

Ask dispersed teams: How do you communicate? - cuchoperl

We are two founders working in a startup. I am working full time and my co-founder is in the univeristy.<p>We live in the same city but it is not practical to working physically-close every day. We were looking for a way to communicate and we came up with this:<p>* A face to face meeting every week (usually in weekends)<p>* A Skype video call every day (around 22:00)<p>* Campfire chat open in our browsers all day long<p>We try to avoid emails, phone calls, SMS in the middle of the day or anything that can interrupt us (unless necessary)<p>Do you face the same problem (dispersed team)? How do you communicate? What tools do you use?
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exline
We are similar that 3 of us are in the same city, but not very close. The 4th
is out of state, but travels at least once a month. The major difference is
that we are all full time on our startup.

IM/Voip (Gtalk/Skype) for daily communication Email (Pretty much goes without
saying) Skype Screen Share/ GoToMeeting when required to view things together.
RedMine for bug/issue tracking

We actually never use video calls, don't see it adding to much. I already know
what they look like. When we have major design or planning sessions, we will
get together for a face to face meetings, scheduled out in advanced. We also
try to get together for lunch/dinner/meeting every month or so.

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atlantic
I prefer e-mail for any technical issues. I can lay out my questions/answers
in a structured way. Also, I don't feel e-mail is an interruption - I can get
to it when I want, and it won't break the flow of my work.

To solve any problems in real time, we use Skype messaging, or if necessary a
Skype video call with voice + screen captures.

Once or twice a week, there will be a face-to-face Skype video call, more for
morale and socializing rather than for work. This is the exception rather than
the rule.

Phone calls and SMS are out. I don't even keep a phone close to my place of
work.

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briandoll
One advantage that email has over the mediums you're already using is its
asynchronous nature. We choose when we want to be interrupted by email.

Realtime is great for creating a good work environment when you're all working
at the same time, but doesn't necessarily bode well for questions you may need
to think on for a bit.

I like using email as a precursor for voice meetings (in person, phone or
skype) to get folks thinking about a particular topic to focus the
conversation.

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cpr
We have four folks in 3 states (Ohio, Texas, Colorado) and use Campfire all
day, plus the very occasional phone conference when we need some high-
bandwidth discussion.

