Hi Tolga. I think choose of a good tool depends on what is meant by collaboration. if it is about writing then co-authoring platforms (web-based, p2p, etc.) should be considered. if it is about drawing the selection should be made among collaborative whiteboards. if it is about progressing collaboratively a project, then other types of tools are available. Have a look at wikipedia entry on collaboration software at the following url

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software

Well some methods which i use are

Online whiteboards with tablets! The combination of online whiteboards and tablets

Remote Desktops Sometimes I also like to connect the desktops

LaTeX (in the cloud) Tiddlywiki with the mathsvg-plugin

Regards

Dear Dr. Tolga Soyata, I also use the combination of online whiteboards and tablets.

Excuse my ignorance :) Can you please describe ONLINE WHITEBOARDs and TABLETs ? ... Could you point out the specific web sites you are referring to please ?

For writting papers or proposals with the co-authors, I recommend you https://www.writelatex.com/. Everyone can simultaneously writte and modify the document. It compiles online, so you don't even need a Latex editor or libraries.

Hi Tolga. I think choose of a good tool depends on what is meant by collaboration. if it is about writing then co-authoring platforms (web-based, p2p, etc.) should be considered. if it is about drawing the selection should be made among collaborative whiteboards. if it is about progressing collaboratively a project, then other types of tools are available. Have a look at wikipedia entry on collaboration software at the following url

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software

@Jairo --- I'll be definitely looking at writelatex.com ... Thanks a billion.

@Jalal --- I do not like sophisticated tools. We collaborate among the medical center, Computer Science, and Electrical Eng. ... Medical side likes Word, we like LateX. So, simplicity is really the key here ... This is why, I am currently using the good and old Dropbox , and saving revisions of our paper in different directories, like PAPER001, PAPER002 ... It is old fashioned, but, it works !!! ... Everybody uses their favorite device to download, and work locally, and they post their newest version in Dropbox. I act as the EDITOR, and combine versions etc ... It works ...

We found systems like CVS, SVN, and RCS to create major problems when accessing from other countries, whereas, Dropbox works on a smartphone if needed !!! We always choose simplicity over more functionality ... But, I will most definitely try writelatex ...

Hi Tolga, --- You can use sharelatex @https://www.sharelatex.com/....There are lots of sample reports available for technical writing..... You can even share them via google drive or dropbox....But that's not FOSS and a bit expensive...You can even collaboratively edit the document......But what you do that is, you can create a new project download them as .zip....Put in dropbox folder.....And thats it...any one can upload zipped project and edit it there and do the same procedure.....It has online compiler so you can even work wherever you want...But the problem with latex is unlike any text processor, it works by commands....Happy LATEXing....

Dear Dr. Tolga Soyata, If I get chance top use SKYPE, then I use SKYPE with the Webcam pointed at my office whiteboard.

Trello! https://trello.com/#

Skype with high resolution webcam

Webex is really great

Laurent, is Webex free ? We actually used it before. You can share your desktop right ? This was kind of very useful ... But, it was (I think) $49 per month ... Owned by Cisco ? right ?

If you need a tool for sharing desktops I'd recommend Teamviewer, it's free (Windows, Mac, Linux, ipad, ...). Besides, I was wondering why you don't use Google Drive and share your docs there.

Michael, I definitely started with Google (Google docs, calendar), way before I knew about Dropbox. Then, Dropbox won me over with its SIMPLICITY. Anytime I send an invitation to anyone for Dropbox, it takes 1 minute for them to set it up and be online. I can also make a shortcut on my desktop and just drag and drop things into it. The software has ONE option !!!! and, it is sufficient !!!

I have a 10GB space on my Dropbox, compared to 8GB or something on Google. And, I have 25GB on my Microsoft Skydrive . Yet, I never used the Skydrive or GoogleDrive.

As far as Teamviewer, I will definitely check it out. Just like Webex, I think it is free for a very simple version, but, when you go above a certain level, you need to buy the paid version.

