#19794
The Fallacies of Collaboration: A Critique of Group Work in Technical Communication Pedagogy 
Collaboration through group writing assignments has become an accepted standard activity in most technical communication textbooks and classrooms. Some of the commonly-held fallacies connected with the view of collaboration’s benefits over individual efforts are that it produces better products, creates an equitable distribution of work, and provides greater motivation. It is also erroneously assumed that the success of collaboration depends on the study and effective practice of the principles of group dynamics and that collaborative techniques can accurately simulate “real life” readers and workplace experiences. Further research in group dynamics is required to accurately assess the value of group work in classroom settings.
Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Collaboration
#29899
In 2002, the Orlando Chapter of STC initiated a new competition to encourage local area and employer recognition of excellence in technical communication. In establishing the award, the Orlando Chapter increased its dialog with employers, helped raised the visibility of the profession in the area, honored its founder and its continuing relationship with a local university, and increased its level of service to chapter members. This paper describes the objectives established for the award program, how it was judged, and how the chapter benefited from its creation.
Fellure, Alicia, Mike Murray and W.C. Wiese. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>STC
#29900
This workshop explores the creative use of humor as a de-stressor in the often deadline-driven, pressure-filled world of technical communication, while also addressing the inherent risks involved with this strategy. Three specific techniques involving metaphor, psychology, and incongruity are exemplified in the opening presentation. Participants then form teams to apply these techniques and other strategies to relieve stress in volatile business/technical scenarios.
Voss, Daniel W. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Workplace
#24030
The only way to effect true transformation in the workplace is to enlist the outliers in your organization to your cause. Find the weirdos and the freaks, offer support for the projects they're secretly pursuing, then get them to help you with your own revolutionary change ideas.
Bailie, Rahel Anne. Intentional Design Inc. (2004). Articles>TC>Collaboration
#30702
This article reports a case study of three multinational companies that work together in a consortium, focusing on intercompany and intracompany variation in writing products and processes. The authors discuss variation in two genres: meeting minutes and internal memos. Adopting a social constructionist, communities of practice (CofP) approach, they argue that the companies form overarching constellations of CofP. Although the participants broadly work with the same genres of written documents, the form of these documents varies according to the local context, audience, and purpose. The authors discuss the implications of their findings, with particular reference to the difficulty writers face when they make the transition from writing for one community of practice to writing for another.
Angouri, Jo and Nigel Harwood. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration
#13686
We are going to examine the similarity between a well-functioning body and a thriving team. Specifically we’ll look be looking at balance, coordination, and growth. There are enough parallels in these three categories to show how when a team is treated the same way we treat our bodies we end up with similar results.
Ferrari, Tiffany. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Collaboration>Management
#23429
Time-Consuming Email Communications
Our documentation and advertising bureau mails five emails with attachments on the average per day to different customers, partners and other service organisations. The sizes of the attachments vary roughly from 50 KB up to 2 MB. About 60% of our emails with attachments don't create any problems with the addressee. However, 40% need additional attention. This fraction causes communication problems.
Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Collaboration>Correspondence>Email
#12936
Tips for Attending Conferences 
First, determine what you want to gain from the conference. Are you looking to gain new knowledge in specific topic areas? Are you looking to gain as much new information as possible? Are you primarily attending to network with new people? Are you looking to find a new job or investigate relevant services? Maybe some or all of these reasons? Determine what your goals are.
Ray, Deborah S. TECHWR-L (2000). Articles>Collaboration
#25599
Negotiation is a part of life, though we may not always think of it in conscious terms. Although this article is written from the perspective of a consultant bidding on a project, the concepts of negotiation apply to many situations where you are trying to reach agreement with someone.
Snyder, Carolyn. Usability Professionals Association (2005). Articles>Collaboration
#31938
Tips for Tech Writers Interviewing Engineers: Building a Strong Relationship with Developers
Outside of the formal SME interview, a writer's relationship with engineers and experts is built on trust, respect, and a little bit of bribery.
Bryant, Stephanie. Suite101 (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Interviewing>SMEs
#19717
Together Everyone Achieves More!
The highest priority for team members is achieving the team’s goals. There may be team members who have strong personalities, possess highly specialized skills, and commit themselves to a variety of personal objectives—but the most important thing is the success of the group. To function effectively, members of a team must be flexible, trust one another, and wholeheartedly support every member of the group in its progress toward achieving its goals.
Laurent, J. Suzanna. STC Central Iowa (2001). Articles>Collaboration>TC
#30106
Tools for Distributed Development
When it comes to working on distributed teams or one with global development partners spread around the world, you need to use every tool you can to make interaction easier.
Mawdsley, Jason. Dr. Dobb's (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Technology
#30255
Top Ten Worst Things SMEs Say or Do
In this podcast, I interview Brenda Huettner about strategies for overcoming the top 10 Worst Things Subject Matter Experts Say or Do.
