Collaborating

The chapter discusses how collaboration is realised in talk at work. We turn here to these instances of talk most closely associated with the expression of affiliation, recognising that these form part of a broader mosaic of practices that contribute to the creation of more harmonious working relations and rapport. In this chapter, the specific instances of talk placed under scrutiny are humour and small (social) and work-related talk. The chapter outlines how such instances of talk contribute to the realisation of collaboration in two principal ways. Finally, the chapter explores also the broader effects and implications of the forms of realisation of collaboration observed in the studied team.