Team Writing A Guide to Working in Groups

by Wolfe, Joanna

• ISBN13: 9780312565824
• ISBN10: 0312565828
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-31
• Publisher: Bedford/St. Martin's

Summary

Built around real group interactions,Team Writingis a flexible, hybrid resource that pairs videos with a brief print book. Based on research revealing major problems at all stages of peer group work, the book shows how written communication can help technical writing students contribute to team projects in a meaningful way and provides strategies for dealing with the breakdowns that can derail a project's success. Numerous examples highlight the kind of written communication that helps teams thrive. Short, Web-based videos depict student teams in action, going beyond the textbook to show what real collaboration looks and sounds like.

Author Biography

Joanna Wolfe (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is Associate Professor of English at the University of Louisville where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in writing and rhetoric and composition. She is author of numerous scholarly articles on teamwork, gender studies, collaborative learning technology, and technical writing appearing in forums such as Journal of Engineering Education, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, and Written Communication. Her research on collaborative writing in technical communication classes won the 2006 NCTE award for best article reporting qualitative or quantitative research in technical and scientific communication.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Before You Start

 

Chapter 1: Planning Your Collaboration

        Why Teamwork?

        Understanding Collaboration Methods

        Alternating Collaboration Methods

        Exercises

        Works Cited

 

Chapter 2: Project Management

        Why Do You Need a Project Manager?

        Task Schedules: Publicize deadlines and responsibilities

        Meeting Minutes: Build accountability and consensus

        Meeting Agenda: Keep discussions on track

        Email Reminders & Notifications: Step in when problems occur

        Other Documents the Project Manager May Produce

        Starting the Process with a "Straw" Document

        Exercises

        Works Cited

 

Chapter 3: Getting Started with a Team Charter

        An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: The Team Charter

        Team Goals: What constitutes success?

        Measurable Goals: How can you measure success?

        Personal Goals: What do individuals want out of the project?

        Individual Commitment: How much effort will each individual invest?

        Other Information: What other individual factors might affect performance?

        Irreconcilable Differences: How will the team resolve impasses?

        Late Work: How will the team handle missed deadlines?

        Unacceptable Work: How will the team handle poor quality contributions?

        Putting It All Together

        Exercises

 

Chapter 4: Getting Started with the Task Schedule

        Identify Major Tasks

        Assign the Roles to Individuals: Motivation vs. experience

        Schedule the Tasks

        Balance the Workload

        Technology and Tools for Task Schedules

        Exercises 

 

Part 2: Writing Together

 

Chapter 5: Constructive Conflict

        Creating a Constructive Infrastructure for Your Team: Five key strategies

        Exercises

        Works Cited

 

Chapter 6: Revising with Others

        Developing a Culture Where Constructive Feedback is Encouraged

        Two Types of Revision: Feedback vs. Direct Revision

        Before You Start: Ground Rules for Revision

        Providing Effective Feedback and Making Good Revisions

        Listening to Feedback and Negotiating Revision

        Technology for Collaborative Revising

        Exercises

 

Chapter 7: Communication Styles and Team Diversity

        The Benefits of Diverse Teams

        How Differences in Communication Norms Can Cause

        Interpersonal Conflict

        Understanding Norms

        Competitive and Considerate Conversational Norms

        Self-promoting vs. Self-deprecating Speech

        Action-oriented vs. Holistic Problem-Solving Styles

        Gender and Communication Norms

        Exercises

        Works Cited

 

Chapter 8: Trouble-shooting: What to do when there are problems in the team

        Problems with Showing Up and Turning in Work

            A teammate misses a meeting

            A teammate misses a deadline

            A teammate turns in incomplete work

            A teammate turns in poor quality work

            A teammate disappears completely

        Problems with Personal Interactions

            My team doesn’t trust me to do good work

            My team isn’t listening to me—or is taking a direction I disagree with

            Other team members are not committed to a high-quality product

            My teammates do and say things I find disturbing or demeaning

            My teammates criticize my work excessively

        Problems with Revision

            Team members are not open to revisions to their work—or team members ignore the suggestions I make for revision

            My team is destroying my work

            Team members are not giving adequate feedback

            I am unsure of how to give good feedback to team members

        Exercises

Supplemental Materials

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