Remote teams, whether made up entirely or only partially of telecommuters, face challenges of communicating efficiently and effectively. The challenges are not any greater than teams that sit together; simply different. Technology has provided us with the opportunity to work remotely, and also with many great solutions to the challenges that arise. I have compiled a list of some online applications that you may find helpful in keeping a remote team working and communicating together. Other suggestions are welcome!
Protonotes
“Protonotes are notes that you add to your prototype that allow project team members to discuss system functionality, design, and requirements directly on the prototype. You can think of it like a discussion board/wiki in direct context of your prototype.”
Loopt
“Loopt transforms your mobile phone into a social compass; connect with friends and get alerted when they are nearby; share your location, status and photos with friends and AIM buddies; explore places and events recommended by friends.”
Facebook
“Facebook is a social utility that connects you with the people around you.”
LinkedIn
“Over 23 million professionals use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas and opportunities. Stay informed about your contacts and industry. Find the people & knowledge you need to achieve your goals. Control your professional identity online.”
Basecamp
“Project management and collaboration. Collaborate with your team and clients. Schedules, tasks, files, messages, and more.”
Highrise
“Online contact manager and simple CRM. Keep track of who your business talks to, what was said, and what to do next.”
Backpack
“Intranet, group calendar, organizer. Share info, schedules, documents, and to-dos across your company, group, or organization.”
Campfire
“Real-time group chat for business. It’s like instant messaging, but optimized for groups. Especially great for remote teams.”
Gliffy
“With Gliffy online diagramming software, you can easily create professional-looking flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, technical drawings,
and more!”
MindMeister
“MindMeister supports all the standard features of a classic mind mapping tool – only online, and with as many simultaneous users as you like!”
Helipad
“Write notes and organise them with tags; Create and maintain to-do lists; Draft documents on any device with Internet access; Quickly navigate with tags; Share your documents with friends [or co-workers]”
TrackMyPeople
TrackMyPeople allows you to easily track your time, as well as your employees time. Afterwards the online timesheet offers you and your employees flexible management and reporting options.
Paybackable
“Simple Online Expense Reports. Track out of pocket expenses; Calculate mileage expenses; Submit expense reports easily.”
BigContacts
“Web Based Contact Manager. Full featured: group calendar, tasks, email, files, photos, sales opporuntities. For organizations from 2 to 2,000 people.”
DeskAway
“Web Based Project Collaboration. Whether you are an individual or a small business, DeskAway helps you organize, manage and track your projects from a central location.”
88Miles
“88 Miles is all about making time tracking simple and quick. If you have ever spent the better part of your Friday afternoon trying to work out what you have been doing all week, you will love 88 Miles.”
myHours
“myHours.com is a time management, timesheet, time tracking solution. It enables you to track your work time, projects you work on and tasks you perform.”
WhoDoes
“WhoDoes 2.0 is the new version of the web-based application for the collaborative management of projects and coordination of the team.”
OnStage Project Portal
“OnStage is an online workspace, collaboration, and project management tool. It is a simple tool for complex needs.”
ProjectOffice.net
“Manage your project flow; Manage your time and expenses; Need to track issues? Share your knowledge through wikis!”
Joint Contact
“Joint Contact is a state-of-the art project collaboration tool for sharing and managing information that is used by business owners, project managers, freelancers and independent professionals. ”
Taskado
“Our Goal at Taskado is to make all projects easy to manage, and make your life easier in the process – because life is a project. Our philosophy is simple: project management is not about control, it’s about delegating and communicating.”