Burnett Chapter Blog
Chapter 5
"Collaborating In The Workplace"
Due Week 1
pg. 143-182
Main Headlines:
reasons to collaborate
types of collaboration
good collaborator
negotiating conflicts
individual and collaborative assignments
Chapter 5 is called "Collaborating In The Workplace". This chapter gives the reader a sense of how to be a good team member when he or she is working within a group. By the end of this chapter, you will be further educated on the tactics used to be a good team member, the skills needed to provide the type of work required, and how to deal with conflicts within a team.
Reasons to Collaborate
Seventy to eighty-five percent of writing done in the workplace may require collaborating with another co-worker or even a client. There are four main reasons you may want to collaborate:
1. Subject of the project
2. Process used in the project
3. Product that collaborates create
4. Benefits of collaboration
Subject of the project
When working on a project, one may find it easier to work with one or more people that are experts on a certain subject. Hence, you get a little bit of knowledge from many different people since they have different points of view.
Process used in the project
This can enrich how a document is written or how it is structured. This also allows more feed back when writing the document then just your own opinion.
Product that collaborates create
The reason for collaborating on a single project is, for example, because someone wanted to create a web page about a topic on how to work out math problems. The people that were to read it may not like the single person’s way of doing it and may want another author’s point of view on how to work their way through.
Benefits of collaboration
A few of the benefits of collaborations are the many points of view you get from the other people whom help with the paper or a project, making it sound better or be better. Another benefit is it may help save time on a project.
Types of Collaboration
There are many different types of collaborations: coauthoring, consulting with colleagues and contributing to team projects which three of the many different types.
Coauthoring
This is when people contribute to a project equally as much as everyone else in the group. Two or more people team up and put their ideas together and everyone in the group will decide what gets added, cut from the project all together, and what gets modified.
Consulting with colleagues
A good example of consulting with colleagues is when a person is in a development department at a company. In order for them to develop anything, they are going to have to speak with other departments at the company to find out if their idea will work or not. For example, they will have to talk to the engineering department to find out if they can produce such a product, or if they cannot, they might have to change the structure or the placement of a part.
Contributing to team projects
When working with a team, one can assign a certain team member a part of the project and make one or more people in charge of the group. Also, at the same time, people in the group have to work with each other to know how their part in the project fits with the entire project.
Being A Good Collaborator
Allan Ackerson, lead technical writer for a company in Colorado springs said that collaborators, especially if they are team leaders, should follow these three guidelines
1.Treat people like you'd like to be treated
2.Identify strengths and weaknesses of the team members and use them accordingly
3. Insist on excellence
Ackerson says that these three guidelines are important when working in a team because it requires common sense and courtesy.
These several points will help you to be a more effective team member:
1. Self-assess
2. Be engaged and cooperative
3. Listen
4. Conform to conversation conventions
5. Ask questions
6. Share
7. Use technology effectively
8. Reflect
Within this chapter, these following points are broken down and explained as follows.
1. Self-assess
First you must evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as a collaborator. For help with that, visit the website, www.english.wadsworth.com/burnett63.
CLICK ON WEB LINK
CLICK on Chapter 5/ self-assessment
2. Be Engaged And Cooperative
To have the best result in a collaboration, come to the group discussions with an open mind. Once you find you have an open mind and a receptive attitude, the following guidelines will make the best sense
ALWAYS come prepared for any collaboration meeting. Gather the necessary information and bring something to contribute to the meeting
Be able to articulate
3. Listen
Make sure you listen and keep an open ear to what speakers are saying. Take notes on what they say as well as key points. Discuss what you have heard to make sure the point was gotten across clearly.
The last five points deal with concluding the meeting. Make sure you ask questions and make clear what the speaker as well as yourself is trying to make. Use resources and technology that is available to you such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, and reliable Internet sources.Share information that is brought to the table at each meeting. Make copies of things you've found and make sure your team members make copies of the materials they have found as well.
When dealing with conflicts within a group, make sure you are solving them in a timely and polite manner. The more a problem dwells, the more difficult of a time you will have keeping the group copacetic.
Negotiating Conflicts
The text outlines 3 kinds of conflicts that often take place in the workplace; affective, procedural and substantive.
