Communications in Projects

The most important aspect of any project is the communications within the team.  When you are working with a distributed team this becomes even more important.  Many PM's believe that you need a multimillion dollar video conferancing system to keep communications in the project going, but that is not true.  Most of us work on a shoestring budget, especially in this economy.  That means finding cheap (or free) methods of communications.  In this post I am going to review some of the tools that I have used or know of. 

Skype:  This is a free tool that features instant chat and even voice calls.  My most recent project has used Skype for communications across a distributed team to great success.  One of the best things about Skype is that you can send the message, even if the user is away, and it will be waiting for them when they log in.  We have used it not only to communicate with our remote team members, but even with the ones in the office.  This allows us to remain at our desk, with our train of thought and documents, while talking to someone in another area of the building.  In all, it streamlines our work process and speeds us up because we don't have to get up and go hunt the other person down to talk to them.

Log Me In: This is a free tool that provides a Citrix remote desktop to any computer you add to your account.  You can install Log Me In and log to your home computer to retrieve that document that you forgot at home.  You can log to a team members desktop and show them how to accomplish something they are having an issue with while they are still logged in.  You can actually control the mouse on their desktop while they watch.  It's a great troubleshooting tool.

DimDim: This is a free webinar tool that you can use.  You can use DimDim for demos, meetings, and presentations.  You can have up to 20 participants, standard audio, standard features, web cam, and standards support for free.  For 25.00 per month you can have the premium features of the set with unlimited participants.  All in all a good tool to use.

Google Docs: This is free with a Google account.  You can upload and share documents among team members without having the costly installation of SharePoint.

Google Calendar or Yahoo Calendar: Email accounts with these sites gives you a shareable calendar that you can use.  Team members can subscribe and view events and post to a common calendar.

WikiSpaces: This is a free tool that allows you to create a team wiki where members can post questions, get answers, modify flows, etc.  An excellent ongoing conversation for the whole team

There are many more options, but just these few will enrich your team work environment and give your communications a deeper significance in the project.  Make sure you have a good working relationship with your IT department and that the use of these tools is permitted.  My bet is that if it lessens their work load they will be more than happy to accomodate you in most cases.