Tips for collaborative writing

Software like wikis and change-tracking features can make it easier for groups of people to work together on reports and plans.  But the software can't help with the hardest part of collaborative writing -- the human side.

Team writing is hard because even similar people have different ways of communicating information, have access to different facts (which seem to come out at the last minute) and interpret the same information differently.  Also, some people are comfortable writing in an organized, step-by-step fashion, while others do their best work in what seems to others to be a mad and maddening rush.

Here are some tips that can help you work better with your co-authors, and more importantly, keep you from wanting to grab their pens and stick it...

1. The team should decide on a way to write collaboratively. If you use a wiki - a document that allows for multiple collaborators -- or software features like 'track changes' in Microsoft Word, be sure that everyone knows how to use the tools.  If a team member is not comfortable with a type of technology, it might be easier to pick someone to take that team member's work and upload it to the team document.  Once the team has selected an approach to collaboration, every member of the team is responsible for knowing how to use the technology.
   
   
2. The team should create an electronic library of shared documents that all authors can use as a resource for their writing.  The library should include all relevant plans, reports and memos, as well as raw information (such as data tables from government sources.)  There are a number of services that offer file sharing, either free or on a monthly subscription basis.
   
   
3. Ensure that all members understand their roles and responsibilities. Members of the writing team have to know whether they are providing data for someone else to write, writing portions of the document, reviewing other people's work, or making edits themselves.
   
   
4. Make deadlines clear, and make them at least 20% longer than what the authors say they need to complete their work.  No matter how well planned the writing project is, things are going to happen.  Somebody might get sick or have a work/family emergency. Somebody is not going to get things done in time for any variety of reasons.   Another reason for extending the deadlines is that the process of drafting -- or seeing others' drafts -- helps you see new connections and gaps and create new ideas.  An extra few days can help you create a much better product.
   
   
5. The team should pick a lead author and final editor. The lead author's role is to bring everything together.  The final editor's role is to make sure the work reads as if it were written by a single person.  If only one person can fulfill both roles, plan some time for the lead author to step away from the document and come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. Editing your own work is difficult, because you tend to see what you expect to see, rather than what's there.  That's why we can find typos and grammatical errors in others' writings, and miss them in our own.
   
   
6. Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, the lead author should make the team document available to everyone to look at while it is being drafted.  It is everyone's responsibility to read their teammates' work, and to alert the lead author to any factual errors, inconsistencies or new ideas that come from connecting the dots in others' work.
   
   
7. Everyone should respect the fact that everyone else has a different way of working.  If you're the kind of person who can write over a long period and in steps, don't get so huffy about the people who get their bursts of inspiration under the stress of a deadline.  But, if you're a last-minute writer, and others need your work to complete theirs, waiting for the spark of inspiration is not artistic -- it's rude. As with any relationship, the more everyone talks about what they need, what they like and what ticks them off, the happier they will be.
   
   
8. When it's all done, enjoy and celebrate the hard work. Even if you feel like you never want to talk to the collaborator again, go have a drink or a cup together.  Whatever it was that drove you crazy about the other person's work, it probably wasn't that big a deal.
   
   
9. If you're going to work with the same people again, talk  with them about how things can be done better.  Remember to say first what you would do differently before you ask someone else to change their ways.  If you're going to work with different people, reflect on your experiences and help your next set of teammates to work better.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers a number of courses on teamwork, writing and other aspects of professional practice.  Please see the course catalog for more on upcoming courses.

Developing high quality verbal images

Verbal images -- examples, metaphors, analogies and stories -- help audiences better understand complex matters and feel more comfortable about change.  Here's how to make them work better for your goals:

*Use verbal images that your audiences will easily understand.  What sounds better to you? "Trapped between Scylla and Charybidis" or "Caught between a rock and hard place."  They say the same thing.

