Microsoft Groove (soon to be renamed Microsoft Workspace 2010) is a collaborative software package that forms part of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite. It lets a disparate team collaborate on a project; to share files and images, hold discussions, track problems, and so on.
All of this data is shared either on a network or across the internet, making it possible for collaboration between personnel at different desks, different companies, across different time zones, even in different countries. Most importantly, all the data in Groove is synchronized to and stored on the hard drives of everyone in the team, allowing everyone to work on the data even when offline.
The Groove Network
Groove operates as its own network between team members, using workspaces that invited members share. A project manager can open a new workspace, store some project files in it, and then invite the team members to join. Once each team member accepts the invitation, they can access the workspace and its contents. Copies of the files stored in the workspace immediately transfer to their computers across the Internet. From then on, if any member makes changes to a file, or updates to the workspace, the changes are automatically synchronized to every other member’s computer the next time they go online.
Project Management Tools in Microsoft Groove
- Files Tool- Stores files of all types; documents, images, source code, and so on. There is no check-out/in protection on these files, so members can make changes to the same file. If this happens, Groove recognizes the discrepancy and saves and marks both copies of the file so that an editor can resolve the changes. Refer to SharePoint Files below.
- SharePoint Files Tool- Similar to the Files tool, but it links to a SharePoint document library on the network. It therefore offers check-out/in protection while still isolating members from the network. If a team member wishes to view or change a file, and they have the rights to do so, opening a file automatically checks it out of SharePoint so that others cannot make changes to it until the member checks the file back in.
- Images Tool- Stores and displays images relevant to the project.
- Discussions Tool - Lets the team members record discussion topics similar to a threaded email trail.
- Issue Tracking Tool- Lets the team members record problems and the steps taken to resolve them.
- Calendar Tool- Records important dates for all team members.
- Meetings Tool- Lets the team members set up meetings with agenda, minutes, attendees, and action items.
Other Project Management Functions
- Presence Awareness- Workspace members are shown in a list with icons that indicate if they are offline, online and busy, online and available, and so on.
- Chat Function- A chat function enables instant communication between two or more members similarly to instant messaging applications
- Alerts- Members can set alerts on any tool or individual file to send an email or sound an alarm when other members make changes.
Microsoft Groove is a useful application where there are difficulties in team collaboration caused by restrictions in company network access.
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