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Communicating diplomatically
requires seven skills:

• Listen carefully, without interrupting.
• Give everyone a chance to speak.
• Avoid personal remarks and insults.
• Don’t overstate your position.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Communicating diplomatically
requires seven skills (cont.):

• Don’t get emotionally attached to your own ideas.
• Ask pertinent questions.
• Pay attention to nonverbal communication.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Critiquing a group member’s
work involves three steps:

• Start with a positive comment.
• Discuss the larger issues first.
• Talk about the document, not the writer.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Critique a draft clearly and diplomatically.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Three powerful word-processor features
can be useful in collaborative work:

• the comment feature
• the revision feature
• the highlighting feature

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Besides a word processor, there are four
main types of collaboration technologies:

• messaging technologies
• videoconferencing
• wikis and shared document workspaces
• virtual worlds

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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Follow these six suggestions for
conducting effective videoconferences:

• Practice using videoconferencing technology.
• Arrange for technical support at each site.
• Organize the room to encourage participation.
• Make eye contact with the camera.
• Dress as you would for a face-to-face meeting.
• Minimize distracting noises and movements.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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If you use your organization’s social media,

maintain a professional online presence:

• Don’t use social media for nonbusiness purposes.
• Don’t divulge secure information.
• Don’t divulge private information about anyone.
• Don’t make racist or sexist comments or post pictures of people drinking.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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When collaborating across cultures, consider these five possibilities:

• People from other cultures might find it difficult to assert themselves in collaborative teams.
• They might be unwilling to respond with a definite “no.”
• They might be reluctant to admit when they are confused or to ask for clarification.

Chapter 4. Writing Collaboratively © 2015 by Bedford/St. Martin's

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When collaborating across cultures, consider these five possibilities (cont.):

• People from other cultures might avoid criticizing others.
• They might avoid initiating new tasks or performing creatively.