1 / 34

Chapter 4

Chapter 4. By Nicole Tripp. What is Collaborative Writing?. People working together to create a document. Proposals, reports, memos, books, and manuals. Advantages of Collaborative Writing. Improves communication among employees. Greater skill base Greater knowledge base.

midori
Download Presentation

Chapter 4

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 4 By Nicole Tripp

  2. What is Collaborative Writing? • People working together to create a document. • Proposals, reports, memos, books, and manuals

  3. Advantages of Collaborative Writing • Improves communication among employees. • Greater skill base • Greater knowledge base

  4. Disadvantages of Collaborative Writing • Takes more time • Can lead to groupthink • Can create unequal workloads

  5. Setting Group Agenda’s • Define the task • Choose a group leader • Define tasks for each group member • Establish working procedures • Establish a procedure for resolving conflict • Establish a work schedule

  6. Conducting Efficient Meetings • Arrive on time. • Stick to an agenda. • Record the important decisions made at the meeting • Summarize the meeting

  7. Communicating Diplomatically • Listen carefully • Let the speaker finish; don’t interrupt • Give everyone a chance to speak • Avoid personal remarks and insults • Don’t get emotionally attached to your ideas

  8. Critiquing Group Members Drafts • Start with a positive comment • Talk about the writing, not the writer • Focus on how the document will fit into the group’s document

  9. Communicating Electronically • Use the comment, revisions and highlight feature on a Word Processor • Use e-mail to send files • Use Groupware

  10. Groupware • A software that lets people plan, draft, revise and track a document • Sharing files • Carrying out discussions with team members • Distributing announcements • Creating automated change notifications

  11. Collaborative Writing Set Group’s Agenda Conduct Efficient Meetings Communicate Diplomatically Critique Drafts Communicate electronically Groupware Summary

  12. Chapter 5 By Michelle Denham and Lisa Obenauf

  13. Analyzing an Audience • Thinking • Listening • Classifying

  14. Identifying Primary and Secondary Audiences • Primary Audience – have a direct role in responding to your document • Secondary Audience – will not directly act on or respond to your document

  15. Basic Categories of Readers • Try to classify your readers according to their knowledge of your subject. • The Expert • The Technician • The Manager • The General Reader

  16. Individual Characteristics of Readers • Who is your reader? • What are your reader’s attitudes and expectations? • Why and how will your reader use your document?

  17. Writing for Multiple Audiences • Modular Report • Abstract – primarily for the technical reader • Executive Summary – primarily for the manager • Body of Report – for any interested readers, including technical readers, managers, experts and others • Appendices – Primarily for technicians and experts

  18. The Audience Profile Sheet • Template available at: http://bedfordstmartins.com/techcommin the “Forms for Technical Communication” section.

  19. Communicating Across Cultures • Requires understanding of culture • Requires understanding of cultural variables • What language(s) should you use? • What political, social, and economic factors will influence how readers interpret what you write? 1

  20. Some “On the Top” Cultural Variables to Consider • Political • Economic • Social • Religious • Educational • Technological • Linguistic 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

  21. Understanding what “Beneath the Surface” Cultural Variables Mean There are also six “Beneath the Surface” variables to be considered. • Each represents a spectrum of attitudes • They do not line up in a clear pattern • Different organizations within the same culture can vary greatly • Cultural Values are fluid, not static. 1 2 3 4

  22. Understanding cont. • Variables do not offer answers, instead questions to be considered. • Can help you study the communications from people and become more aware of underlying values that affect communication.

  23. Cultural Variables “Beneath the Surface” See Table 5.1 for details • Focus on individuals or groups • Distance between business life and private life • Distance between ranks • Nature of truth • Need to spell out details • Attitudes toward uncertainty 1

  24. Considering Cultural Variables as you Write • The challenge with communicating with a person from another culture is that you are communicating with a person, not a culture. • You cannot be sure which cultures have influenced that person.

  25. Considering Cultural Variables cont. • To the person you’re communicating with, you are the one from another culture. • You cannot be sure how much they are trying to accommodate your culture patterns. • Communication between the two of you creates a hybrid of the two cultures.

  26. Considering Cultural Variables cont. • Research what you can about the culture you are writing for. • If possible, ask for assistance by someone native to the culture. • Seek examples of the type of writing you will be doing so you can study the format.

  27. Strategies for Intercultural Communication • Limit your vocabulary • Keep sentences short • Define abbreviations and acronyms in a glossary • Avoid jargon unless you know your readers are familiar with it • Avoid idioms and slang • Use the active voice whenever possible • Be careful with graphics • Be sure someone from the target culture reviews your document 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

  28. Generating Graphics and Design for Multicultural Readers • Graphics and Design – One way to overcome the language barrier. • Graphics and design can differ from culture to culture. • Study samples of documents written from the culture to learn important differences in document layout.

  29. Generating Graphics and Design cont. • Documents from different cultures are becoming more unified. • International Business is increasing each year • The use of the Web is increasing dramatically • Most communicators around the world are using the same word processing software. 1 2 3

  30. Determining your Purpose • Ask yourself: “What do I want this document to accomplish?” • What do you want your readers to know/believe? • What do you want your readers to do? • Your document should help your readers carry out a task, understand a concept, or hold a particular belief.

  31. Determining your Purpose cont. • Think of a verb that represents your purpose. • Is your real purpose different from your expressed purpose? • Many readers don’t want to be “persuaded” but are willing to learn new facts or ideas.

  32. Determining your PurposeExamples Communicating Verbs • To assess • To request • To propose • To recommend • To forecast • To evaluate Communicating Verbs • To describe • To explain • To inform • To illustrate • To review • To outline • To authorize • To define • To summarize

  33. Gaining Management’s Approval • Consider gaining your manager’s approval before proceeding too far into the project. • It is wise to make sure that you are on the right track before investing too much time and effort into it.

  34. Questions • Please feel free to ask any questions you may have at this time.

More Related