Tools for Virtual teams- IT lecture notes

IPM Lecture Notes by Mark Kelly, McKinnon Secondary College

Tools for Virtual Teams
Click here for a video demonstration of an ITA prototype website for a virtual team (29M, DivX)
What sorts of tools can a virtual team use to communicate, make collaborative decisions and share knowledge? There are lots, but each one has its strengths and weaknesses. The moral of the story: use the right tool for the right job. Don't try to shoe-horn an inappropriate tool into performing unnatural acts!
Non-visual tools (e.g. telephone) all suffer an important problem : you cannot see the face or body language of the person you are speaking to. It may not sound important, but you underestimate how much information is conveyed non-verbally. It's so fundamental to humans that it's an instinctive means of communication. e.g. a slight squint could indicate the other person is unsure about what you mean; a frown indicates displeasure; dilated pupils indicates excitement; fidgetting may indicate lack of interest or boredom or annoyance. All of these cues can shape the way you continue the conversation. You can back off a point if the other person signals lack of acceptance; you can offer more information if they seem confused; you can pursue a point more aggressively if they seem excited about something. The next time you talk on the phone, think about how you are communicating.
Some quick definitions first: SYNCHRONOUS - happening immediately, in real time. (e.g. telephone call) ASYNCHRONOUS - happening at different points in time; not immediate; not in real time. (e.g. email) Each one has serious advantages and drawbacks. In the tool table below, any synchronous or asynchronous tool will share these advantages and disadvantages
Communication type	Advantages	Drawbacks
SYNCHRONOUS	+ Because communication is immediate, it's very good for emergency communications and immediate decisions.	* Has to be attended to immediately. Can be disruptive when it interrupts other tasks; it's hard to defer to a more convenient time. * It's hard to coordinate a suitable time for both parties to talk (especially if in different time zones) * Instant responses or decisions may be required: it can result in poorly-thought out or badly-worded or impulsive and regrettable comments.
ASYNCHRONOUS	+ Can spend time contemplating a response and carefully crafting a reply. + Can collect and deal with a message when it's convenient for you.	* There may be a considerable time lag between sending a message and getting a reply.

TOOL	STRENGTHS	LIMITATIONS
Telephone, VoIP SYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Most people have a telephone	No body language or facial cues are visible; makes it hard to interpret subtle cues from the other person. Expensive for international calls (VoIP is much cheaper) Cannot share documents. Cannot demonstrate anything visual. Usually limited to one-on-one conversation (unless a conference call) Not much use to deaf people
Mail, courier ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	May be the only way to transmit original documents when a copy will not suffice.	Slow delivery Sensitive information may be at risk May be lost in transit Expensive
Email ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Can attach large documents or any computer file Can be sent or collected from any place with an internet connection Easy to use mailing lists to send one email to many people; groups of people can follow and contribute to a threaded discussion. Copies of received and sent messages form a valuable archive of communications. Very cheap, even with BIG attachments	Requires an internet connection (may be a problem in remote areas or when travelling) Can't see facial cues (smilies / emoticons can help) Destination mailbox may be full or email might be too big to send. Risk of viruses
SMS ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Good for short messages Some varieties allow picture attachments	Awkward to enter with numeric keypad Expensive per message
Videoconferencing SYNCHRONOUS VISUAL Look up LiveMeeting, NetMeeting, Interwise, WebEx	Instant 2-way communication Video and audio allows better reading of people's body language and tone of voice Can have group-to-group meetings A cheaper alternative to meeting in person Documents can be exchanged Being able to see team mates can build team solidarity Free or cheap software	Requires a web cam and microphone Equipment involves cost. All participants must be available at the same time.
Fax ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Most businesses still have fax machines Can provide immediate exchange of printed documents	Poor quality output Slow to transmit Expensive for international phone calls Document is only analogue, not digital, so can't be edited without retyping it or using OCR. Won't work if destination fax machine is out of paper or ink/toner.
Web forum, Discussion boards ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	A structured way to discuss issues Accessible from any internet-equipped PC Can allow attachments Threaded discussions can be archived so a topic can later be referred to Cheap	Requires an internet connection Requires rules or conventions so participants know what is appropriate and what is not Lack of visual cues can lead to misunderstandings Requires some setting up and maintenance e.g. phpBB2, SMF
Live chat rooms e.g. ICQ SYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Immediate Groups can chat Cheap Easy to access	All participants must be available at the same time Risk of viruses or hacking
Wiki (example) ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Allows collaborative knowledge collation, organisation and editing. Software is open source (free)	Requires internet connection May be hard to control what individuals do to shared documents Requires some setting up e.g. TikiWiki, PhpWiki
CMS Content Management Software Course Management Software e.g. Moodle	Open Source (free) Efficient and effective knowledge management Easy to manage large quantities of information Flexible Scalable (can grow to huge sizes)	Takes some setting up Requires management Also see Drupal, Geeklog, Joomla, Mambo Open Source, PHP-Nuke, phpWCMS, phpWebSite, Post-Nuke, Siteframe, TYPO3, Xoops
Blogs ASYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Quick and easy way for individuals to publicly post timely information	e.g. b2evolution, Nucleus, pMachine Free, WordPress
Remote Access	Allows one member to remotely control a distant PC to fix a problem, demonstrate a procedure or carry out a task	Security must be tight to prevent unauthorised access
Instant Messaging SYNCHRONOUS NON-VISUAL	Immediate (as soon as you hit the ENTER key at the end of the line) Discussions can be saved and referred to later Files can be transferred	Both parties need to be present at the same time
OTHER HANDY TEAM TOOLS
Google Docs	Allows team members simultaneous access to documents being edited. Team members can see who else is editing at the same time, talk to each other, etc.
Training software	e.g. Adobe's ConnectPro (was Breeze from Macromedia), for delivering presentations and training to distributed groups
Networked databases	Allow many people in remote places to add, edit, delete data from a central source
Tracking changes in MS Word	Tracks the changes made to a document by several people, and allows changes to be 'rolled back' (undone)
'Shared Workspaces' in MS Office	Allows sharing of documents
Networked Diaries and calendars	Team planning e.g. WebCalendar
Support software	e.g. Help Center Live, osTicket, PerlDesk, PHP Support Tickets, Support Logic Helpdesk, Support Services Manager
E-Commerce	e.g. CubeCart, OS Commerce, Zen Cart
FAQ	To answer team members' common questions e.g. FAQMasterFlex
Guestbooks	So visitors to the team can leave information
Image Galleries	e.g. 4Images Gallery, Coppermine Photo Gallery
Polls and surveys	Allows teams to gather team members' opinions on issues e.g. Advanced Poll, phpESP, PHPSurveyor
Project Management	To keep the team's activities on time, e.g. dotProject, PHProjekt

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Created 7 Dec 06

Last changed: September 12, 2008 8:54 AM

This page will be appearing in "The Handbook of Research on Technology Project Management, Planning and Operations", published in 2009 by Information Science Reference, an imprint of IGI Global at http://www.igi-global.com/reference/

Tools for Virtual Teams

What sorts of tools can a virtual team use to communicate, make collaborative decisions and share knowledge? There are lots, but each one has its strengths and weaknesses.

OTHER HANDY TEAM TOOLS