DD13HW4 Final Project #3

Team CGCR Consulting's FINAL REPORT is available here. Thank you!

DD12HW8 Reflect on Peer Review

Reviewing my peers' reports was helpful because it reminded me of all the checklists we need to use to review and edit our own draft. The first report I read was very technical and wordy, whereas the second report included shorter and more concise paragraphs. I hope to revise my team's draft to make it fall somewhere in between. I also saw a comment on one draft about what needs to be on the Table of Contents- that they can start with the Introduction section. 

There are also a handful of edits and additions we need to make to our report, such as Table of Contents, some sentence structure and wording of paragraphs, and Tip Sheet. Although my peers' Tip Sheets were visually appealing, they were difficult to read. I want to make sure we do not make that same mistake with ours. We also need to make some changes with our bibliography. We need to put our Works Cited/References page in alphabetical order and make sure our references and in-text citations all follow the same format. 

DD12HW5 Sentence Analysis

Here is the link to my Sentence Analysis document.


Example One

Before Sentence: Get to know your team.

After Sentence: Learn something about each new team member.

Pattern Used: Substitution helped me revise this sentence by replacing a single word with a word group. I also used modification by adding a modifier (new) to team member.


Example Two

Before Sentence: An online application such as Todoist can help keep tasks organized and allow access to all team members.

After Sentence: A free project management online application, such as Todoist, can help keep tasks organized, and features allow all team members to have access.

Pattern Used: Modification and Subordination helped me revise this sentence by adding modifiers to the subject.

DD12HW1 Analyze Ethical Considerations

Analyze Ethical Considerations

One important ethical consideration that exists with Project 3 is plagiarism. When conducting research and writing a report about findings, I know it is important to include a bibliography page and in-text citations. I will be sure to do this, and also to review my paragraphs and make sure if I am directly quoting that I use quotation marks. If I am paraphrasing, I will make sure to include in-text citations.  Groupthink is also an ethical consideration to be aware of in Project 3. We are working on a team project and want to be sure that we are working together and not participating in groupthink. Because I am aware of groupthink, I think it helps me make sure I am making ethical decisions. 

In the future, I need to be aware of ethical considerations. Just because the majority may be going along with an idea, I will not go along with a decision if I do not feel comfortable with it. I will also be sure to monitor ethical considerations such as falsifying or fabricating data, and using visual images that conceal the truth. In my Public Health profession, we often conduct research and review data. My organization puts a great emphasis on portraying data in an ethical manner and not editing data to make a graph look better. Plagiarism is also a concern. In my profession, we often have meetings where we brainstorm new health promotion messaging and programming. It is important to refer to research when presenting a new idea both in communication and on paper. When writing formal reports we always include bibliographies and in-text citations to give the authors credit. 

DD11HW2 Individual Resource Evaluation, Part 2

This article was published in 2012 and includes 12 different references, most of which are from peer-reviewed journals. Diversity in the workplace is defined and described, followed by strategies in managing diversity, and the description of the study itself. This article is organized and includes strengths, barriers and limitations to the study, which shows all various points of view (1). The tool used in this study was a validated tool developed by a team of researchers and professionals and the response rate was 88%, which is good; however, the authors did not provide information on how they distributed the survey and collected results. They are missing that in their methodology. Also, their sample size was 300 people, which was a decent sample size for this study, but may not be large enough to make generalizations across all workplaces (1).


1. Patrick, Harold Andrew, and Vincent Raj Kumar. Managing Workplace Diversity. Sage Open. 2012; 2(2): 2158244012444615. doi: 10.1177/2158244012444615.

DD10HW7 Synthesize Your Research, Part 2

Please click on the image above to zoom in. You can also view my mind map here. 

DD10HW6 Individual Resource Evaluation, Part 1

This article was published in 2010 which is relatively recent, considering it takes time to implement a study, write and article and then publish. The authors' biographies are included and show they all have experience in technology, technical writing, and communication. The evidence appears to be sufficient. There were 27 references, ranging in years and from a variety of journals. The authors also included limitations to their study, acknowledging there may have been self-report bias (1). I thought the findings of this article were interesting, yet agreeable. People feel more relaxed when joining a group and seeing a warm funny photo of the person as their profile picture, rather than a professional photo, which tells them "it's all business" (1). It was also noted that when a new person joins a group and receives an immediate IM from another team member, they feel welcome. I can understand this, but also have been in groups where this has occurred and it's because the person sending the IM wants to get started with the project quickly and down to business. This article provides results from participants' recording logs, which again could be bias, but it also could be an accurate portrayal.  The authors do a good job of making this known to the reader, including the limitations of the study and future recommendations (1).


1. Wojahn P, Taylor SK, Blicharz K. Forming groups into teams through virtual interactions:  Researching remote collaborators and “getting to know you.” 2010 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference. 2010; 203-209. doi: 10.1109/IPCC.2010.5530009.

