The Process of Collaboration

I wanted to consider everything over the last two weeks (January 19-29) in one post because the primary projects have been relatively similar.  Last week, the two priorities were editing the manuscript for a book chapter and beginning to make adjustments to the Response Rate manuscript.  Both of these projects carried over into this week. A third manuscript was also added to the project queue. However, instead of taking a project based approach to this post, I think the two focus phrases will be collaboration and learning experience.  

The last couple weeks have been very interesting because I am truly getting to experience the logistics of collaboration.  While this is quite common in academia, it can also pose a challenge. With so many differences between authors (style, content, ideas, experience) it becomes imperative to be on the same page and reach an agreement regarding the direction of a project. Now I understand the potential implications on overall outcome if collaborators have different visions. Moving a paper forward becomes more arduous because edits take longer and significantly more communication and discussion is necessary. Learning experience: how to diplomatically approach collaboration issues. 

I have also come to realize that collaborations over longer distances may cause projects to be pushed to the bottom of the priority list (seemingly forgotten), but then they unexpectedly resurface with a need to be right at the top of the list. This discontinuity is difficult for me because I prefer to be immersed in a project until it is relatively close to completion. Learning experience: be ready to work on any project at any time...even when you least expect it. 

Finally, the entire collaboration process has emphasized that there are some aspects of work and research which cannot be completely under my control. These situations require taking a step back and reassessing the situation. Learning experience: flexibility is necessary.  

On another note, I am trying to figure out/understand, in my spare time, why there are so many different ways to format a manuscript. I have come to the conclusion there may be no sufficient answer to this question. However, my second conclusion is that Chicago Style is rapidly becoming one of my least favorite formatting styles.