The Broken Plate Collaborates

“Collaboration – the action of working 

with someone to produce or create  

something” – Oxford Languages  

We at The Broken Plate are working in a way that is defined as collaboration. We collaborate to create a literary magazine, a collective a work that is unique, inclusive, and creative.   

To collaborate effectively it’s important to communicate. At The Broken Plate, we’ve taken steps to ensure that we have many forms of communication and that each are accessible to everyone in the classroom, from group chats, to Excel sheets, to team meetings. Even if it’s not always perfect, overall we communicate well.  

When thinking about collaboration, I often think of group projects where a leader takes control of the project and does pretty much all the work, while the rest let them, with no real repercussions. However, at The Broken Plate, I have found that it is easy to hold people accountable and delegate work that is manageable for everyone. We use a spreadsheet system, so it becomes apparent when there are gaps in the work being done. That is when we can get things back on track with communication; we might offload work from an individual, in the event that they are working too much, or we might help another individual figure out how to complete their delegated work, whether that’s figuring out a schedule or looking at it from a new angle.  

We spend time outside the classroom completing individual tasks, so that each moment we spend in the classroom communicating with each other is precious. I am proud to be part of a collaborative team as we work to create The Broken Plate.