The fast pace of technological change is transforming the way we work. And while many people are office based, working traditional office hours, the tools and technologies of the digital world are opening up radically different approaches to working life.
With workers and colleagues potentially spread across the world, communication has never been more important. In this badge, we will explore the ways in which teams collaborate in building digital systems and products.
The action of working with someone to produce something.
Oxford English DictionaryEffective collaboration is essential to the management of group projects. Collaboration allows different members of the group to contribute to the project that is being worked on, with each member bringing their own strengths and ideas.
Working in a team can be tricky. How often should you communicate and in what form? Is email really the best way of letting others know what's going on? In recent years a range of new software solutions have been developed. All of these tools have one thing in common. They are all web-based so can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and they address lots of the key issues when working with others. Let's focus on four of these tools.
Slack is a tool which enables teams to communicate with each other. Group discussions can be organised into channels, and all messages and shared documents are stored and searchable, so every decision is catalogued.
Cuts down on the need for emails and meetings.
Trello is a project management application. Tasks can be created, prioritised and assigned meaning that an overview of project progress can be seen by anyone at any time. Visuals can be uploaded and seen in Trello, allowing people to comment and approve.
Keeps all tasks related to a project in one place. Trello provides an easy way for project managers to assign tasks and for individuals to provide progress updates.
Conceptboard is a tool often used by creative teams for collaboration. Ideas can be uploaded, from initial sketches through to polished designs. Designers and decision makers can brainstorm, capture ideas and comment on concepts in real time as if they were in the same room.
Interested parties can discuss visuals from anywhere with everyone having access to the same images at the same time.
Teamweek is a project management tool, giving a visual overview of each team member's workload and availability, as well as project timelines, tasks and progress.
Helps track the workload of team members against deadlines, identifies bottlenecks and gives an overview of the need to increase or decrease resources for tasks.
You’re managing an e-commerce website - an online shop. Choose the right tool to collaborate with your team for each of these scenarios:
You want to add a new section to the website, allowing people to customise the colour and some features of your products. Before the tool can be planned, you want to know the potential pitfalls in the project. It’s going to be difficult to get everyone together at the same time, so which tool should you use to have this discussion with the team members that are needed?
