Dave Donaldson

When developing software, there are many contributing factors to the success (or failure) of a project, and for me the second most important factor is communication (the first being having the right people). Communication is always critical, in the software industry or elsewhere, but becomes even more crucial when you have teams of people spread out across the country in different time zones.

Telligent is this way. Most people are surprised to learn that the product team is 1) only 10 people and 2) not located together in an office (only two members of the product team are in the Dallas). Naturally this leads to the question "How do you guys do it?". My response is always a two part answer: we have highly talented people and we use a combination of tools to help us.

Email
Duh. No business works without email, and we're no different, but I tend to loathe email because I haven't yet mastered Inbox Zero. I'm getting there, but it's been a challenge. In any case, email is a no-brainer.

Instant Messaging
Many things get done using IM, mostly of the quick question variety. Occasionally you'll get a lengthy conversation going, but it's usually reserved for quick hits so that you and the person you're chatting with can get back to what you were doing.

Skype
Ah, Skype. My favorite tool to love and hate at the same time. I love Skype because it allows me to talk with someone without having to use a phone, and for free. However, Skype is not without its issues when it comes to reliability. It works well most of the time, but its those times when it doesn't that is really frustrating. And it's those times that brings me to the next tool.

The Phone
You remember the telephone, right? The thing with numbers on it that allowed you to talk to people before email took over? It's the thing that allows you to hear another person's voice, old school. Some of you might even remember rotary phones. Of course, it's probably only those people who remember analog clocks too. Sarcasm aside, the point I'm trying to make is that all too often in this day and age people avoid actual human interaction at all cost, instead deferring to email and IM only (along with Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, insert any social network site here, etc). I call bullshit on that approach and would much rather talk to a live human being than use email and IM any day.

SharedView
Not being able to grab someone when you want to have an impromptu whiteboard session or do some pair programming or review some code can be frustrating. That's where SharedView comes in. SharedView has allowed us to collaborate on those types of things when the need arises, and because of that has become a vital tool for working with someone remotely. The cool thing is that it supports up to 15 people per session, so it's not just a 1-1 tool.

Jing
I've talked about Jing before, but it's worth mentioning again because of how indispensable it has become to us. Recording a 5 minute screencast for communication has never been easier.

So with that, what tools do you use? If you have other tools that you like, I'd love to hear about them.