Project management tools and strategies: Communication and collaboration tools

TABLE OF CONTENTS    Team building and managing basics    Outsourcing strategies    Communication and collaboration tools    Gantt charts, PERT charts and PM planning tools    Other useful resources

Communication and collaboration tools

Project management communication and collaboration tools are becoming more popular as teams become spread out further around the globe. However, these tools can be helpful even if all those involved in a project are located in the same place.

From whiteboards to complex software, these tools facilitate the sharing of information among users. Some of the most popular tools, such as IM and Web-hosted email, are free. Some are rather inexpensive. With the proliferation of so-called Web 2.0 technologies, some applications are easily downloaded from the Internet.

• Article: Giving managers time to manage: Task-Oriented Applications (TOAs) are designed to aid in collaboration and communication, documentation and compliance. This article explains how TOAs work and lists applications that are already being offered.



• Article: Virtual teams: Getting beyond email: The author lists the shortfalls of not only email, but all available collaborative technologies. He posits an alternative technology for virtual teams -- digital group memory.



• Article: Project management: Optimizing collaboration tools: Expect an emphasis on tools from Microsoft, as the article was written for the company's Midsize Business Center. This article offers a good overview of collaboration tools and and what to consider when choosing one.



• Article: Why do most project management tools lack collaboration? : The author proposes that the high failure rate of software projects is due in large part to poor collaboration. Newer Web 2.0-based tools, however, may offer a solution to this problem.



• Article: Companies explore virtual worlds as collaboration tools: Imagine conducting a real business meeting in a "Second Life" boardroom. According to this article, virtual worlds may become a true collaborative space for distributed teams.



• Article: Winning meeting tools: Here are the results of the 2007 WorldWide Technology Watch competition, which features innovations in event technology. Past winners are mentioned as well.



• Article: Collaboration: Bandwidth killer: The use of collaboration tools in your organization could be putting undue strain on your network. Find out which tools may be culprits and what can be done about them.



• Article: Collaborative applications software: From Bitpipe.com, here is a collection of reports, webcasts, podcasts and white papers from collaborative software vendors.



• Article: Target Process 2.7 -- Agile project management tool for distributed teams: This product release contains screenshots and comments from informed readers.



• Tool list: Organizer's Tool Crib: By no means are these all the collaboration tools available online, but many popular tools are listed here. Anyone who signs in may rate the tools. Short descriptions may give the visitor a feel for what the tool does.

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