Collaboration

Collaboration

Thanks to ever emerging new technologies, writers can collaborate in exciting new ways.  Using tools such as Google Docs, writers can work on documents synchronously even when they are separated by continents and oceans.  Musicians can exchange and remix chords with other artists from around the world using discussion forums.  Via Skype, writers can talk with one another as they collaborate in a shared white space. Not to mention Wikipedia.  Clearly, good collaboration skills are more important now than ever before.

In our e-culture, being a successful collaborator is crucial to success. Today's workers are symbol analysts: they use multiple media, especially Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit, to share and construct meaning. Today's symbol analysts are especially social on how they communicate and learn.  Use the resources below to maximize your collaboration skills.

When the first cave man started doodling on the cave, he probably had critics looking over his shoulder, suggesting he hold the brush a different way, mix the paint differently, perhaps make the buffalo appear fiercer, and so on. Many people find discussions with trusted colleagues to be an invaluable way to develop and polish ideas. Professionals in most disciplines, for example, attend conferences so that they can discuss ideas with colleagues and leading researchers. Writers in business and scientific contexts commonly work in teams with individuals responsible for their areas of expertise, such as marketing language, audience, finance, research, and editing. Some authors do not feel comfortable beginning a new project until they have discussed their ideas with others. Successful writers do not wait until they have completed a project before seeking constructive criticism. Instead, they share early drafts with critics. Teamwork and Group Management Strategies follow these tips for nurturing teamwork in group situations.

• Peer Review

  Confused about what to say to other writers when they ask for constructive criticism?  Check out these resources to help you.

• Common Comments

  When conducting peer reviews (or, if you are a teacher, when you are giving feedback to students), consider inserting these hyperlinks as helpful comments.  These links, associated with a rubric for assessing writing and critical thinking, will direct the writer to helpful resources at Writing Commons. 
  
  Note: A unique section of Writing Commons, these "common comments" were developed as a component of My Reviewers, an online tool developed at the University of South Florida first-year composition program to facilitate teacher response, peer review and assessment of critical thinking and writing development.

• Consider Feedback

  Okay, so now you've offered peer review to your colleagues, you've worked in groups collaborating on documents and presentations, and you've even received critical feedback from your instructor.  So what do you do now?  How can you sort through all of that critical feedback and determine what to accept, what to reject?