Collaborative Writing- Helpful or just Hassle?

How many of us can really say we haven’t worked in a team collaboratively, at one point or another to create a written document? These days it seems the majority of companies and institutions are always promoting team work to complete projects, business proposals or even just to socialise. At university especially within business degrees collaborative writing is encouraged, not only to allow students to illustrate their business knowledge on paper but also to become accustomed to writing in a team to fulfil a particular task-ready for the real world.

Lay and Karis (1991, p. 5) define collaborative writing as ‘that process in which authors with a differing expertise and responsibilities interact during the invention and revision of a common document’.

This concept of utilising each person’s expertise to create a clearly defined document can often lead to many benefits. I always hear the good old saying of: ‘10 heads are better than 1’, implying that a group soluton is more effective than an individual solution- but is this always true?

The famous researcher; Farkas (1991) determines collaborative writing is not only a form of writing but a form of human collaborative activity, which can often be carried out with little difficulty but at other times it can be a complex process. I am sure there have been several occasions when some of you have felt the frustration of group work- I definitely know I have! Not only is it time consuming to coordinate the group effectively but often conflict can arise within a team.


Farkas (1991, p. 15) determines six different factors that lead to the difficulty in collaborative writing:

1. Integrated documents are very complex artifacts

2. Process of preparing a document becomes more complex when performed collaboratively

3. Writing process generates strong emotion commitments

4. Documents are reworkable and are subject to infinite revision

5. Collaborative writers lack fully adequate terms and concepts to create a clear and precise common image of the document

6. It is difficult to predict or measure success

Some of these problems can be illustrated in the following example, when I had to work in a team at university to run a virtual company and collaboratively create a strategic business plan. Abstract 1 is the text I have written and Abstract 2 shows an edited version by a colleague.

Abstract 1



(Click on image to enlarge)

Abstract 2



(Click on image to enlarge)

Farkas (1991, p. 15) highlights complexity arises in collaborative writing when you have a longer document which ‘conveys larger amounts of information’. This document was a long proposal amongst five members, which caused more difficulty as we needed a consistent writing style across the board. Farkas (1991) explains by reworking a piece of text, it demonstrates my colleague was attempting to put her 'stamp on it', which left me feeling demoralised and frustrated. In conjunction with this, another problem is each person will often have a different perception of the common image of the document (Farkas, 1991). The font and style as well as use of a logo varies between the two texts and thus how I perceived the document was different to what my group member had in mind. In addition the conflict really came into play when each text uses a different strategy for the company, where I determine we will be using a ‘mass’ marketing approach, my colleague says we will be using a ‘targeted’ approach. By having two strategies it led to differences in way in which the business was run.


In my opinion, although the task was extensive, at times it would have been easier to complete individually. Conflict between people’s written skills are bound to prevail, since one person’s interpretation of a particular context will differ to another person’s. Thus it is important to note there is never a right or wrong way of writing or expressing a particular piece of writing.


Another impact, not covered in Farkas’ (1991) model is the concept of power relations which I believe has a strong impact on collaborative writing. How many times have you all come across that one dominant person in the group who feels a particular title or status gives them the right to impose their beliefs more strongly? My colleague was the Managing Director of the group and hence believed she had more of a right to impose her style of writing, despite that I was the Marketing Director.

These problematic areas bring me to the question: does collaborative writing cause more conflict or harmony when creating a written document?

References

1. Farkas, D.K. (1991) ‘Collaborative Writing, Software Development, and the Universe of CollaborativeActivity’. In Lay, M. M., & Karis, W. M. (Eds) (1991) Collaborative Writing in Industry: Investigations in Theory and Practice. New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc

2. Lay, M. M., & Karis, W. M. (Eds) (1991) Collaborative Writing in Industry: Investigations in Theory and Practice. New York: Baywood Publishing Company, Inc.