DEFINE AND REDEFINE YOUR PROJECT - Project Vocabulary
Our experience: language is a key theme throughout interdisciplinary literature – primarily because different disciplines have different definitions for the same word. We found that words such as ‘community’ or ‘process’ held very different meanings for different team members. Similarly when asked to define aspects of our project, for instance our collaboration with a local community different definitions were given. Architecture used the term ‘consultation’, whilst the social scientists termed it ‘engagement’ and ‘participation’. Thus, defining our key terms as a team really helped us to move forward, preventing any conflict and confusion.
Why?
As discussed above different disciplines have different definitions of the same term. Often such definitions may be subtly different, but if they are central to how you conduct and run your project then it is vital that everyone knows precisely what is meant when a term is used.
Words with generally ambiguous meanings are potential starting points for such discussions – such as ‘community’, ‘public’, ‘materials’, ‘global’, ‘interdisciplinarity’, ‘skills’, ‘future’, ‘politics’.
However, as your project progresses you will find that particular words are pertinent to your project and its research. These need clarifying as a team and a group definition agreeing.
At the start?
• What words does each discipline think are going to be significant to the group and the project?
• What are each discipline’s individual definitions of such terms?
• Capture these in a document
• Good examples are: collaboration, design, focus group, community
Ongoing
• As the project progresses you will find that set words become pertinent to your project
• You may even find that you develop new words and acronyms for what is happening in your research
• These terms will help to unite you as a group, but it is important that everyone has the same understanding of them
• Discuss what these terms mean to each of you and capture them in a document.
Evaluation
• Evaluation should be ongoing but these terms can be revisited time and time again and revised and added to as your project progresses
• By the end of the project they should provide a repository of terms of the project, and possibly a trajectory of your progress/journey
Caution
• Do not aim for universally transparent communication. Rather aim for agreement on key terms, and be aware of areas of likely miscommunication.