Thing 12: Collaborative Tools

My last collaborative project was a combination of virtual and face-to-face.  My school colleague and I were hired by a client to do research work for his website.  I met virtually with my colleague and face-to-face with the client.
 
We meet weekly using Zoom, a skype-like interface which allowed recording and screen sharing. We organized and communicated our project in Asana instead of email, which was convenient because it focused the project into one container, that we would check-into when we were working on that element of our day.  We considered Trello and Slack, but went with Asana, because it offer a premium edition free for the duration of our project because we were students.  It had drawbacks, and I hope to be able to try-out Slack and Trello at some point.  Something that came to mind when I was working on the project was that because our LIS program is entirely online, that our University should offer some sort of Project Management software to every student – not only for personal organization and workflow, but because it would be super-useful for all of the virtual group projects we are asked to do.
 
My experience was 100% positive, but that was entirely due to my colleague.  She was conscientious, prompt, engaging, funny, and dependable.
 
I’ve used Doodle, which is awesome and such a relief if you’ve ever been victim of an email thread where everyone lists their availability and it goes back and forth for weeks.  It’s a dream come true for schedulers, admins, meeting organizers.
 
And as an expat, Skype is a lifesaver.  I Skype regularly with relatives, which makes them feel not so far away.  I keep my work and my personal-life separate, so it’s nice to have another option (Zoom) available.