My point is SIMPLICITY. Look at Google: the world's best search engine. All they give you is a simple search box. I am dreading the days when some genius at Google will come up with an idea to complicate it, with 50 buttons etc ... NO ! Don't do that ! People want SIMPLE things. They are doing exactly the right thing. Simple textbox that everybody understands, and world's most sophisticated AI technology to UNDERSTAND what you are asking and give you options. This is exactly the right HCI (human-computer interaction) mechanism.

Am I making sense ?

I use Skype, it was successful till now.

EMS, yes. definitely, but, anybody who is "evesdropping" will usually do this for financial gain. When you are sharing academic material, the more people are listening, the better :) right ? In the end, our research results all go to public ...

But, I understand your point, for certain things, you cannot use these methods. One perfect example is MEDICAL RESEARCH. Medical world is heavily regulated with HIPAA. So, you cannot simply share your medical files using these methods. In this case, you have to go to a provider that is GUARANTEEing the privacy of conversations, etc ... This will possibly imply that, you pay for that service ... But, for academic collaboration, privacy is not the main concern, but, rather, the LOSS OF DATA. So, when we use tools like Dropbox, since they are free, they cannot guarantee that your data won't be lost. This is why I only keep a COPY of everything there, not THE ORIGINAL ... Alternatively, the PAID Dropbox service has some sort of data loss guarantees ...

For confidentiality and security in the exchange of files I can recommend using PGP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy) for encryption of data.

Please see the below real time simulator (POUYA software), and its teacher-student feature. It is ideal for power system conferences.

http://www.intelectri.com

Hi Tolga - I'm one of the cofounders at writelatex.com, and I just wanted to add that in the next few weeks we're going to be rolling out a "rich text" layer, so that any collaborators who don't know LaTeX won't need to (it'll work much like in a wordpress blog where you can choose between editing in rich text mode or editing the html)

This means that they get the benefit of a Word-style interface for editing, but the underlying LaTeX code is there if you need it.

If you'd like to know when it's released, let me know and I'll add you to the announcement list. We'd also really appreciate any feedback, thanks :)

@John- That's cool and crazy.....I have used some online latex equation and table editor......those were really good.......And now if you create word-style interface with integrated table and equation editor that will be great......But I have one question.....In Latex for creating one document first you take one sample template and try to edit there....In this case HOW you are doing that....WOULD you provide some sample template there to facilitate the user?

Hi Subir - yes, we have a default paper template for getting started, and a wider gallery (writelatex.com/templates) when you're looking for a specific style. You can also create your own templates and publish them in the gallery - this would let a LaTeX collaborator get everything set up for any non-LaTeX co-authors. We also get a lot of use from lecturers - they can set up a template for their students to complete coursework assignments.

We're now working with open access publishers such as F1000Research to make it easier to publish your work once it's complete (to take away some of the pain of the existing publication process).

We're still developing and really appreciate feedback, so if you give it a try, let us know what you think (and suggestions for improvements are very welcome).

Hi John,

How do the STY files work ?

or, packages ?

We seem to have a lot of trouble with STY files missing ...or packages ...

Like the URL stuff etc ...

I don't understand why they even bother. Why don't you add EVERYTHING !!!

or, have an editor, which allows you to click ... pick and choose what you want

Hi Tolga,

We're currently running TeXlive 2012, due to upgrade to TeXlive 2013 shortly, and so most packages are installed by default. If you need to load additional packages you can upload style files to the project, and include them using the \usepackage{sty-file-name} command.

I agree a dropdown selector for commonly used packages would be helpful - the reason they aren't all loaded automatically is to keep the document compile time low!

John

I have had a horrible time while using MIKTEX, an offline version of latex.....but, when I switched to online latex editor life had become much simpler....

For online latex editor, as John has mentioned, you need to put style file name in the form \usepackage{sty_name}. For the start up you can select a template from the repository, and edit that. Lots of information about errors and syntax, which style file to use, are available on stackexchange.

Dear Dr. Tolga Soyata,

We should use that tool with which we are comfortable, economical, modern, highly compatible, user friendly plug and play interfaces and sustainable.