Huettner, Brenda P. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>Interviews>Collaboration>SMEs
#19870
A Total Team Approach to Success
We have had a very positive experience with a total team approach to accomplishing our business objectives. In our case, at the IBM Software Solutions Programming Laboratory (in Cary, NC, until March 1995, and now in Research Triangle Park), the business objectives are to produce successful software products. But the total team approach is not limited to a particular product or service. Total teams can help you improve the way multiple groups in your organization work together—to increase customer satisfaction through improved quality and speed of delivery, increase productivity, decreasc costs, and even improve morale.
Allen, Pam, Morris Dean, Sharon L. Hayes and Gina Poole. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Management>Collaboration
#30728
The inferences individuals make about others' goals is an integral, but neglected, aspect of empirical and theoretical work on social interaction. An original theoretical framework is proposed to account for interindividual agreement and certainty of goal inferences. Two experiments applied the framework to explain how contextual ambiguity and tactical functionality affected agreement and certainty. Results generally support hypotheses regarding agreement, such that goal inferences converged (i.e., interobserver agreement increased) as the context and tactic became more compatible, yet results largely do not support hypotheses for inference certainty, as the only significant effect that emerged was that certainty was higher in unambiguous than ambiguous contexts. A reconsideration of the theoretical framework on goal detection is discussed and implications are advanced.
Palomares, Nicholas A. Communication Research (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Rhetoric
#23572
Training Options and Team-Oriented Techniques
After instituting training programs requiring 10 to 20 percent of every person's work week, Motorola reported that plants reinforcing the training received a $33 dollar return on investment for every dollar spent. The demand for training in new computer applications is growing. Selecting computer training options requires (1) an analysis of cost to benefits and (2) teamwork for preparing the materials and delivering the training. Some training techniques that work include knowledge mapping, pilot testing, and team training.
Feinberg, Susan G. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Collaboration
#27270
Intercultural experts offer their insights about working with colleagues from specific cultures. Included is a table presenting various cultural differences that communicators may experience.
Pejovic, Jean and Marie-Louise Desfray Beaujouan. Intercom (2006). Articles>Collaboration>International
#23463
Transferability of Long File Names
If you use Win95, NT, Mac, or any other operating system that allows long file names, are you aware of the problems that can arise when files are transferred to Win 3.11 or DOS? The problems particularly affect files that have long file names in which the first eight characters are the same, e.g. 'minutes of 20 Sept meeting' and 'minutes of 14 Nov meeting'. The problem arises as soon as a file is opened in an operating system that allows only eight characters in the file name, suffix excluded.
Gärdegard, Karin. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Operating Systems>Microsoft Windows
#29902
Transforming Your Career: Contributing Strategically to Your Company or Client
If the technology 'bubble' and the subsequent economic slowdown have demonstrated nothing else, we are more aware than ever of the need to change with the times, redefine ourselves, and ensure that we're demonstrating maximum value to our company and clients. In the context of the current economy, the more value you can demonstrate, the more likely you will be employed. This paper briefly describes a model for contribution within a technical communication career and provides specific and practical advice for moving toward the most valued, strategic contributions.
Ames, Andrea L. and Susan M. Jensen. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Management
#29698
Transforming Your Chapter through Corporate Bingo
As a chapter President, starting the Transformation process can seem a daunting task. Once you have the committee in place, directing its efforts can leave you with even more questions. Not sure what to do next? Look to the corporate Bingo card to help set your course. While the blocks of the corporate Bingo card generate chuckles, smiles, and even more jokes, it also provides direction, guidance, and some thought-provoking considerations for your chapter's transformation.
Guess, Suzanne. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>STC
#19200
An hypothetical example of interpersonal communication issues which may arise in the workplace.
#25569
Trust and Zeal in Open Source Advocacy
People who are unfamiliar with open source generally don't like evangelists--at all. This is particularly true for managers who may take the same disdain to evangelists that they take to salespeople and marketers.
Bacon, Jono. O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Open Source
#24196
Many of us (myself included) get caught up in our day-to-day work and forget the value that comes with meeting people face to face. I was reminded of the importance of these meetings in January, when I attended the STC-James River Chapter 2004 Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference sessions covered everything from intercultural technical communication to XML migration strategies. For me, the conference was an opportunity to find out what was on the minds of technical communicators in the area. As it turned out, some of those concerns related to the theme for this issue.
Martin, Maurice. Intercom (2004). Careers>Freelance>Collaboration
#24711
Two Time Zones Beat as One: A Model for International Project Management
Challenges abound when a documentation team is based in two countries, works with software developers in four countries, and produces documentation for use by engineers in many countries. Differences in language usage, cultural perspectives, time zones, holiday schedules, and educational backgrounds are only a few of the difficulties to overcome.
Auten, Kathlyn, Joan L. Kellogg and Sudha Seshadri. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Online
#27611
The UML Forum is web community dedicated to the Unified Modeling Language (UML), the industry-standard visual modeling language for specifying software-intensive systems. Here you can find information related to UML specifications, UML tools, UML books, UML papers, and UML mailing lists.
