Writing In Pairs

WritingInPairs is a concept very similar to PairProgramming: it occurs whenever two people collaborate at one computer on an important email or a few difficult paragraphs. It has many similarities, and some differences.

Differences:

• WritingInPairs does NOT make the writing go faster, except when the task is unusually difficult. This may indicate that the harder the task is, the more rewarding it may be to do it with a good pair.
• WritingInPairs is not radical. I've seen all sorts of people do it all the time.

Similarities:

• The writers teach each other tricks (of negotiation, of framing a question, of delivering bad news) the same way coders can with PairProgramming. Mentoring happens.
• Typos are caught much like bugs.
• A DivergentPair can do things that neither can do alone (e.g. write an email that gently informs somebody of a nasty decision affecting them).
• The SurprisingReverse can occur.

-- LisaDusseault

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WritingInPairs or writing as a group is a good way to communicate. If Person A writes a document and Person B reads it, A gets to understand the topic very well, and B gets to understand it a bit -- probably imperfectly.

But if Persons A and B write the document together --- even if A starts as the expert and B the novice --- then understanding is transferred very effectively.

-- AlanCameronWills

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WritingInPairs is excellent for DispersedWorking -- use NetMeeting (or similar) to collaborate on a document.

-- AlanCameronWills