II. Effective Conflicts
An interpersonal disagreement. An affective conflict arises from disagreements based on physical, or idealistic characteristics two or more people might not share with one another. A person that has a problem working with another person based on their race, or values, has an affective conflict. The text suggests that the best way to deal with an affective conflict is to acknowledge ones differences and biases from the get go and work from there, trying not to let them affect your work.
III. Procedural Conflicts
A disagreement on how things are to be run within a team. When a procedural conflict comes up it is either a dispute about the set meeting time, delegation of work or unclear instructions on how to complete the task. The best way to avoid a procedural conflict is to start off a collaboration by sitting down and discussing every aspect of the planned project. For example, delegating sections of work, setting up time frames, and finding out personal constraints on how much or little a person can work each day/week/month.
IV. Substantive conflicts
A substantive conflict deals with agreeing over the final purpose of a collaborative project. As well as what details and information should or should not be included.
The text says that it is always a good idea to have team members that are going to bring up possible substantive disagreements early in a project in order to deal with them quickly. It also suggests that bringing up substantive conflicts is sometimes even helpful. Kind of "playing the devils advocate" and bringing up possible problems that arise may help in the final product.
Individual and Collaborative Assignments
There are 9 steps to doing individual and collaborative assignments. They are as follows:
1. Address a complex problem- prepare notes about how to approach the technical memo and the information design sheet. And when you have done so, revise your information sheet. And finally, write and analysis of the revised sheet[pg. 175]
2. Evaluate your collaboration- tape record your sessions and talk about it with one of your collaborators. Notice interesting behaviors from everyone, did anything surprise you, and figure out who was in charge of that particular meeting, was the time productively used, did each person contribute to the meeting, and where were the problems.
3. Identify appropriate technology- find out what type of technology is compatible with every group member such a computer lab or sit down all together and write things out
4. Examine collaboration in your discipline- interview someone in the certain discipline you're working with. Find out things you should learn. Create a question/answer type of format and talk to the professional.
5. Identify parallels in writing and design- identify at least 6 different ways in which product design and development teams are similar to document design. Prepare a list with examples to share during meetings.
6. Draft a team agreement- understand every ones goals, assign tasks for each member to contribute to, assign dates things need to be completed by, have a process for resolving conflicts, have an order of authorship, and have a high standard for the quality of work being done.
7. Evaluate computer software- establish a type of criteria for the software program that enables you to do your tasks. Then, use your criteria to see if it is effective.
8. What kind of tools that can aid collaboration have you used- there are several tools you can use to help your collaboration such as: email, whiteboard, shared databases, web and video conferences, real-time chats, and group meetings.
9. Track your own collaborative behavior- keep a log in which you list the progress you have made. Write down each time, what went wrong, how you can improve them, review and analyze your interactions and what was interesting about them. Include in your discussion the way you prepared and how you collaborated as well as how it went.
Hopefully by the time you are finished reading these notes and Chapter 5, you will better understand how to collaborate in the best way you can in and outside of the workplace.
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25 comments:
I think that this was a well-written summary on chapter 5. Collaborating is a very important part of everyday life and not just writing and I think that you do a good job of giving examples showing this. It is always important to consider outside opinions in most things because usually the author or engineer or whoever can only see whatever they are doing from one angle. It usually takes more than just one person to make something great and collaborating is how we go about doing it. Overall, I think this chapter is very important and I think this team did a good job.
Did a good job in describing each of the given headlines. Each headline was broken down into even smaller topics, which help describe the chapter more thoroughly. Most of the given material has already been broken down into separate steps and helps you to be able to understand each topic step by step. Some topics also have additional website pages to allow the reader to understand the topic more or even help if they don’t understand it. I feel this blog did a good job in describing chapter 5 and would be a good source to review for later times and understanding. In my own experience I have understood that being in a team is a complete and total gamble. While Burnett is right in the fact it can help you get through the project faster and understand the material at hand with the right people knowing there material, you also have the chance that people wont do their part and well end up having someone else pick up the slack for them and you are never guaranteed to have a good group you get along with.
