Project Management Communication Tools

Frequent Communication is Essential in Working with Virtual Teams

Aug 13, 2009

Project managers responsible for remote workers and virtual teams need to have communication strategies and tools. Schedule time each day to communicate with your team.

Frequent communication with a project team is always important. However it is essential when working with a virtual or remote team. Internet and server-based communication tools can help. Project managers should consciously schedule time every day to communicate with team leaders and members. The content of communiques may be formal statements of issues and tasks or informal updates. Communication is the glue that holds a team together working toward the same goals.

One secret to communicating with a remote team members is to take advantage of information sharing tools for project documents. Internet and server based tools help keep everyone working on the project on the same page. Using only shared documents for project materials alleviates problems with team members working from different copies that they have stored on their computers.

There are many tools available that vary in capability and cost. In general, server based tools such as Microsoft’s SharePoint are more expensive, highly secure, and require technical experts to set up and maintain.

Internet based information sharing tools such as Google Apps and Zoho Office among many others maintain up-to-date project documents for tasking, design scheduling, and tracking. When there are requirements changes or issues resolved, the same information is available instantly to everyone on the team. The cost of internet-based tools is usually based on a-per-user-per-month or per-year fee. Internet-based project document storage will be less costly than server-based storage.

Tools for Rapid and Spontaneous Team Communication

Project managers should schedule time for communication with their team multiple times per week. Email is a ubiquitous form of communication that does not require team members to be in the same place or the same time zone. A couple tricks to keep email’s inbox from becoming overloaded is to use automated rule-based processing to take the sender’s name or subject line and automatically place the email into the correct project folder.

If the team uses Microsoft’s Outlook for email, then team members are also able to integrate tasks and schedule and share that information with the team through the group facility. Inbox folders provide a place to keep emails organized by team member or topic. When email is a primary resource of project communications, be sure that everyone on the team routinely backs-up their email folders.

Chat and texting are rapid ways to support informal communication. Services like Google Talk, Skype Chat, Zoho Chat, and TweetChat are free for registered users. These services include image and document sharing in addition to instant messaging. Many chat services can be integrated with a mobile phone. Most chat services also have a save capability so that important shares can be saved or sent to others via email or project documents.

Frequent Communication is Essential:Failure to communicate effectively and frequently with your project team is a recipe for disaster. The project manager that does not take proactive steps to keep the lines of communication fluid will not be protected from surprises nor will they have the opportunity to intercede before little problems become big ones. Do not ignore Wayne Turmel’s advice in his article “Remote Working: The Truth about Collaboration Tools” posted on BNET July 6, 2009: communication tools only work when your team knows how to use them and uses them frequently.

Resources for More Information on Communication Tools:

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