Of the three models of writing processes in organizations, collaborative teams are the most likely to produce successful documents. All the roles and responsibilities for producing the document are represented in a structure that supports the project: content specialists, writing experts, editors, designers, administrators, even contracting authorities who look after the final output. It is more time-consuming…
Law 5. Agree on practices and tools and track progress
A collaborative writer is someone who works with at least one other person to produce a text and achieve a common purpose. Now, a group of writers can produce a lot of text. To ensure that all those pieces go together well, the team should agree on practices and tools while tracking progress throughout the phases of…
Helping one another at different levels: A continuum of collaboration
When two or more people collaborate, they put their efforts together to achieve a goal that they hold in common. Their work can be carried out in different intensities of “togetherness.” Our awareness of the various types or levels of collaboration is very helpful. We can gauge our involvement in a project. Using the degree of involvement, we can then measure how we…
Law 1. All writing in organizations is collaborative
It’s tempting to think of writing as a something one does alone. All writing is, to some extent, collaborative. Many book forewords tell the story of how people helped the author: editors, mentors, peers, wives or husbands, friends, kids—even the cat. The content still belongs to the author whose name appears on the cover. As Ray Bradbury…