"The outcome of collaboration can be no greater
than the input devoted to leveraging the strengths
of each member of the team."
—Harold Moses, Sr.
The following projects highlight skills acquired in coursework requiring significant input and cooperation from others. They include an award-winning print style guide created from scratch in Technical Style and Editing, which involved four students, a PowerPoint presentation in Theory of Technical Communication involving two students, a PowerPoint presentation with print backup produced in Advanced Business Communication, which involved two students, and a multimodal presentation with print backup involving four students also produced in Advanced Business Communication.
SKILLS, Inc. Style Manual
Creating this document from scratch for a private-sector employment agency in Technical Style and Editing involved the collaborative efforts of four students: Alora Crooms, Kelsey Caddy, Jarrett Franklin, and I. Although it was intended to be an editing project, for me, constructing the manual turned out to be much more. More than anything else, I learned a lot about the communication preference styles of my team mates as well as my own. Identifying the strengths of others helped me become a better team player and honed my collaborative skills.
As is typical in many workplace situations, we were required to work together on a project for a client, but the client and project would be of our own choosing. Since Alora was first to identify a client, she decided who she wanted on the team. Subsequently, she selected Kelsey, Jarrett, and me. With little else to go on other than the perceptions each of us had about one another’s work ethic, we embarked upon a semester-long trek of learning.
Based on my observations of them in class, I perceived the following:
I tend to be an action/content oriented communicator. That meant that in order for me to avoid conflicts with Alora (who’s also action oriented) and help the collaborative process run smoothly, I opted to resist the temptations of jumping to conclusions quickly, jumping ahead or finishing the thoughts of speakers, and taking too long a time to make judgments/decisions. And because I considered Kelsey and Jarrett to be people oriented, I tried to avoid coming across as seeming intrusive, being overly expressive when giving them feedback, and being drawn into (adopting) the emotional states of other team members.
The SKILLS Style Manual was adopted by our client; it won UALR’s Department of Rhetoric and Writing Workplace Writing Award in 2015; and, it has led to further collaborative projects with my teammates.
As is typical in many workplace situations, we were required to work together on a project for a client, but the client and project would be of our own choosing. Since Alora was first to identify a client, she decided who she wanted on the team. Subsequently, she selected Kelsey, Jarrett, and me. With little else to go on other than the perceptions each of us had about one another’s work ethic, we embarked upon a semester-long trek of learning.
Based on my observations of them in class, I perceived the following:
- Alora struck me as being an action/technology oriented communicator. She seemed focused and tech-savvy. I also got the impression that she doesn’t ramble off topic during meetings but gets straight to the point--
putting it naively mildly. This impression was confirmed as the editing project progressed. - Kelsey came across as a person who listens well, checks facts, and provides evidence supporting her claims, which are the qualities of a people/content oriented communicator. This was confirmed both while working with her on this project and also in a linguistics class where we collaborated on another project.
- Jarrett impressed me as a person who knows how to show you that he cares, knows how to smile, and knows how to stick to the agenda. These are the tell-tale signs of a people/action-oriented communicator. This was borne out both in and outside the classroom, especially during Jarret’s final PowerPoint presentation.
I tend to be an action/content oriented communicator. That meant that in order for me to avoid conflicts with Alora (who’s also action oriented) and help the collaborative process run smoothly, I opted to resist the temptations of jumping to conclusions quickly, jumping ahead or finishing the thoughts of speakers, and taking too long a time to make judgments/decisions. And because I considered Kelsey and Jarrett to be people oriented, I tried to avoid coming across as seeming intrusive, being overly expressive when giving them feedback, and being drawn into (adopting) the emotional states of other team members.
The SKILLS Style Manual was adopted by our client; it won UALR’s Department of Rhetoric and Writing Workplace Writing Award in 2015; and, it has led to further collaborative projects with my teammates.
