Writing Collaboratively

1. Writing Collaboratively Advantages • Greater knowledge & skills base • Better audience analysis and editing • Possibility for improving relationships w/in organization • Shorter individual time commitments to produce product Disadvantages • Longer overall time to produce product • Potential for disjointed, disorganized product • Possibility of unequal workloads and individual conflict Remember the practical goal is to MAXIMIZE advantages and MINIMIZE disadvantages

2. organizing the groupSPECIFIC detail is your best tool Define the work • Set concrete organization, research, writing, and editing tasks • Start with the final deadline and schedule backward Define the responsibilities • Decide exactly what each group member will DO Define the procedures • How, when, and why will group members communicate? • How often, how long, and why will the group meet? • How will people share files and keep them organized? If you don’t have a detailed plan for these things, then “do the group assignment at the last minute” is your default “plan”!

3. organizing the groupSPECIFIC detail is your best tool How, when, and how often will you meet? • Realize that you will have in-class work time • Try to MINIMIZE meeting time How, when, and how often will you communicate? • Think about how to get in touch with each other • Think about PRACTICAL constraints on this How will you share documents and information? • Realize that a wordpress site can help you organize work • You can have “meetings” virtually • You can post discussions and announcements • You can post and share important information • You can post, download, edit, and upload word files without having to email them all over the place HOW will you submit assignments by the in-class deadlines?

4. managing the groupPERSUASION is the best tool It’s generally the only tool you will have • You won’t be able to hire and fire coworkers • You won’t be able to (quickly) replace even the folks you manage It’s a very POWERFUL tool if you use it smartly Progress reports to managers are TOOLS • Managers (ME!) not in the group can be the “bad cop” • No one likes to be called out • People rarely say “I don’t really care who thinks I’m a lazy jerk” • Truthful, tactful, and constructive progress reports do get results • Making clear what is needed and HOW to contribute does get results

5. editing adviceedit EFFICIENTLY Use a template to save time and effort Delegate responsibilities by skills and abilities For Formatting: who’s best at fiddling with MS Word? For Writing: who’s best at banging out rough drafts? For Editing: who’s best at fixing grammar and style problems? For Proofreading: who’s got the best eye for fine details? Plan and organize to GET HELP from outside sources Why edit yourselves if you can get someone else to do it?

6. editing adviceedit PRACTICALLY Don’t jam a square person into a round-shaped slot Make certain you delegate responsibilities BY ABILITY Don’t overload ONE person with an unfair workload Make certain you delegate group work FAIRLY Realize that there are lots of little jobs that folks can do PLAN to get the most out of EACH group member IF you’ve been managing the project using a DETAILED PLAN that everyone agreed to at the beginning, then it should be very clear if everyone is contributing MANAGE these people NOW using the persuasion tools you’ve got (progress reports, requests for help, “management” intervention)