Synchronous Communication

Synchronous tools are more effective in today's business and academic landscape as the members of the team or class spread widely across multiple timezones. I once worked in a project where I had team members from Japan to the USA (traveling Eastwards)! I had facilitated online classes where members were in Germany and sometimes traveling in the Pacific Ocean. The use of synchronous communication tools is great for quick facilitation of information and gaining consensus.

Some of the tools that people constantly use are the Windows Messenger, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger, and Google Talk among many other Instant Messaging (IM) communication. Recently I came across Meebo. While this may be yet another IM tool, what makes it different is that it can be used to integrate all the other IMs. So, one need not have all the IMs installed but just Meebo!

Another tool that can be very effectively use is Skype. One can easily share the screen or an application through Skype delivering a powerful presentation. I used Skype recently to deliver a presentation on Project Leadership in a Symposium at the University of Riverside.. Alternatives to Skype could be the GoTo Meeting or WebEx in a professional setting and Elluminate in an academic setting. Using GoTo meeting, it is easy to share documents where collaborative editing can take place to avoid transfering documents by email or FTP/HTTP transfer.

While we discuss Synchronous communication, the discussion cannot end without one knowing some teleconference services. In the environment where conferencing facilities are soaring, project managers and facilitators can easily acquire accounts with Free Conference and No Cost Conference. Although I have not used myself the toll-free and international dial options, these are also good options to explore to facilitate team meetings. In a classroom setting, this service has come handy where members of a class can be brought together in a conference call that is available 24x7 to resolve issues very quickly. The benefits to the professional setting are numerous.

Finally, one should consider a Voice over IP (VoIP) service where voicemails can be automatically converted into audio files that can be transferred to emails increasing the speed with which a facilitator or project manager can reach out to address concerns. I believe Vonage tops in the market but there are other options.