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.

Planning for success in and through a BOCEP Deep Learning class

BOCEP Deep Learning classes offer a lot: Resources, good discussions with professionals, opportunities to test your knowledge.  To get the most of the class, with the least stress, it helps to get into good learning habits.  Here's how:

1.  When you're in the class, avoid the temptation to check email, answer the phone, or do other things that would make you lose your focus.  Multitasking may be fine for simple things, but BOCEP Deep Learning courses are complex.

2.  Schedule time for yourself throughout the week to work on your class.  Of course you're going to get busy and deal with unexpected work or family matters. But the better you can schedule yourself -- and keep to it -- the better your experience will be.  Here's a sample:

• Friday: Review upcoming assignments and readings
• Saturday/Sunday: Read materials for class that week
• Monday: Read the lectures and questions from the instructor; think about your answer and start working on week's assignment
• Tuesday: Respond to the first set of questions
• Wednesday: Check class to see other responses; reply
• Thursday: Respond to next set of questions
• Friday: Check for responses and reply; complete assignment; review upcoming assignments and readings

Most BOCEP learners spend between three and seven hours per week on their course, including reading and assignments.  (Please note: If you are taking a course for Certification Maintenance credit, you are ethically obligated to spend at least 14 hours overall in the class.)

3. Think of yourself as part of a learning team, and know that as you help yourself, you help your colleagues.  Many of us are taught to think of learning as an individual effort.  As a result, some people think it's no big deal when they stop participating in discussions.  But it is important.  Not only do you learn more by sharing your ideas, you give fresh perspectives to colleagues, who learn from you. 

4. Remember that the more you put into the class, the more you get out of it.  Yes, it would be a lot easier to sit in the back of a room watching a PowerPoint presentation.  But if you take the easy way out, you will learn only a fraction of what you can learn in a BOCEP Deep Learning class.

If you can master these techniques, you'll see benefits beyond the class.  These time and focus management skills are what help make professionals more effective and influential.

--Leonardo  Vazquez, AICP/PP

Measuring human needs for placemaking practice

This essay is designed to help you put into practice the principles of human needs placemaking. 

Before we do, let's recap:
Based on various psychological theories, there are four types of human needs:

• Physiological needs -- Food, safety, shelter and the necessities for survival
• Relational needs -- Connections to other people and groups who will support and nurture the individual
• Self-actualization needs -- The desire to "be all you can be" as an individual and to have independence and recognition.
• Environmental needs -- The desire to be in aesthetically pleasing environments, such as (for some) areas with a lot of greenery.

Everyone wants all four of their needs met.  How much is "enough?" All individuals have their own standards, which they may or may not be able to express clearly to placemakers.  The bottom line -- No placemaking effort can make everyone equally happy.  (In fact, because placemaking efforts involve some change, whoever is benefiting from the status quo is going to be, at a minimum, inconvenienced.)

But though we can never reach the horizon, we can walk towards it and use milestones to measure our efforts.  Here's how.

In surveys:

Imagine that all four needs are a continuum between "hell" (complete absence of a need) and "heaven" (complete satisfaction).  You can use a range to mark the continuum.  (Try using a range that's easy to understand, such as 1-10 or  "Strongly agree to Strongly disagree"

Ask plain language questions that relate to the needs.  For example, if you asked "How well are your safety needs being met," you'll probably get some blank stares.  Instead, ask something like "How safe is it to walk at night in the neighborhood?"

It's unlikely that everyone's needs are met entirely within their own communities.  If you ask, "Are there enough social groups for you in your community?" you will find out about the availability of social groups in a limited area -- not whether the person's relational needs are unmet.  A better question would be: "Do you have easy access to social groups of your liking?"

Asking about access is important because children and seniors who can no longer drive, as well as people who don't own cars, have much more limited access than older teens and adults.  Also, people who prefer not to drive, such as those living in downtowns or city centers, may expect that things should be more accessible by foot or public transit.

So it is also important to get key demographic information -- such as age, gender, ethnicity, and income --   to see if there are significant differences between the satisfaction levels of groups. 

In focus groups and interviews:

These settings call for open-ended questions.  (Save all of your limited choice questions for surveys.) 

1. Ask respondents to say what they would like to see more or less of.  
2. Then ask why what they said was the first thing to come to mind.  (The 'gut response' tends to reveal more about the person's values and concerns.  The longer people have to think about a question, the more likely they are to give you the kind of answer they think you want.) 
3. Ask respondents to talk about what they would trade off.  This will help you understand their heirarchy of needs.  For example, if respondents are complaining about public safety and high costs, ask them if they would be willing to have fewer police and firefighters if it meant lowering their property taxes.  The answer can tell you what the more critical needs are in the community.

As with surveys, pay attention to the differences in responses from people of different ages, genders, ethnicities or work status.

An example:

Here's a portion of an actual survey being conducted for a community plan in New Jersey.  This survey is part of a complex needs assessment, which includes focus groups and one-to-one interviews.

	Strongly agree	Agree	No strong opinion	Disagree	Strongly disagree
I feel safe walking in this neighborhood. (physiological needs)
I feel safe walking on my street at night, by myself. (physiological needs)
It is safe for young people to walk around in this neighborhood. (physiological needs)
I can walk to buy what I need (groceries, household supplies). (physiological needs)
I have easy access to services my family or I need (such as banks and doctors. (physiological needs)
I have easy access to job opportunities.  (physiological and self-actualization needs)
I have easy access to places for me or my family to play or relax. (environmental needs)
The schools in this neighborhood are good. (self-actualization needs)

Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

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Learn better placemaking skills through The Leading Institute and Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program

Economic development for job growth? Size matters -- but not in the way you think

A lot of economic development activities today assumes that bigger is better. That's why ED departments spend millions of dollars at trade shows trying to lure large firms to their cities, elected officials approve tax abatements for big projects, and redevelopment planners try to connect and clear small lots to make room for big companies.

