Dealing With Problem Group Members

You will usually find your university teammates as interested in learning as you are. Occasionally, however, you may encounter a person who creates difficulties. This handout is meant to give you practical advice for this type of situation.

Oakley, Barbara. University of New Mexico (2002). Articles>Collaboration

Democracy, Deliberation and Design: The Case of Online Discussion Forums    

Within democratic theory, the deliberative variant has assumed pre-eminence. It represents for many the ideal of democracy, and in pursuit of this ideal, online discussion forums have been proposed as solutions to the practical limits to mass deliberation. Critics have pointed to evidence which suggests that online discussion has tended to undermine deliberation. This article argues that this claim, which generates a stand-off between the two camps, misses a key issue: the role played by design in facilitating or thwarting deliberation. It argues that political choices are made both about the format and operation of the online discussion, and that this affects the possibility of deliberation. Evidence for the impact of design (and the choices behind it) is drawn from analysis of European Union and UK discussion forums. This evidence suggests that we should view deliberation as dependent on design and choice, rather than a predetermined product of the technology.

Wright, Scott and John Street. New Media and Society (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Online

Designating User Communities for Scientific Data: Challenges and Solutions    

Defining a 'designated user community' for a data collection is essential to good scientific data stewardship. It enables data managers to determine what information is necessary to ensure the usability of the data now and into the future. It helps managers present and enable access to the data and may determine the format of the data. However, defining a community is difficult, and it is impossible to predict how the use of a data collection may change over time. This creates a series of data management problems for data stewards that may be mitigated by a set of best practices.

Parsons, M.A. and R. Duerr. Data Science Journal (2005). Articles>Communication>Scientific Communication>Collaboration

Designing Lotus Notes Databases for Global Collaboration  

Notes databases can provide versatile environments for developing and sharing knowledge globally through both client-based and Web-based applications. In this panel discussion we explore some of the issues facing information designers as they enable communication and collaboration in work groups. We will focus on how to determine if Notes is an optimal solution, how to translate information needs into effective design elements and functionalities in Notes, and how we can help ease the transition to the world of Notes for new users.

Knodel, Elinor L., Donald J. Green and Faye Smith. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Databases

Developing a Document Planning Template  

Explains how a document planning template can establish consensus among team members regarding content and layout.

Tremmel, Martina A. Intercom (2004). Articles>Document Design>Document Design>Collaboration

Do Groups Know What They Don't Know? Dealing With Missing Information in Decision-Making Groups    

Although scholars have examined how individuals deal with information that is unavailable on decision-making tasks, little research has explored how groups deal with missing information. The present study proposes two ways groups can address information that is unavailable: by employing a diminished information set or by inferring the value of missing information. Both of these approaches are tested using an information sharing task. Groups are compared with information unavailable to any member, available but unshared among group members (i.e., hidden profile), and available and shared among all group members. Evidence indicates that group members may utilize both strategies to deal with missing information.

Henningsen, David Dryden and Mary Lynn Miller Henningsen. Visual Communication (2007). Articles>Knowledge Management>Collaboration

Documenting Contributory Expertise: The Value Added by Technical Communicators in Collaborative Writing Situations     

Technical communicators frequently collaborate in workplace projects and bring a host of different kinds of expertise to this collaboration. Yet the understanding of communicators’ expertise among managers and subject matter experts is grounded in a view of writing as a finished product and authorship as singular. This article documents many different kinds of 'contributory expertise' employed by writers collaborating to produce articles for publication. Expertise in research, textual composition, visual composition, as well as other kinds of expertise garnered on previous projects is often brought to collaborative projects. Often emerging and developing as a function of collaborative work is expertise in framing the project, conducting review processes, and assessing outcomes. These categories are discussed in some detail to provide practicing communicators with ideas for documenting expertise in their specific workplaces, to provide students with ideas for developing expertise in various areas, and to prov

Henry, Jim. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Writing>Collaboration>SMEs

Does Communication Everywhere Improve Communication?

As much we think we are multitaskers, there's a limit to what we can process. How has technology's enabling of communication anywhere and everywhere affected us in the context of traditional activities? How do they interplay with each other?

Cheng, Kevin. OK-Cancel (2005). Articles>Technology>Wireless Web>Collaboration

Does Computer-Mediated Collaboration Really Improve Group Communication? Our General Findings

As companies continue to expand world-wide, effective communication among project teams and employees becomes a serious challenge. This has not only made it a necessity for businesses to share information electronically, but has also made it essential for organizations to promote team learning and innovation through group collaboration.  In fact, as we all know, it is common for business to interact and conduct group seminars in several countries, all at once, via the Internet. For example, several years ago Hewlett Packard conducted collaborative seminars in traditional classrooms.  Now however they focus almost exclusively on instructions via an interactive electronic network.  As Susan Burnett, of Hewlett Packard points out, 'we are constantly pushing to blur the lines between learning and doing the job' by using information technology (Perelman, 1994, p. 88).

Bernard, Michael, Ta-Tao Chuang and Shahid Ali. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Collaboration

The Domino Effect: Changes Have Unforeseen Consequences

It's obvious that almost all the changes you make will affect your user community, but considerably less obvious how helpful that community can be about providing feedback before you make the changes.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (2000). Articles>Technology>Collaboration

Don't Feed the Subject Matter Experts

I found myself wondering; was there any statistically significant relationship between feeding and cooperation?