Literature Review and Accompanying PowerPoint Presentation of Literacy Acquisition:
Blind and Visually Impaired Students
in Writing Composition Classes at the College Level
I have long wondered how someone totally blind from birth is able to make meaning to those of us with ocular vision, and whether ocular vision will someday become a thing of the past, or extinct. And after reading Kenneth Burke’s Terministic Screens theory and picking up on the allusions he makes about the role of sight in meaning making, I wanted to see whether his theory could be applied to the blind and visually impaired.
Creating these documents in Theory of Technical Communication involved the efforts of my son, Harold, Jr., and me. The project was both personal and professional for me. Inspired by the collaborative experience I had had in Technical Style and Editing, and filled with the knowledge I had gained, I felt ready for a new challenge. Collaborating effectively with family members in the workplace is becoming increasingly popular, and I believe it is the litmus test for success. The proof is indeed in the “put-in.” It requires a keen sense of when to mix business with pleasure—and when to separate the two.
This was the very first time my son and I had ever collaborated on any academic project, and we were hoping that the rewards would outweigh the challenges. Harold, Jr. is a people/technology oriented communicator. He notices moods in others quickly, responds timely to electronic communication, and provides clear verbal and nonverbal feedback signals. Because of this, he was largely responsible for the PowerPoint aspects. I only experimented with it here and there, making a few cosmetic changes as needed. Likewise, because of my familiarity with content, I was responsible for providing the content for the literature review, as well as providing the content for the accompanying PowerPoint presentation.
This collaboration produced an artifact that has received positive feedback from members of the blind and visually impaired community and lays the groundwork for future research.
Creating these documents in Theory of Technical Communication involved the efforts of my son, Harold, Jr., and me. The project was both personal and professional for me. Inspired by the collaborative experience I had had in Technical Style and Editing, and filled with the knowledge I had gained, I felt ready for a new challenge. Collaborating effectively with family members in the workplace is becoming increasingly popular, and I believe it is the litmus test for success. The proof is indeed in the “put-in.” It requires a keen sense of when to mix business with pleasure—and when to separate the two.
This was the very first time my son and I had ever collaborated on any academic project, and we were hoping that the rewards would outweigh the challenges. Harold, Jr. is a people/technology oriented communicator. He notices moods in others quickly, responds timely to electronic communication, and provides clear verbal and nonverbal feedback signals. Because of this, he was largely responsible for the PowerPoint aspects. I only experimented with it here and there, making a few cosmetic changes as needed. Likewise, because of my familiarity with content, I was responsible for providing the content for the literature review, as well as providing the content for the accompanying PowerPoint presentation.
This collaboration produced an artifact that has received positive feedback from members of the blind and visually impaired community and lays the groundwork for future research.
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Full-Sentence Outline for Jaya Raj and Harold Moses
These artifacts were created to fulfill part of an informative speech assignment in Advanced Business Communication. The assignment required that we collaborate with a partner and research a topic of mutual interest that could be developed into an informative speech. To accompany the speech, we were to construct a full-sentence outline to demonstrate effective use of PowerPoint as a visual aid. Support materials must come from at least three different sources. Each source must be included in APA style on the full-sentence outline.
The topic we selected was influenced by an article I copy edited for the JPNA 1(1) titled “A ’Dirty’ Approach to Efficient Revenue Forecasting” written by Bruce D. McDonald, III. In the article, McDonald presents research which suggests that factoring in non-traditional economic indicators in budget forecasts yields better, more efficient estimates of local government revenues and expenditures.
Collaborating with Raj on this project provided valuable learning experiences for me. From a cultural perspective, I learned how to respect, appreciate and negotiate cultural differences when collaborating. I knew that Raj’s communication preference style was people/content/technology oriented, as confirmed by a Communication Preference Profile survey he completed in class. People/content communicators tend to
Given our respective qualities, I provided the bulk of the content for both the full-sentence outline and the PowerPoint presentation. Both Raj and I participated and contributed to the layout of the PowerPoint presentation. Together, we were able to use technology to invent, refine, and make an effective presentation. Acquiring these skills will undoubtedly last me a lifetime.