I have been involoved with group work and dealing with collaboration all of my life. After reading through the summary of the article I would say that I have to agree. Team work and collaboration is very important to see that a project gets done effectivly. Some people like working alone but I do not. I think that joining ideas from different people and comming to an agreement makes things all the better for the group. To me, group work is a much better way to do a project for more than reasons beyond the fact that people can join ideas. Motivation is my main reason because your not just letting yourself down if the work isnt complete, its the whole group that takes a fall if you fail.
I think this is a great summary of how one should go about working together on various projects. The teamwork in a work atmosphere is invaluable, getting many different perspectives into the subject rather than just your own. Multiple view points also leads to better proofreading, and a more articulate article, making it clearer than it would be if just one person was writing it. It could also lead to perhaps an easier work load for the group, just due to the fact that there are more people to split the work up among. I know that in my own work experience team members are indespensible to our company. Being able to double check various work assignments and tasks among co-workers really reenforces your comfort level of what you are doing. In a way, it also can be a way to pass along the blame if you would happen to mess up :)
i found that i agree with this chapter on collaboration. in my years of going to school, i have found that working in a group can be very helpful. in my experiences i have had projects that i have had to do alone and had gotten stuck at a certain point in which i had wished i had someone else to throw some ideas out there to help get the project moving. when i work in groups i tend to get work done faster and i do a better job because it isnt just my grade, there are other people depending on you to do a good job, and that gives me motivation do give the project my all. although group work can be helpful i think that it can also be frusturating. i feel this way in a situation in which people in a group are too opinionated and stuborn to use any of the other people's ideas. i have been involved in groups like this and nothing gets done and people just get frustrated and angry at eachother.
I thought this chapter/blog was a very interesting subject. I don't exactly like to work in groups, but sometimes you have to do it. I have had a few very good experiences with working in groups, but one experience pretty much turned me off to this thought of group work. I got paired with two other kids who felt that they did not have to do their own fair share of the work. It ended up with me doing 75% of the work with the others combined for 25%. Maybe if the kids i got paired with would have read this blog before being grouped with me it would of worked out alot better. Overall i think working in groups can be a very helpful resource to completing different assignments, but you have to be paired with people who understand their responsibilities and do their fair share of the work.
I thought Krekelberg and Heidinger's blog on Burnett's chapter five was well written, informative, and interesting. Their format was exceptional and easy to understand. The blog on chapter five revealed many interesting points to working effectively in a group. I found it interesting that seventy to eighty-five percent of writing in the workplace involves some sort of collaboration. It makes one aware just how important communication in the professional workplace is. The guidelines given are easy to understand and make sense. It was interesting to see the "golden rule" mentioned- treat others as you want to be treated. The other guidelines seemed alot like common sense, but it was reassuring to read that it only takes basic common-sense to work collaboratively.
Personally, I would rather do my own work than work in a group. It's not necessarily a matter of people slacking off and having to do all the work myself, I just work more effectively when I don't have to worry about how everyone else wants to do things. However, from the summary I gathered some good points about why group work is a good idea--having other perspectives is essential to your work, but I think these can be acquired without collaboration. Good job on the summary though, it was easy to read and understand.
I think that this summary really does a great job of covering the main points of the article. At my last job, we had to do alot of collaborating to be sure that everything was done correctly and worked efficiently. While individual work had always been my preference, I learned how useful teamwork can be. Many of the tips given would have been very helpful. Given the time constraint, I would have to say that this team did an excellent job of using what they read to get this summary written. Overall, it was very well organized and covers all the most important concepts of the chapter.
I think that this is a well written summary of chapter five. Collaborating is an important part of the work enviorment. The author makes many valid point ands tells you how you can be a better collaborator. I think that this will be very helpful in the workplace. i found the points about being an active listner also important. i think that this was a well written summary they highlighted all the key points in the chapter.
I believe this chapter to be of extreme importance for myself in regards to the workplace. I tend to gravitate more towards working on projects independently as opposed to a collaborative effort. Not that I believe my work to be superior to others, but that I gain more self gratification when executing a project from beginning to end independently. More intense help on this matter seems to be a requirement for me.
