Comments on: Guest Post: Suggestions for Effective Team Communication in a Virtual Environment

By: John Sonmez

John Sonmez — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:15:32 +0000

First time I read through this post. Thanks! Very cool stuff. I rarely read a post and bookmark 5 different sites from it.

Good advice. Seems like common sense, but I wouldn’t have considered many of these things until I read this.

By: George Mauer

George Mauer — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:40:22 +0000

A couple more tools that I’ve found invaluable:

http://websequencediagrams.com
and
http://yuml.me

By: Julia Young

Julia Young — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:35:39 +0000

Thanks for a great list of tips. I too work in a mainly virtual environment with clients and colleagues in multiple locations. My colleagues and I keep IM on all time as an easy way to chat and ask odd questions. We have a habit of “beeping” each other first to see if we at our desks AND available before we go further. This really helps – we get the benefit of informal chat and also the courtesy of ensuring that it is good timing – like poking your head around the door. Sometimes we find that IM chat is too involved and we remind ourselves to pick up the phone or Skype.

By: Nancy Settle-Murphy

Nancy Settle-Murphy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:53:20 +0000

Great tips! One I would add: Consider both generational and cultural differences when creating a team communications plan. I find that many people “of a certain generation” really get thrown off track easily by frequent interruptions that IMing and texting can cause, while many younger folks I work with see email and even phone as “so yesterday.” It’s important to discuss the different communication options and make sure everyone is comfortable with the agreed-upon choices. Similar situation for cultural differences. Assume differences until similarities are proven is always the safest option.

By: laura w

laura w — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:06:16 +0000

I usually work with web-based applications like http://www.showdocument.com
I use it for sharing my designs and documents with partners and clients,
but i guess it can used for other purposes too. If you’re looking for a free solution you should check it out.
- Laura W.

By: Karthik Hariharan

Karthik Hariharan — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:57:24 +0000

Sounds like a great set of rules/guidelines to follow.

Another good one is if you are on a mixed-environment team where some members are virtual and some are not, make everyone get on the phone separately when having a conference call rather than locals dialing in through a conference room.

Nothing is more annoying than being the one guy dialed in who can’t get a word into the discussion.