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>Collaboration

E-Journal Subscription Consortia    

The advent of e-publishing has brought a revolution in journal publication, subscription, access, and delivery. Print journals' publishing costs include high article processing costs, and high production and marketing costs. E-journal production and access costs are increasing due to the rising cost of infrastructure, customer support, IT savvy human resources, etc. While these costs form the base, other pricing factors include the number of nodes, multiple campuses, an access mode, training, perpetual access, etc. Dwindling library budgets and the growing number of journals force libraries to form consortia for accessing e-journals. The old concept of 'consortium' is a strategic alliance of institutions having common interests.

B.A., Rajeev and Jayaprakash S. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Publishing>Collaboration

E-Mail Tutoring, A New Way To Do New Work  

Although writing centers have used computers for over a decade now, they have used them primarily in autotutorials (computer-assisted instruction) and word processing. These applications reflect the influence of the process movement in composition studies and the writing center's commitment to the individual writer. Yet as the field moves towards the social in its scholarship and its writing technologies, writing centers might look towards e-mail to seek out new forms of tutor-student collaboration. The essay describes an experiment with e-mail tutoring and explores implications of new working conditions for online tutors.

Coogan, David. Computers and Composition (1995). Articles>Collaboration>Writing

Easing Into Agile Modeling

Agile modeling started out fairly complex and it grew a bit into its current form.

Ambler, Scott W. Agile Modeling (2006). Articles>Project Management>Agile>Collaboration

Editing a Moving Target

I'd like to assume that most of us find ourselves having to edit a moving target only occasionally, but from the horror stories I've been hearing, it seems that more and more people are being expected to edit well in a ridiculously short time.

Stoughton, Mary. Editorial Eye, The (1997). Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Educate Your Stakeholders!

Who decides what's best for a website? Highly skilled professionals who work with the site's users and serve as their advocates? Or schmucks with money? Most often, it's the latter. That's why a web designer's first job is to educate the people who hold the purse strings.

Diffily, Shane. List Apart, A (2007). Articles>Web Design>Collaboration

Educating the Clueless

Educating your boss and co-workers about what we do for them on the company Intranet can be a major headache or it can be a fun-filled, creative exercise. It is our choice.

Burns, Barbara. Wise-Women (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Technology

The Effect of Technological Innovation on Organizational Structure: Two Case Studies of the Effects of the Introduction of a New Technology on Informal Organizational Structures    

This article looks at how two offices changed their informal work relationships and patterns in response to a major technological innovation in their field. This inductive study involves a cross-case analysis with field studies covering a two-year period. The research applies the models suggested by social action theory to help explain outcomes. By the end of this study, one office had lost its funding and was eliminated, while the other has survived and grown. The article examines whether the differing organizational responses to new core technology were related to each office's ability to survive.

Kahn, Russell L. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2000). Articles>Workplace>Technology>Collaboration

Effective Delegating Achieves Results

If you are not delegating properly, you are making your own life more difficult. In turn, your subordinates suffer because their interests and talents are being overlooked, however unintentionally.

Laurent, J. Suzanna. Tieline (2007). Articles>Management>Collaboration>STC

Effective Interviewing: Get the Story  

In this article, Geoffrey Hart offers the following tips on how to interview a subject matter expert (SME) for reliable, comprehensive, timely information:

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2000). Articles>Interviewing>Collaboration

The Effects of Favor and Apology on Compliance    

This study was designed to test the effects of favor and apology on compliance and to explain any potential effect via indebtedness, gratitude, and liking. Two experiments were devised to accomplish these ends. In the first experiment favor and apology were varied in the absence of a transgression to see if apologizing for not providing a favor can be used proactively to increase compliance. In the second experiment favor and apology were varied in a more common scenario, following a transgression. Results show that favor has a positive effect on compliance mediated by gratitude when using a general prosocial request and by liking when using a more altruistic request. Results also suggest that apology has a positive effect on liking and that apology has an indirect effect on compliance under certain conditions.

Goei, Ryan, Anthony Roberto, Gary Meyer and Kellie Carlyle. Written Communication (2008). Articles>Collaboration

The Effects of Shared Cognition on Group Satisfaction and Performance: Politeness and Efficiency in Group Interaction    

This study investigates the effects of shared cognition on group member satisfaction and group task performance. The hypotheses are that groups who have shared cognition concerning communication rules, such as politeness and efficiency, will be more satisfied with their group processes and will perform a task better than will those in groups lacking shared cognition concerning communication rules. The research involved 67 groups (N = 236) performing a radio assembly task for 20 minutes. Group members in the shared cognition condition received the same instructions to communicate politely (or efficiently). In the non-shared cognition condition, some members in a group received instructions to communicate politely and other members in the same group received instructions to communicate efficiently. The data are consistent with the part of the hypothesis relating to satisfaction but not to the one relating to performance.

Park, Hee Sun. Communication Research (2008). Articles>Collaboration

Elephants in the Living Room: The Destructive Role of Denial in Web Design

Four of your fellow development team members, all trying to do their specific jobs to the best of their abilities, have the power to sink your best effort at interaction design. As an interaction designer, it is your job to see they don't do so. (If you are not an interaction designer, read on anyway; you may be surprised to learn that you may be part of the problem.)

Tognazzini, Bruce. Nielsen Norman Group (2000). Articles>Web Design>User Interface>Collaboration

Eleven Commandments for Conducting a Business Meeting  

In response to Gary M. Smith's article 'Eleven Commandments for Business Meeting Etiquette,' which focuses on the conduct of those attending meetings, Sullivan presents eleven rules for the organizers and speakers of meetings.

Sullivan, Christine A. Intercom (2000). Articles>Management>Collaboration

The End of E-Mail

It's supposed to make life easier, but e-mail has become a big pain. Enter the wiki, new software that could change the way you communicate.

Dahl, Darren. Inc. Magazine (2006). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email