I think, we are talking about free tools in this entire thread anyway ... If a tool is a PAID tool, there are two issues: 1) cost, and affordability, of course, 2) you don't have the opportunity to switch out of it, when (if) you don't like it or grow out of it., 3) you always find a collaborator that has a different setup, different computer, different OS, etc . So, you are guaranteed to need more than one tool anyway, and this gets expensive quick, not just the tools themselves, but, the upgrade fees, etc . So, this makes it not scalable ...

============

Afaq, you are welcome to call me Tolga. I assume, I have the same permission :)

I am not the "official" type :)

Dear Tolga, No problem. Most important is to collaborate with each other.

Adding something more ... in response to your question.

Best of all, most online collaboration tools are simple, easy to use and inexpensive. After research listing below the four best:.

Basecamp

Skype

Sync.in

Trello

I am one of the few who writes my papers in MS Word. The main reason is the nice equation editor. I once had to use LaTex to write a paper and it was like going back to DOS again - before Windows was created. Unfortunately MS Word lacks equation numbering. Even in version 2013 they didn't include it - that is how much scientific writing is important to MS :-)

For on-line collaboration I use Skype and I find its screen sharing particularly useful. To bad it does not work both ways. I would like to have a chat program where you can write equations like in Word's Equation Editor. I tried a few alternatives but all were just a big disappointment. I find only Skype Screen sharing to be really useful.

Srdjan,"desktop sharing" is pretty good, and you can write (and draw) anything. For example, open a simple MS Paint, and draw something ... I have done it with Webex, but, I don't know if you can do it with Skype. With Skype, I have drawn simple pictures on MS Paint, saved as JPG, and dropped in the Skype chat box, the other person gets it in a second ... Not bad. A little lacking on interactivity though ...

We use join.me a lot, but that allows one to take over another computer completely. It is good for remote support, but too much if you are simply showing something to someone. I wish Skype had an interactive drawing tool, even if simple ...

In fact Skype's screen sharing is not exactly sharing :-) It is more screen copy. Thus it is one sided - although you can reverse the direction.I use it so that I write equations in Word and my co-author can see what I am doing. But he cannot interact.

I take a look at Webex and join.me. Thanks for advice.

Maybe there are some tools for Android and iPad. I will have to do some research.

Surely, Skype is very good for having meetings with co-authors, especially international meetings Italy/France/USA…

But I also prefer that the shared material must be also confidential only with me and my research group. I am used to use svn+ssh for sharing material with my co-authors. We create a repository from which one of us can download/upload material, like LaTeX source code and C++ source code. It is a powerful tool with a lot of features (versioning, history, log, comments, ….).

Oh, I was Skype'ing somebody a week ago, and he told me that, new versions of Skype allow desktop sharing. Pretty fast too. He shared his desktop and showed me where he lives on the map. It was pretty interactive ! It still doesn't allow two-way sharing though ! Slowly but surely ... :)

If skype is an issue, Google hangout works well also. Maybe a translator, person or book. Sometimes language can be a barrier for long distance collaborations.

Hi Tolga, I had the first (for co-authoring) recent experience whereby I and the co-author in Sweeden (I am in Saudi Arabia) used Google Documents. This is of course in addition to Skype to enable voice chat. Using Google documents tool (or similar interactive tools) enables concurrent editing of a shared document which is brilliant. The only problem that we faced happened when coming to the stage of the final MS word formatted article. The Google Docs format is different and conversion is possible, but you won't like to convert and convert back in final stages. Thanks. @AlDmour.

Dear Tolga, your concern is highly relevant, and, I am sorry to inform, but I see no alternative safe enough to share such fixes theses, producing articles, etc.. The use of encryption is not always a two-way street, young people can adapt very well, but odontossauros as I will have more difficulty. The use of skype, google talk, WhatsApp (when it is not so secret) can be good alternatives. As respect to patenting laws is not always preserved or cultivated, if time is not something extremely precious, hardcopies by mail (the old post office) is still an option. Videoconferences, chats media resources, applications, electronic paraphernalia have been constantly invaded by hackers, crackers, considering cyber spying scandals that have arisen every "nanosecond" - all over the world despites the development status of the nation.

