Ask dispersed teams: How do you communicate? | Hacker News Reader

Ask dispersed teams: How do you communicate?

8 pointscuchoperl4 comments

We are two founders working in a startup. I am working full time and my co-founder is in the univeristy.

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:

* A face to face meeting every week (usually in weekends)

* A Skype video call every day (around 22:00)

* Campfire chat open in our browsers all day long

We try to avoid emails, phone calls, SMS in the middle of the day or anything that can interrupt us (unless necessary)

Do you face the same problem (dispersed team)? How do you communicate? What tools do you use?

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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