Project Charter Producing Collaborative Documents

Project Charter This PowerPoint covers the following: –Requirements of Project Charter –Writing as a Group –Professional Standards –Concise Writing

Project Charter This projects asks students to work in groups in preparing one proposal for a service learning project Students must draw from each other’s design notebooks in forming one idea and proposal

Group Brainstorming Treat brainstorming for the project charter as a negotiation Look for an overlap between observations and ideas Draw on the specific expertise of each member Make sure everyone’s voice is heard If the group decides to do something else, get over it Choose what is best for the client

Group Writing Strategies Write everything together –This ensures consistency –This can be difficult with large groups Divide-up into sections –This ensures that everyone gets a voice and is easier with big groups –Can produce uneven documents

Group Writing Guidelines Don’t make one person write the entire thing Devise a game plan before writing the charter Create an outline for the document Develop standards that every member must meet in composing

Group Writing Standards Create standards that address: –Contractions –First and second person –Terminology –Length –Paragraph style –Citation style –Transitions –Headings and subheadings –Graphics and images –Fonts

Group Revision Everyone should participate Check every standard to ensure compliance Consider the relative weight of each section Think about transitions between each section Read the entire document out loud to check for shifts in voice and tone

Professional Standards Remember that this project is a professional relationship with a client more than it is a class project Uphold professional standards throughout all interactions with clients, including writing the project charter

Professional Standards Professional Standards include: –Voice –Audience Consideration –Document Appearance –Timeliness –Clarity and Conciseness –Specificity –Professional Appearance and Interaction

Professional Ethos Speak with a professional voice that uses the terminology and style of the client Address and value the concerns and needs of the client Provide relevant and reliable evidence to support your conclusions Make sure your document design meets the standards of the field you are writing for

Concise Writing The goal of concise writing is to use the most effective words. Concise writing does not always have the fewest words, but it always uses the strongest ones. Writers often fill sentences with weak or unnecessary words that can be deleted or replaced. Words and phrases should be deliberately chosen for the work they are doing.

Concise Writing Replace several vague words with more powerful and specific words –Wordy: Our website has made available many of the things you can use for making a decision on the best dentist. (20 words) –Concise: Our website presents criteria for determining the best dentist. (9 words)

Concise Writing Interrogate every word in a sentence –Wordy: The teacher demonstrated some of the various ways and methods for cutting words from my essay that I had written for class. (22 words) –Concise: The teacher demonstrated methods for cutting words from my essay. (10 words)

Concise Writing Combine Sentences –Wordy: Ludwig's castles are an astounding marriage of beauty and madness. By his death, he had commissioned three castles. (18 words) –Concise: Ludwig's three castles are an astounding marriage of beauty and madness. (11 words)

Exercise Revise the following bit of text. The first group to “successfully” revise it down to 125 clear and concise words wins.

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