Your second paper is a Team Research Paper and will be a double-spaced ten-page paper that contains a minimum of ten properly documented references. The cover page and reference page count in the ten pages. Choose a relevant management topic of interest to your team. Please note the following assignment requirements and corresponding points in the following rubric.

How to Write a Perfect Paper

1.  Write for your audience (in this case your professor). This means

follow their guidance and parameters. Most editors and publishers reject manuscripts that do not explicitly adhere to their guidelines (page length, references, style, etc). Remember, your professors may have a great deal of knowledge about your topic so please don’t write as if they are novices; e.g., avoid,  “you should…you can; etc.”. The same concept applies to speaking, by the way. ALWAYS customize your speeches and writing to the listener/ reader.  Be respectful, positive, interesting and educational.

1. (For research papers) Choose a topic that personally interests you.

What challenges are you facing at work? What is going on in the world (or should be) that you are passionate about? Writing an effective paper requires a lot of time so be sure you have the commensurate energy to write right! Never write (or speak) on something that doesn’t interest you because you will bore your audience, too.

Topic selection frequently requires a narrower focus to comply with page and length requirements. Please avoid the mistake of trying to solve a very complex set of problems in a single paper. Even book authors set limits by clarifying the scope (see below).

1. Start with a clear purpose and scope. Put this in the first

paragraph and/or abstract (if abstract is required) — (I do not require abstracts). Many students/inexperienced writers fail this introductory focus so the rest of the paper suffers disorganization and reader confusion. Don’t make your reader guess.

The scope previews your subtopics as well as relevant areas you are NOT going to include. There should be no less than two, nor greater than five, subtopics that are clearly indicated by relevant subheadings (left-side justified; first letter of each word capitalized; do not bold, capitalize or enlarge). Think of your subtopics as the main points you want to get across to the reader; and then write everything in support of those main points. Make a compelling case for the reader to absorb your thoughts!

1. References. Academic writing requires writers to substantiate their

thoughts and opinions with experts/published authors (e.g., literature search) so please do so by integrating, synthesizing (combining) and evaluating the best of classical and contemporary (last five years) writers’ thoughts with your own thoughts. Search for counter-evidence/contrary opinion, too, and include opportunities for further research. This demonstrates your critical thinking.

1. Edit, edit and then edit some more. This is not just for APA-

compliance; spelling and grammar; and paper length. It is also to edit for a neatness, standardization, smooth flow and sequencing of substantiated ideas. Can lengthy paragraphs be shortened or replaced by efficient, self-constructed tables? What can be said better, more efficiently? What needs to be expanded?  How can creativity be expressed and integrated to make it more interesting and readable? Is the paper mechanically correct/flawless? These tough questions require the writer to make some additional decisions before you hit “save as” and “send”! Rest a few hours (overnight if you can) and review your draft with a clear head/open mind!

How to Write the Perfect Team Paper

1. Follow the suggestions above (especially EDITING – team papers should

be FLAWLESS). Give all ideas a fair hearing. This means listening to each other as you would to your best friend. Remember to brainstorm ideas because some crazy ideas may trigger useful ideas in someone else’s mind!

2. Communicate early and often. Twice a week is recommended minimum. Use the e-college chat room designated for your team because comments are automatically saved. Use Doc Sharing tab for your team (scroll down) to coordinate drafts and final version.

1.  Realize that not everyone on your team is a good writer and

assign/adopt/reassign tasks/roles accordingly. For example, who is the stickler for details? Maybe that person should be the designated APA editor. Who loves to do research? Not everyone is good at this or even likes to do it. Who is the creative person on your team? Maybe they can construct a table or synthesize the ideas from everyone else. Who is a good meeting leader/ planner/organizer that helps team members stay on track and meet team deadlines? Teamwork requires leadership. The best teams, however, SHARE the leadership depending on interests and abilities. Strive to build on the unique, individual STRENGTHS, unify them with the others on your team, and don’t expect everyone to think or write like you do.

1. Stick to your team agreement as close as possible or rewrite it if

needed. Teamwork is essentially dependency on others. Please don’t let your teammates down: they are depending on you!

1. Expect and resolve conflict whether it is a conflict of schedules, ideas,

and/or style preferences. Be assertive (not aggressive) AND tactful with each other while listening to others’ points of view. Call them if necessary. Elevate to the professor if necessary. Lack of conflict is not necessarily a good thing. Janis (1982) coined the term groupthink to depict highly cohesive groups who make bad decisions because there is no dissention or conflict. If you don’t have a natural devil’s advocate on your team, appoint one.

1. Pause regularly and at task completion to celebrate and enjoy each

other. Teamwork can be a lot of fun and a true learning experience if you do it right and go through all four stages: form, storm, norm, perform (Tuckman,1965).  Never ignore an opportunity to tell a teammate what you appreciate about them. This is another form of leadership

Team Agreement Template

Our team has decided to research workplace diversity. Each member of our group has indicated subjects which they are both comfortable and interested in researching. By discussing these interests with all of the team members, we were able to discuss how to combine these into a cohesive term paper. Specific topic areas include the history of incorporating workplace diversity and mandates, methods of structure, learning styles of individuals, minority challenges, and integrating workplace educational opportunities to broaden diversity acceptance.

My job is talking about part 1 history of workplace diversity?beginning, cause and development?, (3 pages, at least 3 references, APA format, DOUBLE SPACE, TIMES NEW ROMAN 12)