But smaller may actually be better when it comes to economic development that generates jobs.  A team of economists studying metropolitan areas throughout the United States between 1977 and 2000 found that areas with more small firms tend to have more job growth.  "A 10% increase in the number of firms per worker in 1977 at the city level correlates with a 9% increase in employment growth between 1977 and 2000," write Edward Glaeser, William Kerr and Giacomo Ponzetto in their article, "Clusters of Entrepreneurship."  Other key ideas and findings:

*Having a greater percentage of large firms actually reduces entrepreneurship.
*Low costs help increase entrepreneurship, but a region's amenities play a big role in the creation of firms.
*Entrepreneurs are more likely to be from the area where they create their business, and "local entrepreneurs operate stronger businesses." (p. 151)
*Places with a greater share of college educated workers tend to have more entrepreneurs.
*Entrepreneurs are attracted to places with a larger share of small businesses.
*Start-ups and small businesses are more likely to be labor-intensive than capital-intensive.  That is, they are likely to have more workers per square foot.

There's not much practical advice in their article, but there are several implications for our fields.  Planners and economic development professionals should:

• Create a more welcoming climate for entrepreneurs by promoting business assistance and micro-entrepreneurship programs and preserving clusters of small spaces for start-ups.  In other words, think of downtown development with one-stop business centers.  "Small, decentralized suppliers and customers are more helpful or important for new startups than for expansions of established firms." (p. 161)
• Support initiatives that encourage networking among business people, and encourage leaders of business associations and clubs to be welcoming to new entrepreneurs from outside the community.  The research indicates the power of connections in building successful enterprises.  People who grow up in an area are more likely to know and have friendships with others in the community, making it easier for them to engage in partnerships.  But some places can become insular, especially if a new group of residents is seen as a threat to existing residents.  In other words, if you see a growing population of _______, and nobody from that group is in the local business association, it's a problem.
• Focus on the quality of place.  The research supports the idea that the more desirable a place is to live, work or play in, the more high-value workers and entrepreneurs it attracts.  In other words, a nice waterfront park might do more to generate jobs than a tax abatement. 
• Promote workforce development strategies that increase the number and percentage of college-educated or career-ready people in a community.  Knowledge economy businesses need skilled workers the same way farmers need fertile land.  Workforce development and quality of place solutions should go hand-in-hand.  People who are more skilled and educated have more choices, and you want them to choose to stay in your community.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Bloustein Online Continuing Education Program offers two Professional Certificate programs in economic development:  Cultural Planning and Development, and Economic and Community Development.  The Leading Institute's Leading from the Middle program can help you be more persuasive and effective in working with stakeholders and officials to promote job-generating economic development.  Learn more and find out about upcoming courses.

More sophisticated ways to use a team calendar

Many groups and organizations whose members use shared calendars.  They can be a great tool to keep busy team members informed, especially if the members aren't often in the same place at the same time.  But having a team calendar is not enough to keep everyone 'on the same page.'   Here are some tips, based on our experience, for making a calendar work better for your goals.

The Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute together are a combination of retail-oriented continuing education center, technical assistance provider and research center with three team members and a project list that runs eight pages. We use a shared calendar (in our case Google Calendars).  Here's what works for us:

• Use a calendar that any team member can access through the Internet.  If team members having to be out of the office often for research, consulting or business development, having to go back to the office to check on others' availability is stressful.
• Get everyone to want to use a shared calendar.  Although the benefits may seem obvious, be aware that using a common calendar will inconvenience members who are partial to their own system.  (Also, a shared calendar make some people who are insecure about their status in the team feel even less empowered.)  Respect the individuals' preferences but make them responsible for sharing their information with their teammates.  Get into the habit of checking the calendar, rather than with individuals, when scheduling important meetings and activities. This creates a greater incentive to use the calendar.
• Encourage team members to post times when they do not want to be available as if they were meetings.  For example, I try to reserve the first few hours of the morning to catch up on emails, organize my day, and be creative.  
• Encourage team members to note their tasks as if they were scheduled meetings.  This will help managers and team members know what everyone is working on.  How much time do you spend in meetings just catching up?  When you see how team members are spending their time, you can get a better sense of how the project is progressing. Team members who may be skeptical of someone's contributions can see what that person is doing. As a fan of David Allen's organizing ideas, I schedule my tasks on the calendar the way I would meetings.  I find it helps me get things done better and with less stress.
• Use codes to let team members know if meetings or other activities can be moved.  At PDI-TLI, we use these codes:
• MV: Event or activity is scheduled, but can be moved.  
• TNT: Event is tentative (such as when you are holding several dates open while waiting for others to confirm their schedules.)
• _________ in (location):  This allows the calendar to be used as an in/out board.
• Make the use of a shared calendar part of the ethics of team work.  If your teammate is spending time trying to match your schedule with others, you are creating unnecessary work and stress for that person. 
• If you can't get the entire organization, department or division to use a shared calendar, start using it with trusted team members.  Then market your success to encourage others to use the calendar.

--Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP

The Professional Development Institute and The Leading Institute offer a number of courses and programs to help you become a more effective manager and leader.  Consider getting a Professional Certificate in Leadership and Professional Practice; taking a Deep Learning course in project management, business development, and leadership; or building your leadership skills through Leading from the Middle.