When writing collaboratively, or working with others, it’s important for everyone to be on the same page. How this is accomplished ranges from having a designated leader that checks in to having an agreed upon split of work. It’s a unique situation that calls for flexibility and adaptability.
Rebecca Ingalls’ “Writing “Eyeball to Eyeball”: Building A Successful Collaboration” touts that collaboration, though somewhat difficult, is absolutely worth the effort and energy expended. Ingalls metrics for success are common sense and easy to follow. “Take deep breaths, don’t judge, maintain communication.” she coaches. Ingalls makes it look simple. For the most part, it actually is.
Her other words of advice are more common sense, yet I found I needed the reminder. Topic picking is a space I tend to dominate – I do research on multiple topics and present that to my groupmates. It allows me to take control and ensure that no matter what, we’re doing something I like. Yet I absolutely need to step back from that habit. It doesn’t allow for my groupmates to actively contribute, nor do I really gain anything intellectually from it.
Collaboration is not always painful.
Ingalls makes a point of emphasizing that everyone find a way to be on the same page with each other. It’s one of her key points. Communication all the way through the project, along with clarity, make collaborative writing far easier. As someone who often falls into a ‘Leader’ role in collaborative projects, communication is my biggest strength. It’s something I insist on, along with trying not to steamroll my groupmates. Whether or not they respond in kind varies. Much of what Ingalls talks about hinges on collaborative partners being as open as the collaborator.
In all honesty, that doesn’t always happen. In my experience, it’s a case-by-case basis. One group responded well to having a group chat and check-ins, another ignored all attempts to talk about the project outside of class. My earliest group had no communication at all – I remain grateful to the professor who graded my research separately from my groupmates.
Most of Ingalls post-mortem is entirely new to me. Once a project is finished, I usually have no reason to contact my groupmates again. At the very least, I intend to start running a post-mortem. That feedback will prove invaluable for how I go about my future research and approach my future groupmates.
For further conversation on collaborative writing, see: https://eng2020.chrisfriend.us/blog/category/process/collaboration-failure/
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