DD10HW2 Chapter 19 Writing Descriptions

Description of Meister Task

Meister Task is a project management application tool used to collaborate with others and organize online projects. It can be used as a communication tool for students when they are completing an online group assignment. Meister Task provides access to all team members working on the project by allowing open access to the same information. Students can add tasks under the Open, In Progress and Done tabs, as well as drop and drag items between these tabs. This allows all team members to participate in planning, implementing and monitoring tasks. New members can also be added by clicking on the Add Members + sign. Meister Task includes a mind mapping tool to aid in organization of thoughts, ideas and goals. Meister Task applications are free and available for iPads, iphones, Mac OS, and Windows, making it versatile and accessible.

DD9HW9 Synthesizing Research - Part 1

Please click on the image above to zoom in. You can also view my mind map here.

DD9HW6 Formal Research Report Needs Assesment

Statement of Purpose: The purpose of this digital report/manual is to help staff at UA improve their teamwork skills, as they have not been working together in groups very well.


Business Need: The business need for this digital report is to have a manual available to staff, in order to improve communication, collaboration, and teamwork between employees at UA.


Audience: The audience of this report consists of the UA CEO and all UA employees. The primary audience CEO is the CEO who requested the document, and the secondary audience includes the UA employees who will be required to read the document and carry out the teamwork. The audience consists of 250 people, who are experts in their field, but need assistance with how they can work together and complete projects in teams all over the world.


Situation: This report will be distributed digitally through email and will also be posted on an internal server for all employees to have access of the report at any time. Although this report will be read by UA employees in different countries, it will be provided in one language, English. Some employees will want to read the whole report, while others will only skim or refer to specific sections for information they feel is important to them. They may be resistant to the information at first, if they believe they are a great team player. There will not be any specific software or equipment required to view this report.


Goals of the Communication: This report will allow UA employees to enhance their ability to work with others on future projects. Ideally they will have a better understanding of teamwork in the work place and improve their communication skills, time management skills, and collaborator skills, such as appropriate tone, style and etiquette in the workplace. This may be measured by how well employees work together on future project outcomes.


Requirements: This report will be distributed as an attachment via email. It will be a Word document or PDF, but can be transferred to a web-based design in the future if desired. The report will include an Executive Summary, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, Introduction, Background, Problem Statement, Methodology, Main sections of Information, Conclusion, Reference page, and Appendices.


Scope: The final report will be available in one document with all relevant information, but the table of contents will include hyperlinks to each section for quick reference.

Topics: The report will include sections on what teamwork is, background of UA, the best ways to communicate virtually, examples of virtual teamwork, tips and tricks, goals of communication, and next steps.

Audience prerequisites: The Audience will all be employees of UA and will have knowledge of common practices, projects and workload at UA.

Expertise of writers/designers:  The writers who will design and develop the communication will have some background knowledge of the company and teamwork, and will be experts in research.

DD9HW5 Rhetorical Situations

	Audience	Purpose	Intended Use
Individual Collaboration	The CEO of Universal Assistance (UA)	To show the behind the scenes work/informal reports made by the group.	For the CEO to see that all individuals collaborated and worked together.
Executive Summary	UA employees	To inform all employees what the report will be about and why it is needed.	To allow employees to receive a summary without having to read the entire document.
Acknowledgements	UA CEO, UA employees, or anyone who is reading the document	To thank the company and employees for the opportunity	A way of saying thank you to the parties involved in the creation of the document.
TOC	UA CEO, UA employees, or anyone who is reading the document	To keep information organized, and the contents of the document easily accessible to readers.	For readers to be able to locate information in the document without having to read through the entire document.
Problem Statement and /or Research Questions	UA CEO, UA employees, or anyone who is reading the document	To ensure the reader understands the problem that will be addressed in the rest of the document.	For readers to be aware of the problem; and for them to decide if they want to read the document.
Methods used to produce the report	Anyone who is reading the document, or who wants to know the methodology.	To allow readers to know the process of how the document was put together.	For readers to see the steps involved in the process of group/team work.
Tip Sheet	UA employees	To provide a brief summary/recommendations to be followed by UA employees	For UA employees to use as a reference in the future when working on group/team projects
Documentation of Work Sessions	The CEO of Universal Assistance (UA) [Also the ENG 308 Instructor]	For group members to see what other group members have been working on; to maintain communication through collaboration.	For the CEO (Instructor) to see that all individuals collaborated and worked together.
Transmittal Memo	The CEO of UA and all UA employees	To let employees know the where, what and why of the document that is being released.	To announce the release of the document- where, why it can be found.

DD9HW4 Research Collaboration and Teamwork

Annotated Bibliography


1. Lowry PB, Nunamaker JF. Using Internet-based, distributed collaborative writing tools to improve coordination and group awareness in writing teams. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication. 2003; 46(4): 277-297. doi: 10.1109/TPC.2003.819640.

This article discusses the differences between face-to-face CW (collaborative writing) teams, and “distributed internet-based” CW groups, and tools that can be used to improve distributed CW groups. This study explore the use of a new tool to use for distributed internet-based CWs, compared to the groups that utilize word processing programs and email as main means of communication. Results of this study showed Collaboratus, a new distributed internet-based CW tool, assisted groups with being more productive, and producing higher quality documents than those who used Word.

