A couple of weeks ago I was asked about tools that can help to setup and/or enhance collaboration between distributed team members. I wish to share a summary list of these instruments with you since due to lot's of relocations recently you or your team members may also look for solution to improve collaboration among project members located in different offices.
Please, note that the main tip about these tools it's to start using it or the ones you find appropriate. It can be painful, especially when you are used to talk directly to a person to see his/her face and to hear the voice without delays or interruptions, without registrations and logins. Nevertheless the communication with some video and/or interactive instruments is much better then without it, as during communication humans are getting nearly 70% of information non verbally. Thus, you can significantly increase effectiveness of distributed team collaboration by using interactive tools.
Please, note that the main tip about these tools it's to start using it or the ones you find appropriate. It can be painful, especially when you are used to talk directly to a person to see his/her face and to hear the voice without delays or interruptions, without registrations and logins. Nevertheless the communication with some video and/or interactive instruments is much better then without it, as during communication humans are getting nearly 70% of information non verbally. Thus, you can significantly increase effectiveness of distributed team collaboration by using interactive tools.
| Google Calendar | Google Calendar is a free time-management web application:
| google.com/calendar |
| G+ | Google Hangouts is an instant messaging and video chat platform:
| plus.google.com/hangouts |
| Pointing Poker | Online tool to make Retrospectives and play planning poker:
| |
| WebEx | Separate Webex account for one or two team, available any time when needed | |
| Jira Agile | Creating and estimating stories, building a sprint backlog, identifying team commitment and velocity, visualizing team activity, reporting on team progress – JIRA Agile makes all these things easier than ever before | |
| squadedit | Squad is a web-based collaborative IDE used to open, edit and share code in real time. | squadedit.com |
| Gather | Powerful collaboration, code review, and code management for distributed teams | github.com |
| appear.in | Video conversations with up to 8 people for free. No login — no installs | appear.in |
| Velocity Range Calculator | To calculate a range around your velocity, you need data for at least five iterations. Enter them in the field at right in any order (lowest to highest, random, most recent first, etc.). You can optionally indicate how many iterations remain in the project. This number will be used to tell you how much work can likely be completed in that time. | mountaingoatsoftware.com/tools/velocity-range-calculator |
| Webstandup | You will receive a reminder email when your next meeting starts, including a summary of the previous meeting. Enter your updates and see your teammates' updates in real-time. Comment on your team mates' updates. In a rush? Just reply to the reminder email with your update. | webstandup.com |
| Teamreporter | convenient tool for a team to make status reports | use.teamreporterapp.com |
| Linoit | Nice board to use for Retros | linoit.com |
| Sensei | Tool for Retrospective that provides several stages of Retro conducting | |
| Virtual team-building game Second Life | The game which is possible to play with team members | secondlife.com |
| Team-building games with facilitator | I can make online sessions with team members, suggest team-building activities to perform and facilitate the process | ask me )) |
| Agile Specific | on grey background |