Virtual Collaboration Project: We have lift-off

We have taken the first steps on the virtual collaboration project journey. Contact was made, channels of communication were set up, and a team agreement was established. Team 6 is off to a good start.

Although in its very early stages, this project has already brought with it a range of learning experiences.

The Importance of (virtual) Interpersonal Skills

The team have all come across really well, introducing themselves and encouraging each other to participate. With nine people on the team, conversation and ideas are flowing and I already feel at ease with the positive attitude and friendliness on display. However, the size of the group (and the vast distance between us) brings its own difficulties.

We started our communication via e-mail and everyone seemed willing to participate and engage in conversation. We changed over to Slack (a collaborative tool) to continue the conversation and start making some concrete decisions. Getting everyone online at the same time has proved difficult, which is to be expected when the team is situated across three time zones.

A Reluctant Leader

Team leadership was the first decision we were eager make. However, nobody was as eager to volunteer for the role. While having a leader was not compulsory, it was strongly advised. I don’t believe I’m a natural leader by a long-shot, but I have some experience with leading teams and projects. I, somewhat reluctantly, stepped up.

Our first virtual meeting highlighted the need for a leader. The team agreement was on the agenda and a lot of decisions regarding roles, preferred technologies, and communication methods, had to be made. Overall, the meeting was a very positive experience, with each member bursting with ideas and willing to volunteer themselves for roles. However, this enthusiasm would, at times, spill over and messages were beginning to get lost in the conversation. Having a leader enabled the group to stay on task and ensure that everyone’s voice was heard; not an easy task with nine people participating in a very fast-paced chat. I am ashamed to say that I, on occasion, cut across somebody else’s idea because I had not seen it on time. However, I am not complaining about this apparent willingness to participate and eagerness to work together. I think it reflects well on the team as a whole.

By the end, we were satisfied with the decisions we had made. At one stage, a member commented on our strong ability to convey our ideas clearly and efficiently. Well, we are technical writers, after all.

Welcome

As this is my first post, I will introduce myself and what this blog will be about.

All About Me

I trained as a primary school teacher and worked in primary schools in Limerick, Ireland for the last six years. Last year, I decided to pursue my love for planning, resource making, and communication of complex topics, by applying for a Masters in Technical Communication and E-Learning in the University of Limerick. So here I am, one third of the way through the masters and starting a blog on my experience of e-learning and technical communication.

This semester promises a range of exciting challenges in the field of e-learning and technical communication:

– a virtual collaboration project (lots more on this to come)

– the creation of a digital resource

– the compilation of my e-portfolio

– an interview with a Tech-comm or e-learning professional

– a CCM project

– workshops on Dreamweaver, HTML, and Articulate.

Virtual Collaboration Project

I engaged in group work a lot in my undergraduate degree. I had a mix of negative experiences (groups too big, poor co-operation, unclear roles) and positive experiences (established a good working relationship, all team members giving an equal input). However, a virtual collaboration project is a whole new area for me. This project involves students from three different universities in three different countries (Ireland, France and the U.S.) collaborating on a project. My only previous experience of group work has been with people I was familiar with and we collaborated in person for the most part. I am looking forward to this assignment as I feel it is relevant to the work that I would expect to be involved in when I am qualified. It also gives me the opportunity to interact with students of the same subject from other countries.

There has been a lot of discussion about the best medium to communicate and collaborate with our team mates. I anticipate learning a lot through this process as I have already heard fellow students mention a number of tools with which I am unfamiliar, e.g., Slack, Trello, Base Camp.

If you have any other suggestions, or experience with these websites (either positive or negative), please comment below.