The topic we selected was influenced by an article I copy edited for the JPNA 1(1) titled “A ’Dirty’ Approach to Efficient Revenue Forecasting” written by Bruce D. McDonald, III. In the article, McDonald presents research which suggests that factoring in non-traditional economic indicators in budget forecasts yields better, more efficient estimates of local government revenues and expenditures.
Collaborating with Raj on this project provided valuable learning experiences for me. From a cultural perspective, I learned how to respect, appreciate and negotiate cultural differences when collaborating. I knew that Raj’s communication preference style was people/content/technology oriented, as confirmed by a Communication Preference Profile survey he completed in class. People/content communicators tend to
- Look at all sides of an issue
- Manage technology effectively
- Be non-judgmental with relationships
- Welcome complex and challenging information
Given our respective qualities, I provided the bulk of the content for both the full-sentence outline and the PowerPoint presentation. Both Raj and I participated and contributed to the layout of the PowerPoint presentation. Together, we were able to use technology to invent, refine, and make an effective presentation. Acquiring these skills will undoubtedly last me a lifetime.
Full-Sentence Outline and SWAY Presentation Produced by Jill Williams, Jaya Raj, Rick Jiang, and Harold Moses
These artifacts were created to fulfill part of another informative speech assignment in Advanced Business Communication. The assignment required that we collaborate with three other partners and research a topic of mutual interest that could be developed into a persuasive speech. To accompany the speech, we were to construct a full-sentence outline to demonstrate effective use of SWAY as a visual aid.
The topic we selected was the offshoot of a presentation made earlier in the semester by Jill and Rick titled “Constant Contact: Marketing Analytics at Your Fingertips.” Our (imaginary) primary audience was intended to be unspecified end-users of Constant Contact. But our audience in fact consisted of the instructor and 29 other class members. The results of a Communication Preference Profile survey administered earlier in the semester revealed that the dominant communication preference profile of the audience (including the instructor) was people/action oriented. The survey also showed that
This observation suggested to me that in order to optimize our team’s persuasive talents, we needed to give Rick and Raj relatively larger roles in speaking and producing the presentation than Jill and me. That way, our presentation would come across more positively with our audience. And so, Jill and I collaborated closely to supply the written content of both the full-sentence outline and the SWAY presentation while Rick and Raj focused more on the SWAY layout and design. And to top it all off (as reflected in the full-sentence outline), Jill and I had shorter speaking roles than did Rick and Raj.
Collaborating in this presentation was yet another example of an experience that was both challenging, rewarding, and skill building.
The topic we selected was the offshoot of a presentation made earlier in the semester by Jill and Rick titled “Constant Contact: Marketing Analytics at Your Fingertips.” Our (imaginary) primary audience was intended to be unspecified end-users of Constant Contact. But our audience in fact consisted of the instructor and 29 other class members. The results of a Communication Preference Profile survey administered earlier in the semester revealed that the dominant communication preference profile of the audience (including the instructor) was people/action oriented. The survey also showed that
- Rick is a people/action oriented communicator
- Raj is a people/content oriented communicator
- Jill is an action/contend oriented communicator
This observation suggested to me that in order to optimize our team’s persuasive talents, we needed to give Rick and Raj relatively larger roles in speaking and producing the presentation than Jill and me. That way, our presentation would come across more positively with our audience. And so, Jill and I collaborated closely to supply the written content of both the full-sentence outline and the SWAY presentation while Rick and Raj focused more on the SWAY layout and design. And to top it all off (as reflected in the full-sentence outline), Jill and I had shorter speaking roles than did Rick and Raj.
Collaborating in this presentation was yet another example of an experience that was both challenging, rewarding, and skill building.