From entry proposals to a joint statement: Practices of shared text production in multiparty meeting interaction

• The analysis shows how a written document is constructed in a multiparty meeting.
• Text production is accomplished through two kinds of proposals followed by writing.
• Embedding proposals in a quotation enables the collection of multiple ideas.
• Presenting proposals as a formulation produces a joint view in the text.
• Situated text production is used to advance larger organizational processes.

This article investigates the practices of shared text production in multiparty meeting interaction. Using ethnomethodological conversation analysis as a method, it aims at shedding light on how the activity of text production is locally brought into being through the interplay between verbal, embodied and material resources of the setting. The data come from a planning meeting, in which 20 project members and a facilitator construct a public statement concerning a city's customer services. The analysis focuses on two social actions through which shared text production is accomplished: (1) project members’ proposals concerning the textual changes and (2) the facilitator's proposal concerning the final entry in the text. Examining the sequential positioning and formation of these actions, the study shows how they intertwine with writing and thus enable a step-by-step evolvement of a written document in multiparty interaction. Moreover, the study demonstrates how they advance larger social processes by making the organizational identity of the project members visible and by establishing a shared will, needed for committing the participants to ongoing organizational change.