2. Managing Virtual Teams Staff. Advantages and Challenges of Virtual Work Teams. Managing Virtual Teams (MVT). http://managing-virtual-teams.com/en/virtual-teams-articles/project-management/advantages-and-challenges-of-virtual-work-teams.html. Accessed August 2, 2016.

This web page provides a bulleted list with descriptions of challenges and advantages of working in teams. Challenges include physical distance, changing world, routine, personal life and work life imbalance, and diverse multicultural teams. Advantages include time, space, money, comfort, flexibility, and environment. Hyperlinks are also included that lead to additional information pages on their website.

3. Wojahn P, Taylor SK, Blicharz K. Forming groups into teams through virtual interactions:  Researching remote collaborators and “getting to know you.” 2010 IEEE International Professional Communication Conference. 2010; 203-209. doi: 10.1109/IPCC.2010.5530009.

This study states many people prefer to know people they are collaborating with on a written assignment; however, that is not always the case. Knowing something about your team members work and communication style in the beginning of a project can help improve efficiency of the completed project. It is recommended that collaborators use strategies to help form relationships virtually, in order to work together more comfortably and efficiently.

DD9HW3 Chapter 15 Text Messaging

Digital and Social Media Question

Text message to a friend:
"Hi friend! Are you here yet? Where do you want to meet?"

Text message to a co-worker:
"Hello Co-worker, this is Christi. Please let me know when you arrive and I will meet you in the lobby. Thank you!


The first text message to a friend is written in a casual tone. The co-worker text is more formal, but is still polite and engaging.

DD9HW2 Chapter 2 Audience and Use Profile

General Question #2

Audience and Purpose
Primary audience: New employees to Campus Health
Secondly audience: Health Promotion Department, and Supervisor
     Relationship with audience: Primary audience: colleagues within the same department
     Secondary audience: Supervisor of same department
Purpose of document: This document is "to inform, instruct and persuade" (as stated in Chapter 2).
Audience and purpose statement: The purpose of this document is to explain to new colleagues the difficulties that come with planning an event on the UA mall. I will show who the main contacts are, how to follow a timeline, and suggestions for avoiding common mistakes made when planning and organizing a health event.
Intended use of document: For new employees to be able to plan, organize, and implement a health event on the UA mall in a timely fashion while following all necessary UA policy and procedures.
Information needs: Employees may, or may not, be new to the UA so they may or may not be familiar with the process of reserving a space on the mall, or with Health Promotion protocol. Instructions will need to be descriptive and easy to follow.
Technical background: The primary audience can be considered laypersons.
Cultural considerations: New employees may have experience at another university in the past, but they may come from different backgrounds and experiences, as well. Some higher education and/or health-related terminology may be used, as they were hired for a higher-education health-related position, but the wording will need to be clear and direct.
Probable questions: What types of health events are planned on the UA mall? How much time will I need to set aside to organize these events? When should I start planning? Who are my contacts in Health Promotion? Who are my contacts in the Student Union office? How do I reserve a golf cart to transport equipment? What is the timeline for this?
Probable reaction: New employees will most likely be grateful for this step-by-step information; however if they are familiar with some of the procedures already, they may not follow each step and skip ahead.

Audience Preferences about the Document 
Length and detail: This document may be a few pages long, to ensure appropriate steps are taken.  This should be acceptable for a higher education professional.
Format and medium: A PDF with instructions would be beneficial.  This can be printed for new employees, or attached to an email. It may even be referenced in a memo distributed via email to all new employees.
Tone: A friendly, but professional tone would be best.
Due date and timing: This document will be included in the initial paperwork given to new employees during their first week and will also be available on a shared drive for easy accessibility.
Budget: No printing costs are needed for the email distribution of the PDF; however if printed by supervisors or new employees, this paper cost will be included in the Health Promotion budget.

DD9HW1 Chapter 5 Team Techs

Digital and Social Media Question

MEMORANDUM

To:               Antonnet Johnson, Instructor

From:          Christi Castillo, Student

Date:           August 1, 2016

Subject:      Virtual Meetings

Virtual meetings are beneficial when there is a need to collaborate on a project, but partners are unable to meet face-to-face. These meetings can be held via Skype, through Google Hangouts chat feature, emails, phone conferences or social media, such as Facebook. 

Pros of virtual meetings are working with people's schedules. Using a Google document allows everyone to contribute, whether at the same time, or on different timelines. Multitasking is also a benefit. It is possible to be working on a document, while being on the phone with another colleague, or conducting research on another web page. Some people may feel more comfortable and confident expressing themselves through a virtual meeting by writing out their ideas, rather than speaking them. 

Cons of virtual meetings include coordinating schedules and communication issues. Not everyone may be able to participate in a phone conference or google chat at the same time. Some members of the group may need to be caught up if they are unavailable during a meeting. Also, it may be difficult to understand tone in an email or written document, which can lead to confusion. Some people prefer to express their ideas in person, so a face-to-face meeting would be ideal. 

Collaboration and communication are key when participating in virtual meetings. It is best to consider the strengths of involved parties in order to choose the most appropriate technology.  

Copies: English 308 students