What You Need to Do

Touch base with your group, letting one another know how work on the proposal is proceeding. Your goal is to share details on your work and then to provide support and encouragement to your group members based on their posts.

How This Activity Connects to the Course

Keeping in touch on your group writing projects will help ensure that your collaboration goes smoothly. You will provide similar status updates every week for the rest of the term.

You’ll also use this information later in the term. In a few weeks, your group will write a formal progress report to tell me about your work on the Recommendation Report. In this Try-It, you’re trying out the task of writing a progress report, and you’ll return to your status updates to gather details for your Progress Report.

How to Do It

1. Read the Progress Report: Organization page, looking for details on the information that is customarily included in a progress report.
2. If needed, remind yourself of the tasks you are responsible for in your group’s proposal by reviewing the Division of Labor for Your Proposal section of your group’s Meeting Minutes from Week 7. They should be posted in an Announcement in your Group area on Canvas. For help, see How do I use groups as a student?.
3. In your first post, reply to this discussion with an update to your group members on the work you have so far on the Group Proposal for Your Recommendation Report, following these steps:
   1. Begin with an introduction and greeting to your group. The introduction section does not need a heading.
   2. Create headings for these sections of your informal progress report, which follow the introduction:
      • Work Completed
      • Work Scheduled
      • Conclusion
   3. Use document design features to make your headings stand out from the rest of the content in your post. Tips: You should use the CRAP Design Principles:
      • Contrast will make your headings stand out from the rest of the text.
      • Repetition applies to using the same format for all three headings.
      • Alignment of the headings with the body and with one another makes the text easy to read.
      • Proximity of the headings to the relevant body paragraph(s) will keep the post organized.
   4. Add details under the Work Completed heading that describes what you have accomplished so far on your sections of the proposal. Use clear and specific details.
   5. Outline the work you still need to do under the Work Scheduled heading. Include planned dates for when you will complete the work so that your group members know when to expect your contributions.
   6. Wrap up your post under the Conclusion heading. If you need any help or want to ask for feedback, add your questions or concerns here.
4. Read all of the progress updates from the other members in your group.
5. In your second (and additional) posts, reply to other group members as appropriate. You can offer encouragement, help with challenges, and provide feedback to one another. Use the “How to Support Every Group Member” section of the Teamwork & Collaboration Guide for ideas on what you can do.

Assessment

I will mark your participation in this Discussion Complete (or Incomplete) after the end of the Grace Period passes and I confirm that you have made at least two posts (required: one post with your progress report, and at least one more in response and support of your group members). Allow me several days to read and mark all your posts.