Dear Tolga

There’s nothing like calling someone to share an idea or answer a question. By the way, it’s also a good practice to develop a stronger business relationship with someone for whom you typically rely upon email to communicate. But when you don’t have time for a long conversation, or you need to share something concrete with a no-nonsense response, you need other tools in your arsenal. When we can’t all be in the same place at the same time, we use the telephone conference line and Skype’s instant messaging capabilities to keep in constant touch. I like to use video chat and conferencing. Twitter, Google has a suite of programs that are helpful for sharing ideas, or collaborating on specific files.Dropbox has proved to be one of my favorite tools for collaboration

Started with Dropbox as it was the one available at the time, but recently also got Ubuntu one and copy. For videoconferencing mainly Skype, but also a little via google+. Actually, it depends on how people feel about the different tools available.

Screen sharing when needed in addition to concurrent interactive tool like Google documents can produce high interactivity as I said above. Messaging using Skype helps interchanging URLs. One more thing we need to know about skype; there are extra "add-ons" for Skype by third parties that enhances its capabilities, for example the Skype add-on (IDroo) for interactive drawing (I used it in the past with old Skype versions and I think it must have been improved, Try it Tolga). Thanks. @AlDmour.

Dear Tolga. Electronic conferencing tools facilitate information sharing among users in an interactive way for achieving a shared goal.I used to send my presentation on the international collaborative project before video conferencing.All the participants come prepared with the progess of the project.I used keep constant touch with the team members through email.Visiting different work place also help to understand the real difficulties faced by the participating organisation.

.

Well i use skype, n i think its preety easy to use

Inside BITS system, across the three campuses, we have webex available for collaboration. I think we can do the same for across the oceans too.

I heard BigBlueButton is good; even better than Skype.

Never used though.

In addition to dropbox, there are similar sites in Internet. For instance, SkyDrive, Google Drive and Box.

You can find them in:

https://skydrive.live.com

http://www.google.com/drive/about.html?usp=ad_search&gclid=CJLdovHK8LsCFRMRtAodEFEAaA

https://app.box.com/files

Dear Mr. Soyata,

Long time I use https://groups.google.com/ - very useful resource.

Dropbox, CloudStor...

For many cloud services are the future.

This thread added more to my knowledge on collaboration tools and I appreciate all the inputs. As many others I use the traditional tools from emails to skype to google+ and Dropbox.

Copy....similar like dropbox

I think the best is email contact and sharing of documents using word with tracking register changes.

Technology has broken frontiers and distances, but has not established unified collaborative schemes yet. In many countries, collaboration and cooperation is under administrative/bureaucratic decision rules, may be only few happy people could establish long distance real collaboration

Add google plus hangout option which allows for multiple communication at the same time and it is free of charge.

FACEBOOK

( Video chat + Instant messaging)

I find version control software very helpful when writing with latex. Otherwise, I find that I am hunting down the changes in a new version of the article. If your co-authors do not want to use version control software, than windiff (by Microsoft) is very helpful in identifying the lines of the document that have changed.

Google Drive Word Documents & Presentations.

Two or more authors can edit a document/presentation together and see the changes immediately too. Its amazing. Do try all.

@Tolga, I do use Dropbox, e-mails, Skype (both chat and video). It is enough for the purpose of both short and long-distance collaboration! Only when You are living in a same city, You are able to meet associate face to face and discuss the mater. Later on, technology will be applied in order to get paper or report finished!

