Collaborative Writing at GreyB: Nanowrimo Redefined

Last year, I joined the international creative writing challenge known as Nanowrimo. Unfortunately, I failed to complete the endeavor. In spite of this, I got the chance to establish discipline and time management and understand the power of community. And well, I had to share this with my teammates.

So, this year, I thought, ‘Hey, why not tweak this challenge a bit and try it out with my team?’ So I did! And it went so well that I rolled it out across the entire GreyB company.

The original Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month, but I altered it to Nano Writing Month(s). At GreyB, it was rolled out as a segment of our ‘Digital Nomads’ series within the product development team, where we commit to collaboratively composing narratives over a certain time frame. The series involved collaborative writing endeavors within a specific timeframe. It went beyond mere writing, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking.

What did this new challenge entail?

My goal with this modified Nanowrimo was to provide assistance, motivation, and a sense of community throughout the competition, which also extends to other work areas. Daily, we encounter the advantages of our commitment to work, punctuality, efficient management, and teamwork. Therefore, what better way to enhance them than through competition?

And so it began. Every Monday, I sent a topic over email and a condition to follow, and participants had a week to write about it. They also got a buddy who’d review the work and give a reminder for that additional push. Rules were simple to follow, failing to which they were out. Here’s what the rules looked like:

If you didn’t write or share, you were out.
You were out if you didn’t follow the conditions (which came with the weekly challenge).
If you didn’t give any tips to your buddy, you were out.
If you slipped up, there were no second chances. You had to wait until the next round.
You had to share your writing in an email thread and tell us how your buddy’s feedback helped you.

How did I plan it?

I laid out a plan and paired each participant with a buddy who would read their work and contribute a unique twist.

It started with an easy pickup for the first week.

Week 1 –

Topic: One project that got you excited or changed

Condition: Format it like a story before you start writing

Think of the ending you want to come up with, maybe the message about why you weren’t able to forget it
Write about YOU – not about people or things around you. Write why it left an imprint on you.
Pick one of these techniques to create emotions in your story.

Before next Monday, to stay in the competition, everyone was to share what they wrote with how their buddies helped. Ohh, BTW, there was a reason everyone was to take help from their buddies – to spark creativity in them via suggestions from someone they don’t work closely with.

I’ve learned so much from everyone’s experiences in this challenge! It was amazing to see my colleagues grow and develop, and it also helped me become a better leader.

Here are a few of the entries I received for the first week.

Every week this continued, the topic and condition kept getting harder, forcing them not to write. But they did and kept moving ahead silently in emails.

Week 4 –

Topic: What are your top 3 learnings while working here?

Condition: No adjectives

Roadblocks I ran into and how my strategic thinking helped

Well, I must admit I’m not the best at follow-ups, and this challenge needed exactly that. But hey, lazy people find efficient ways, right? So, here’s how I used my strategic thinking to manage the roadblocks:

Sending out weekly emails was a big ask – so I scheduled them.
Checking if everyone followed the rules was tough – but my buddies, the ‘debriefers,’ had my back. Their cooperation and collaboration with the participants helped me keep things in line.
The hardest part was the elimination – it was tough seeing people go. But when they shared their learnings with me, I felt that the challenge’s objective had been achieved.

How did we end the competition?

This challenge operated on a simple elimination basis. Participants who wrote, shared, reviewed, and followed the conditions progressed to the next week.

The last person standing won, and it was Varun Sharma from the Product Development Team.

Conclusion

So, that’s the story. Setting up and running our homegrown version of Nanowrimo at GreyB wasn’t easy-peasy. It required some clever workarounds and help from teammates. But you know what? It was worth every bit of it.

By undertaking this challenge together, we sharpened our thinking and pushed the boundaries of our writing skills. It allowed personal growth and development as we discovered new techniques, honed our storytelling abilities, and learned from one another’s unique perspectives.

All this wouldn’t have been possible without GreyB’s culture, where everyone learns from each other in every project. Well, you can read more about it.