© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 1 Chapter 6 Working in Teams Technical Communication, 11 th Edition John M. Lannon

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 2 Managing a Collaborative Project  Appoint a group manager.  Define a clear and definite goal.  Decide on the type of document required.  Decide how the group will be organized.  Divide the tasks.  Establish a timetable.  Decide on a meeting schedule.  Establish a procedure for responding to the work of other members. (continued on next slide)

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 3 Managing a Collaborative Project  Develop a file-naming system for drafts.  Establish a procedure for dealing with interpersonal problems  Select a group decision-making style.  Decide how to evaluate each member's contribution.  Prepare a project management plan.  Submit progress reports regularly.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 4 Conducting Meetings  Set an agenda  Ask each person to prepare as needed  Appoint a different “observer” for each meeting  Begin by summarizing the minutes of the last meeting  Keep things moving  Observe, guide, and listen  Summarize major points before calling for a vote  End the meeting on schedule

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 5 Sources of Conflict  Interpersonal differences  Gender differences  Cultural differences

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 6 Managing Group Conflict Collaboration requires compromise and consensus  Give everyone a chance to be heard  Take everyone’s feelings and opinions seriously  Don’t be afraid to disagree  Offer and accept constructive criticism  Find points of agreement with others who hold different views  When the group does make a decision, support it fully

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 7 Guidelines for Active Listening  Don’t dictate.  Be receptive.  Keep an open mind.  Be courteous.  Show interest.  Hear the speaker out.  Focus on the message.  Ask for clarification.  Be agreeable  Observe the 90/10 rule.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 8 Thinking Creatively Explore each of the following ways of “thinking outside the box.”  Brainstorming  Brainwriting  Mind-mapping  Storyboarding

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 9 Reviewing and Editing the Work of Others  When reviewing, inform the writer how you responded as a reader, pointing out what works and what doesn’t  When editing, actually ‘fix’ the piece by making it more precise and readable.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 10 Tools for Electronic Collaboration  Basic  Text messaging and chat systems  Groupware  Digital whiteboard  Web conferencing  Teleconferencing  Videoconferencing

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 11 Ethical Abuses  Intimidating one’s peers  Claiming credit for others’ work  Hoarding information Activity: Go to and see what it takes to be nominated for the top 100 corporate citizens.

© 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 12 Any Questions? For additional help reviewing this chapter, please visit the Companion Website for your text at