Overview

Determine your purpose.
Identify both your objectives for the assignment. Be clear about what you want your audience to do as a result of reading or hearing your message.

Formulate an outline and determine an organizational format.
Identify and analyze the major components of the project. You also might want to agree on subject headings and format.

Choose a team leader.
Define the team leader’s role and responsibilities. The team leader has the extra responsibility of coordinating the team members’ activities and organizing the project. This needs to be someone who will hold each member accountable for components of the project and meeting deadlines. The team leader should also be responsible for taking the collaborated writing and publishing, posting or dare I say...printing the final copy in the appropriate format.

Assign writing tasks and other duties.
Decide who will be responsible for gathering information, conducting research, producing the document, distributing copies, etc. Decide whether to use a single writer or multiple writers. If you use multiple writers, assign the different parts of the project.

Decide on the central location of the writing.
Store all writing in a location that can be accessed at anytime by anyone in the group. Select a location that has the potential for chatting with group members before editing is conducted. We will demonstrate three major sites that can hold and support collaborative writing: Google, wikispaces and pads.

Establish and post a schedule of deadlines for drafts and revisions.
Schedule the first deadline fairly early in the writing process to make certain everyone is on the right track. Because a missed deadline by one person can hold up the entire project, encourage everyone to meet the deadlines, even if they must submit imperfect copy. All writing is valuable.

Establish editing responsibilities and procedure.
Decide whether to use a single editor or a group of editors. Using a single editor makes it easier to achieve a consistent tone and style throughout the document. Using multiple editors offers the advantages of diverse perspectives and collective judgment.

Either way, define the editor’s role. There are three types of editors that can be assigned: (1) a copy editor for typos, spelling, and grammar only, or (2) a style editor for consistency in style and format only, or (3) an analytic editor for strategy and content changes. Also, determine a procedure for circulating copy and incorporating the suggested revisions. It may be a good procedure to have all group members agree or discuss a revision before it is made. New versions should be posted by a certain time so that members have sufficient time to read and suggest changes.

Expect some disagreement and conflict.
To succeed in collaborative writing, "Collaborating means compromising." Mary Munter, //A Guide to Managerial Communication// Need an objective or reason for Collaborative writing...check out 1 of these 44 benefits for Collaborative Learning.

//**//Tips from "//Tips for successful collaborative writing//." Blog by Stephen Wilbers