Writing as a Team
An essential skill in public health is the ability to effectively collaborate with teams to produce quality
products, reports, or deliverables. The public health workforce is collaborative in nature and requires
most work to be done within groups. Working in teams allows you to develop your own writing and
analytical skills by collaborating with your peers.
For more information on working in teams, check out this module. This section will specifically discuss
the team writing process, but you are strongly encouraged to review module to strengthen your team
skills.
Tips for Effective Team Writing
• Timeline. One of the most overlooked team challenges is setting deadlines and establishing a
timeline for the products. Many teams often follow the predetermined deadlines for the
project, leaving minimal time for editing and causing unnecessary stress. To maximize
effectiveness and minimize stressfulness, your team should set early deadlines. For example, if a
project is due on Friday, your team should set the team deadline of Wednesday so that the final
product may be compiled, edited, and reviewed by the entire team with ample time prior to
submission. Furthermore, if the project is rather large, setting periodic team deadlines for
smaller tasks along the way can maximize efficiency. Most importantly, stick to your schedule!
• Formatting and organization. Naturally, each team member will approach the assignment with
a different writing style. As early as possible, your team should agree upon a specific formatting
style and organization for the paper. This includes citations, style of writing (such as avoiding
passive voice or using first-person), whether to include headings or bullet points, argument
structure, length of each section, how to arrange arguments, and any other relevant formatting
elements. Having this discussion early will streamline the process of compiling everything and
allow the final team editor to focus on overall voice of the paper.
• Team Strengths and Task Delegation. Your team would benefit from initially assessing the
strengths and weaknesses of each team member. Determining who has a strong editing
background, communication skills, data analysis skills, or organizational skills will be useful in
delegating tasks. However, while each person may have a particular strength, each team
member should contribute equitably to the overall project. Furthermore, your team should
thoroughly discuss the organization of the paper so that arguments are not repeated in each
team member’s respective section (15).
• Co-writing. Your entire team should write the introduction, transitions, and conclusion together
(16). The introduction will establish a skeleton and purpose for the rest of the paper, the
transitions will assist in the logical flow of the paper, and the conclusion will be the final
synthesis of your arguments. Therefore, these elements require that the entire team is on the
same page with their understanding of the project, that there is a shared vision, and that there
is a clear direction for the final product.
• Final editing. Do not leave all the final editing to one person, as it can be very time consuming
and the editor may not fully comprehend the entire vision of the project (17). At every step of
the process, each team member should provide feedback, edits, and suggestions for the project.
This is especially important at the end of the process with the semi-final product, prior to
submitting the final version. Your team should have a final editor to provide one final scan of the