*Be aware of your audience's emotional response to the verbal image.  A New York City-base planner was working on a .development plan for a suburban Long Island town.  In his initial presentation, he used examples of good planning from the New York City borough of Brooklyn.  Bad mistake.  A number of the town's residents moved out of places like Brooklyn.  You can imagine what they thought of a planner who they thought was trying to bring Brooklyn into their town.

*Use imagery that elicits strong, but not extreme, emotions.  I was talking with a planner in Montana about how I could both support the concept of the American Institute of Certified Planners' Certification Maintenance program while opposing its design.  I said "you can support economic development, but that is not a blanket endorsement of eminent domain."  I picked this image because of the strong emotions elicited by the words "eminent domain" (especially in Western states).  The planner said that analogy helped him see the issue in a new light.

*Use images that connect to what concerns your audiences.  Parents are concerned about the safety of their children.  If you're trying to promote the development of sidewalks, you would have more success getting audiences to envision the dangers to children walking on streets.

*Unless you feel there is no better image, avoid images that elicit extreme emotional responses.  Words like "steal," "rape," "Nazi," "Hitler," are more likely to cause your audience to roll their eyes than raise their eyebrows.

*Use images of experiences that you might have in common with your audiences.  No matter how different we are, we all have experiences of growing up, being nervous, shopping, having friends.  These kinds of images will help you connect with your audience.

*Stories -- also known as visions, scenarios or simulations -- are excellent tools for helping audiences feel comfortable about pursuing change.  They help audiences understand and visualize complex and abstract information.  My favorite stories make the audience members the main characters in the world that the plan envisions.  ("Imagine you are walking down _________.  You see _______.  You hear _____."

-- Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Learn more:

Become a more effective communicator through Professional's Writing Studio.  This Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program course runs from March 10 to April 17, 2010.  (Missed this course?  Get updates on this and other courses.  Go to the Professional Development Institute website to sign up for updates. 

If you have a professional development tip you'd like to share, please send your tip to Leo.  Please also give us your full name, title and affiliation, so we can give you proper credit.

Getting to the point: An exercise

Busy people have little time to read and listen.  You want to get their attention?  Present your best arguments quickly, clearly and concisely.

Here's an exercise that can help.  You will need a large index card, a small index card, and a smaller sheet of paper (such as a 3x3 square).

First, write down everything you want to say on a regular sheet of paper.  Use as many sheets as you'd like.  (If you don't want to write something new, use something already prepared, such as a memo.)

Now write it again, on the larger index card.  Use one side only.  You have less space; think about what's most important.  (No fair writing in a smaller size.)

Now write it again, on the smaller index card.  Use one side only.

On the smallest piece of paper, write down the "key" words or phrases that you most want your audience to remember.

For an added challenge, try to write a headline for what you wrote on the small index card.  A headline is typically is one sentence that presents the key facts of the entire article.  (Check out headlines in your favorite newspaper or news site for inspiration.)

What you prepared on the smaller index card is your "elevator speech."  It may also serve as the executive summary of your memo or report.  On the smallest piece of paper are the key words and concepts that you would want to emphasize in any longer presentation.
   

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

Do you have a professional development tip you would like to share?  Have a question that you would like to see answered here?  Please send it to Leo at vazquezl@rutgers.edu

Dealing with writer's block

It happens to all of us. You have great ideas and a lot of data. You go to your computer, put your hands on the keyboard, stare and the screen and... nothing.

Before you walk away in frustration, try this:
*Talk as you type. You may find it easier to put the words together if you feel like you're talking to someone.

*Pretend you're talking to a supportive but skeptical person. Here's what the person might ask:
-- Why is what you're writing about important?
-- Why should I care about it? How does it affect me?
-- (If you're asking for action) What do you want me/him/her/them to do? When?
-- What information do you have to support your arguments?
-- Do you have any charts, images or other graphics that might help convince or persuade me?

Another good tip: The best way to become a better writer is to write more often. Writing is like exercising; the more you do it, the easier it becomes, and the more you can do.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP