Writing in Collaboration

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Writing in Collaboration

• Christopher Merkner

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Writing in Collaboration

• Collaborative Writing
• The coming together of a group of people to
• create,
• complete,
• and submit
• a single, unified document

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Writing in Collaboration (cont)

• Why? Why?
• Because of management restructuring
• Because of training models
• Because of those darn synergy books
• Because of diversification
• Because of the law

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Writing in Collaboration (cont)

• The Golden Rule
• This is not the document that you wrote
• This document is an extension of the persona that
  your group creates together
• What this Means (really)
• Expect a document you wouldnt expect
• You influence the group to influence the document
• You (probably) should not influence the document
  to influence the group

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Collaboration Considerations

• Formal considerations Personal considerations
• Contracts/Written Agreements/Recording
• Timelines and Milestones
• Evaluation Tools
• Leadership
• Conflict Mediation
• Models of Collaboration
• Contact Parameters
• Outsourcing

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Contracts/Written Agreements

• What makes a contract?
• To what are you agreeing?
• The written vs. The discussed
• To what have you committed?
• Subject/Project
• Time
• Resources
• To whom are you accountable?
• see handout for your contracts w/ us

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Timelines and Milestones

• Timelines
• Your Boss
• States start date and deadline
• Accommodates Milestones, but Timelines are not
  flexible
• Anticipates mishap

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Timelines and Milestones (cont)

• Milestones
• Your check-points within the Timeline
• Flexible Purpose check-ins and meetings, draft
  submissions, premise review, conflict mediation,
  etc
• Flexible Nature collaboratively alter-able
  during the project
• Must account for deadline, workload, holidays
  hiatus, weakspots confusions

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Evaluation Tools

• What makes an Evaluation Tool?
• Why?
• Identify expectations of group
• Clarify purpose of project
• Emphasize accountability
• Level the playing field
• Training/Growth
• see handout for evaluation tools w/ us

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Leadership

• Explicit or Verbal or Implied?
• General Principles
• Not the boss
• Facilitator and liaison
• Coordinate times timing
• Take surveys/Allow for confusions

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Leadership

• Types
• Non/All
• Conflict Confusion-driven (scrappy buggers)
• Single
• Communication-intensive, not objective-driven
• Rotating
• Impose torch-pass dates and specify
  responsibilities

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Outsourcing Contact Parameters

• Know your teams outsourcing potential and
  inadequacies from the outset
• State clearly (explicitly) when you can and
  should be contactedand when not
• State clearly (explicitly) how you can and
  should be contacted
• State clearly (explicitly) where you can meet

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Conflict Types

• Affective
• Procedural
• Substantive

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Reducing Conflict

• Active Listening
• On-time-ness
• Deadlines
• Resist Groupthink!the passive acceptance of the
  majority opinion

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Conflict Mediation Models

• Democratic
• Consensus
• Dictatorship
• Totalitarianism

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Models of Collaboration

• Writing by Document Part
• Writing by Specialty
• Writing by Writing Phase (process)

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Models of Collaboration (cont)

• 1) Writing by Document Part
• Assets
• Useful for documents with clear, pre-determined
  parts
• Communication-Intensive
• Common Pitfalls
• Failed foresight
• Dislike of part
• Stylistic cohesion (the screw it follow though)

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Models of Collaboration (cont)

• 2) Writing by Specialty
• Assets
• Useful when specialists are distinct
• Useful when document/project requires angles/spin
• Common Pitfalls
• The Specialist who wasnt
• Content cohesion (the phantom thesis)

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Models of Collaboration (cont)

• 3) Writing by Phases of Writing
• Assets
• Useful for the busy group
• Key to Success
• The Final Meeting!
• Common Pitfalls
• Inequitable Workload (the anal and the inept)

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Models of Collaboration (cont)

• Final Notes
• Plan early, plan hard, plan again
• Agree to timelines, keep them
• Encourage leadership
• Do not disappear
• Remember the golden ruleput it on your pillow at
  night!