SFSU-ISYS 363-Fall 2013

Section-01 Group: Eagles

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Technology has become so advanced that today businesses heavily rely on it and

the internet to help run their companies. Because of this, collaboration tool

software was invented to give businesses a way to easily manage teams therefore

becoming more productive and organized.

Collaboration software (aka workgroup software) is software that

supports teamwork, whether team members are in the same location or dispersed around the world. Various collaboration software includes video

conferencing, task management organization and document sharing.

According to Ichitect.com a few collaboration software leaders at the

moment are Zoho, Teambox and ConceptBoard.

Eagles Criteria

• One of the features we are looking for in a collaborative tool is a communication application that will allow us to communicate easily with each other. We would also prefer if there were more than one communication application within the collaborative tool site.

• Since we are very busy college students (whose time is precious) we are looking for a collaborative tool that we will be able to learn quickly. This way we won’t spend time learning the tool that could be spent working on the project or other scholastic tasks.

• It would be helpful if the collaborative tool was easy on the eyes. Since we will be spending a significant amount of time on the site it should be a site that we don’t mind looking at.

• Probably the most important need is a collaborative tool that keeps all of our projects, tasks and notes well organized and easy to locate.

Pros• Learning how to use Trello takes a small amount

of time. The site is fairly simple.

• The tasks that need to be done, tasks being done and tasks that have been completed are all listed and shown on the project board side by side. It is very clear and well organized.

• Tasks are recorded on “cards” within a project board. You can drag cards from one production list to another. For example, the card “Create PowerPoint presentation” was originally created in the To Do list and once it has been completed the team member can drag the card to the Done list.

Cons• There is no note feature therefore there is

no way of showing the details of a task that needs to be done, only the task itself is shown.

• There is no videoconferencing or easy way of communicating with team members.

• The tool is too simple to be used for business purposes. It is would be better used as a personal tool rather than a collaborative tool.

Pros• The label feature is easy and useful as it

mimics a feature already present in MacOS and Windows OS.

• Team members can readily create a task in a bar similar to updating a Facebook or Twitter status. They can also easily go back and edit any post that has been made.

• Team members can use the “@” symbol to tag anyone to a comment/task/note. This is helpful if the team leader or a team member needs to grab the attention of a specific team member.

Cons• In order to access a note a task must be

created first. This means that the team has to search through multiple tasks which is time consuming. In a fast paced business environment this will waste time and money.

• Members are unable to comment or leave notes on another member’s comment, making the means of communication difficult.

• Having to create a post each time takes up space on the page. Every post has to be read through to find what is being searched for.

Pros• Notes can be shared with individuals outside of

the team who do not use Teambox. Teambox creates a link of the note which can be sent to anyone.

• Team members can communicate through videoconferencing and the conversation feature.

• Tasks can be exported into an Excel spreadsheet. The spreadsheet shows who is assigned to the task, when it was created, when it is due and any hashtags associated with it.

Cons• Teambox is a free collaborative tool but only

for teams made up of 5 people. Once the team exceeds 5 there is a monthly fee.

• The tool is semi-confusing to navigate. Teambox offers a wide number of video tutorials but time can be wasted learning how to use the site instead of getting tasks done.

• There is not a way to delete a project once it has been created. If that feature exists it was not easily found.

Pros• This collaborative tool is easy to learn

and navigate.

• It can be accessed on any mobile or tablet device.

• WeChat has a photo sharing feature. This can be useful for a company looking to relocate that has created a “relocating team”. Team members can go to different job sites and send each other pictures of locations discovered.

Cons• Shouldn’t be used for professional

companies. This site is better suited for a small company whose leadership is made up of young people.

• This tool uses QR codes to invite people to group chats. QR codes our quite outdated and most people don’t know how to use them.

• The company is more focused on people casually communicating with each other rather than for business purposes.

Pros• This collaborative tool doesn’t require that

team members have a smartphone. Groups can have conversations through SMS messaging by using command codes created by GroupMe.

• If team members are meeting somewhere one team member can send their present location to the team. That way no one will get lost and everyone knows where to go.

• The tool makes it very easy to add new members.

Cons• This collaborative tool is meant to be

used mainly on a mobile device. Therefore it’s quite limited as to how it can assist a group working on a project.

• There is no way to share documents with team members.

• When trying to add new members text messages are sent to them with may be confusing and sometimes even annoying

Winners!

• The Eagles chose the collaborative tool Teambox as one of the winners. This tool was chosen because it offered the best features that would support a team working on a project. This collaborative tool was also the most organized of the 5 tools researched. It takes a little time to learn how to use it but not so much that time is being wasted. We also found that the video tutorials were really helpful.

• The other winner chosen is GroupMe. We will use this as a way to easily communicate with each other.

References

• https://trello.com/

• https://www.producteev.com/

• http://teambox.com/platform/webinars-tutorials/

• http://www.wechat.com/en/

• https://groupme.com/

• http://ichitect.com/best-team-collaboration-tools/