This summary was very good in describing what all has to go in to making a collaboration work. I have personally experienced that there are negative and positive aspects of working as a team on a project. I usually enjoy it as long as my team members are willing to put in their fair share of the work. If not, it makes for a pretty bad experience. On the plus side, it is always nice to have other people’s opinions and ideas. Other people always come up with things that I never would have thought of myself. So, when a team works together and everyone contributes, I enjoy it!
I think that this group wrote a very good summary of this chapter. I think that this is a very important topic for this class, because no matter what field we all go into the one thing that they all have in common is team work and collaboration. I think that the book does a good job of giving examples to help us figure out the best way of working together. Along with working together in the work place, we will have to get used to listening to others opinions and points fo view and i think that it is good that they included this in the chapter as well.
Collaboration can be a difficult when working with a variety of different people. My major is Construction Management and so collaboration is one topic that is discussed frequently. Construction is a field where you work with different personalities and back grounds which may become difficult. You have to learn that everyone’s opinions have to be discussed and rationalized if they will work or not.
Over the years, from personal experience, collaborating is one of the fastest and best ways to speed the estimating process along. With a lot of new software out there, it makes collaboration easier and more efficient. The software allows for more than one person to be working on the project at a time.
I thought that this chapter was very important becuase of the fact that we all have to work in groups or with another person sometime in our life whether we want to or not. We need to understand how to work together and how to get through certain conflict that we may have as a group. Always remembering that you can't think about just yourself but about everyone else on your "team." One of the headings that was brought up was listening, which can be a major problem if not done correctly. Many problems can start from lack of communication or just not actually listening to what is being said. I thought this team did a great job organizing this chapter becuase it was easy to understand and follow.
These three did a great job on outlining this chapter. Using docs.google.com will be a great way to get hands on expirence of what they summerized. This blog really cover the aspects to good collabortaion. I feel that being able to collaborate and share information is really cool, especialy if you are not able to meet or get together, collaborating makes all of it possible. Good work making it all come together with such short notice!!
This chapter provides very important information about collabrating in workplace communication. Workplace collabration not only maks it easy for you but also for the rest of your co-workers. I have worked on several team work projects in my major (EET). From my point of view, it is much easier to accomplish the work or project when working with a team that's efficiently collabrating in all ways. Each team member has to play their roles in order to get the work or project done. The chapter was well summarized.
The chapter summery was well presented. Personally, i think collaborating is really important for every kind of the task. I believe that one person can give his best by his own but collaboration with other people we can get the excellent outcome. I have personally experienced this in my life. Also, i totally agree with the reasons presented for the importance of collaboration. Also, i think we can take our english 271 class assignment collaboration as a great example, as we work with our partner which has worked best on me.Overall, collaboration is the something to be encouraged and the summery was really successful to present this.
I think this summary is more clear and managed.It gave me more idea about Collaborating with good examples. The steps were full of good throught.The additional things like website and examples are more information in this topic so it is better to understand.About making small paragraph was best in this summary.You have done good collaboring wach other.
Collaboration at workplace is important regardless of number of people involved. Collaboration works well when team workers focus on a certain thing and share their ideas and merge it for better outcome. The communication is the essential element for collaboration.
This passage focuses on the collaboration in a workplace. It describes how important is a team work or collaboration in dealing with problems or working on a project. Virtues of a good collaborator, types of collaboration, and reasons for collaboration are well described in the passage. The passage seems too long but, organized in an attractive way. I liked the way the passage describe how to negotiate the conflict and how to avoid those conflicts. The most important thing I found was to track our own collaborative behavior in a workplace.
The information given in the chapter summarrry is very useful because you will most lielky be collaborating with people your entire life whether it is friends, work, family, etc. They made a good poing when they stated that it is a good idea to collaborate because you may understand what you are trying to convey but others may not, so it is a good idea to get another persons point of view. I think these two did a good job on the summary, picking out the most important points in the chapter.
Collaboration is one of the staples of good teamwork. The collaborative approach leads to high cooperation as well as high assertiveness of team members. Even though there will be some conflict(inevitable) conflict is treated as aproblem to be solved by the whole team. No more "I win.... you lose" mentality. Better desicions better quality products come from collaborative efforts
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