free(ish) tools for virtual teams
DESCRIPTION
Slides from Jim Mulholland's and Wynn Netherland's BarCampHouston3 talkTRANSCRIPT
Free(ish) Tools for Virtual Teams
Jim MulhollandWynn NetherlandSqueejee
Working Virtually
(or virtually working)
Who is doing this?
Distributed teams (often global)TelecommutersFull spectrum of team roles
DevelopersDesignersProject managersKnowledge workersStakeholders (management and clients)
Challenges
Challenge #1Audio (and video)
conferencingCan you hear me now?
- Verizon Guy
FreeConferenceCall.com
Great for ad-hoc meetingsFree unlimited conference callingToll numbersUsers pay their own long distanceGreat for domestic teamsNot so great for global teams
Skype
Cheap international calls using VOIPCall quality varies with connectionConference calling with both PC-to-PC and landline users
Skype + FreeConferenceCall.com
Nice bridge between international and domestic usersGives users choice of connection
Challenge #2Communication
What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.
- Captain from Cool Hand Luke
Great for asynchronous messagingNot so great for realtime communicationClunky for sharing files (especially large ones)
IM
Great for realtimeNot so great for multiple usersDifficult for sharing filesMessages are often not durable (not guaranteed the person on the other end will see it if not at their PC)
IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
Great for nerdsNot so great for everyone elsePorts often blocked at the corporate firewall
Campfire from 37 Signals
Web-based chat that just works
Challenge #3Project management
I love deadlines, I especially like the SWOOSHING sound they make as they fly past- Unknown author
What are you doing?
When will you be done?
What are you doing next?
Tons of options
Open SourceTracRedmine
HostedLighthouseUnfuddleBasecamp
Challenge #4Tracking time
If YOU'RE here and I'M here, isn't really OUR time?
- Jeff Spicoli Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Uses For Time Tracking
Track TimeReporting InvoicingPayroll
Tons of options
Full Featured (Time / Invoicing / ect)QuickbooksOnlineFreshBooksHarvestAppCashboardApp
Time FocusedSlimTimerTogglTickstart (In development)
Challenge #5Sharing your work
Dude where's my code?- Jim after watching Dude Where's My Car?
Source control (versioning and backup)
Git (Github, Unfuddle)SVN (Unfuddle)
Google Docs
Mostly Microsoft Office CompatibleReal-time collaborationDocumentsSpreadsheetsPresentations (that's how we made this slide deck)
Demo
Putting it all together
Thanks!
twitter: mully
Wynn [email protected]
twitter: pengwynn
web: squeejee.com blog: locomotivation.com