Collaboration

1. Collaboration Dr. Spinuzzi

2. Collaboration: A Definition • Collaboration: A team effort; an effort in which work is divided among workers. • Writers collaborate in various ways. • Writers collaborate more often than not. • Collaboration often follows the pattern of initiation, execution, and public presentation.

3. Structuring Collaborative Writing • Divide and Conquer: Each member takes a section. “Assembly line” • Specialization: Each member is an expert on her/his task. • Dialogic: Nonhierarchical, flexible roles. • Sequential: Sections are passed from writer to writer. • Synthesis: Different perspectives are compromised.

4. Dealing with Conflict • Conflict is a normal part of collaboration • Conflict comes about because team members have different perspectives • Conflict is good -- if it’s substantive and if it’s handled properly

5. No Conflict Margaret: --for the memo. In fact, I think that this covers most of the memo; this will be, like, 75% of the memo just describing the different -- how we should organize the facts. Um, let’s see. The main idea we had for organizing the facts were using titles and subtitles? Jessica: Yes. Margaret: And key points and bullets under the titles and subtitles. Is that correct? Jessica: Um. Yeah. Titles -- a title for the product name. Margaret: Okay. Jessica: And subtitles for a specific product component, coupled with a few descriptive sentences stating their benefits. Margaret: Okay.

6. Non-Substantive Conflict Josh: What font do you think we should use? Pete: I personally think we should use Geneva 12-point. Josh: I kinda like Chicago 12-point. Makes it a little more spacious. Pete: I’ll have to see what happens on the computer when I put it on, but I really like the Geneva 12. Josh: Do you? And I prefer the Chicago 12, so -- Pete: Chicago 12 or Chicago 10? Josh: Chicago 12. It’s more spacious. Pete: Well, we’ll see. Geneva comes up better and bolder. Josh: Yeah. Well, we’ll see.

7. Substantive Conflict Dorothea: Both I think are going to be about the same. They’re going to be four pages of text, and there’s a front and a back of one and the front and back of another. Put together and it’s almost like a little booklet… And as you open it up, have all the information of how it works, the components of it, on two pages that face each other, so we can put all that text right there and then put the diagram on that open page. Matthew: I disagree. I think that the A version should be like a -- It should be, like, a not one 8x11; it should -- Dorothea: No. Matthew: -- be perhaps like a thr-- you know, a smaller size. With much smaller pages and a lot more pages and larger text. Because I think perhaps, like you mentioned already, that the B version could be just, like, one piece of paper --

8. Substantive Conflict (cont.) • Dorothea: I don’t think it’ll fit on just one. • Matthew: No, because we won’t be adding a hell of a lot more information than’s already on the information sheet that we have. The information sheet we have, all this information fits on one page. • Dorothea: It looks so cluttered. I just think that for the ease of reading -- • Matthew: But I mean one one, two -- both sides of a page. • Dorothea: Oh. Oh. Okay.

9. Managing Conflict • Pseudo-conflict • Simple conflict • Ego conflict

10. Stage 1: Initiation • Find and get acquainted with team members • Share background assumptions • Clarify goals • Choose approach and schedule meetings • Generate ideas and plan

11. Stage 2: Execution • Maintain trust • Establish ways to resolve conflict • Clarify work styles • Share information • Establish procedure to assess progress • Do the work (plan, draft, revise, edit)

12. Stage 3: Public Presentation • Establish final division of credit • Acknowledge each other’s work • Reach closure on the work • Package the work for public presentation