Writing Collaboratively some general considerations

1. Writing Collaborativelysome general considerations Advantages (the textbook lists a lot more) • brings more perspectives and skills (for ex, different people are good at editing for DIFFERENT things) • makes it possible to DELEGATE work and get LOTS of overall work done in a short amount of time Disadvantages (again, the textbook lists a lot more) • requires communication and coordination between people, which CAN eat up a lot of work time • requires that folks compromise and agree on things, which CAN result in conflict

2. some possiblegroup work strategies Fireproofing (you do very little) • most group projects (like this one) come at end of semester • you “fireproof” grade with individual assignments • if group project fails, this does not change your grade • therefore, you just coast with no consequences Transformation (you do nearly everything) • sometimes the project grade is vital to your personal grade • you don’t trust or don’t know how to encourage other group members to contribute • therefore, you just do it all as an individual project

3. NEITHER will work in real world! EVERY important project is done with others • therefore, you can’t “fireproof” yourself • coasting on other people eventually gets you fired EVERY important project is too big to do individually • if it’s a group project, then there is a REASON for this • doing it all yourself will not be possible You’ll have to develop a “third way” to do groupwork • ACTIVELY managing groups very effectively WILL make you very successful in your future professional jobs

4. Actively ManagingUNDERSTAND who you’re working with Knowing who you’re dealing with PREVENTS problems For example: • GRADE GOALS: does everyone want an A, B, C, etc? • WORK GOALS: who wants to try for a minimal workload? • SCHEDULE GOALS: submit early? on regular schedule? • PRACTICAL LIMITATIONS: who works? who’s taking a light load? who’s traveling? who can’t do weekends? Understanding (and PLANNING FOR) how group dynamics will affect the project requires knowing (and BEING HONEST) about what your group members’ goals and limitations are

5. Actively ManagingUNDERSTAND who you’re working with ALSO know your group members’ strengths and expertise For example: • MAJORS: what’s their academic expertise? • BACKGROUND: what practical expertise do they have? • CONTACTS: who could you get to help? • SKILLS: who can best do each of the specific things required for a well planned, well researched, well written, well edited report? Understanding (and UTILIZING) all the expertise and strengths of the ENTIRE group requires ASKING questions and OFFERING info

6. What makes a good ppsl idea? A specific problem • Things that you can easily define and describe • Things that you can easily research • Things that apply to a specific audience A specific “do-able” solution • “Do-able” DOES NOT necessarily mean completely realistic • “Do-able” simply means EASY to describe CLEARLY • Remember that you just have to argue for some kind of action • Action can be to consider studying an issue further A clear audience (SPECIFIC PEOPLE to read report) • You can’t make a convincing proposal unless you know who you are writing it for