What I love about Dropbox is its simplicity in installing, and it works everywhere. Smartphone, Mac, Linux, Windows, Android tablet. It takes 30 seconds to install (or UNinstall if you don't like it). Also, if you invite somebody and (s)he accepts it, and installs Dropbox, both of you get 0.5GB free :) It used to be 0.25GB free, but, possibly, they are getting pressure from Windows SkyDrive's 25GB free, and Google's 16GBfree :) Competition is awesome. Companies line up to give you free stuff :)

I thought I was not too bad with technology but much of this discussion refers to software etc, that I have no idea what they are. So as an apparent technophobe, I have successfully used Dropbox, Google Docs, but most of all good old email and attachments in collaboration with others. I have participated once in a Skype conference. Does that mean the obvious are still the best for most of us? Probably not, but we manage!! Having said that, others introduced me to some of these, so perhaps that is how some of us learn what is possible,

Tolga but Google is an awesome option, I feel better than dropbox at times.

@Henna, here is why Google freaks me out : There is song from the 80's : "Somebody's watching me " :) :) :) The artist is Rockwell :) :) :)

Dropbox tries to get you to get their paid version, that's why they are giving you the unpaid product for free ... Google simply analyzes your content and tries to sell targeted products to you and sells your personal info to everyone :)

Dear friends, please pay attention to what Tolga wrote about dropbox. It is a reasonably good tool until it stop you ... I'll explain: I got the trial version for six months, first time I liked, put (many) important files on but one day while I was working on the computer, a message appeared on the screen (in the lower right corner) saying "dear customer your dropbox files will be lost - there was a fatal system failure". And.... bum .... I lost everything that was on this tool. Lucky I'm somewhat paranoid about security and have backups at pen-drives and external HD ... and the damage was lower. Anyway, great caution is needed because if the tool had a fatal flaw in storage, it can have also in terms of reliability as well. Big hug, Vinicius

For me it's been e-mail mostly. I also like dropbox, no problems like @Vinicious mentioned, so far! Google drive and Skydrive make me doubt of their security. I've read Box is reliable and used by mayor universities. For plain communication I've found: what's app, Skype, and even Facebook messenger useful. I also backup everything in different usb drives, HD and if possible different computers also.

By the way, I like Apple's iCloud for reliability and security but no one uses it and doesn't work well with word or rtf formats compatibility... so my iCloud became a personal cloud...

Here are my observations:

*** DROPBOX got "hacked" a few years ago, and people have a bad taste in their mouth about Dropbox. I had to convince one of my students to use it, since he had heard this story before I mentioned it. Of course, remember, when something is free, what are you going to do if your stuff is lost ? Ask for your money back :) So, I only put stuff there to share. There is always a REAL copy somewhere else ...

*** GOOGLE stuff is completely free. Now, when something is free, if you go ahead and read the 85 page disclaimer :) they are saying that, "if your stuff gets lost, too bad. That's your problem." :) Hmmm. I would definitely save a copy somewhere else !!!

*** MICROSOFT Skydrive: Their disclaimer is only 65 pages :) :) :) But, the same story. If your stuff is lost, that's your problem ! I remember somebody's hotmail account getting stolen due to a virus. It's gone .... POOOFFF. Gone !! Just like that. He couldn't even call somebody to ask . It's FREE, what can you do ???

My conclusions is that, if you want to get some kind of a service, pay for it, and there is some accountability. This is no different than the hacked songs that were being downloaded in the Napster days. They contained viruses, and all sorts of disasters. Now, you would be crazy to download songs on Limewire or one of those sites. Besides the clear copyright issues, is it really worth losing your years' worth of data to save $1 per song ?

This is no different with paid storage services. iCloud gives you a free starter service, and you can pay for the paid service, and get some descent tech support and ACCOUNTABILITY, i.e., some guarantees ! Same with Microsoft, Google, and Dropbox. They all have their paid version of the service. Once you grow out of the "trial" mode, and start storing professional work data, it is time to pay ! There is no such thing as FREE :) My time is worth a lot more !!

Hi folks, our university just announced that, they are switching over to Office 365. This is where Microsoft seems to want to take their Office product suite. Does anyone have experience with it ?

Thorsten, according to the "Microsoft theory," ODD numbered products are miserable (Windows 3.1, Windows ME, Windows Vista). and EVEN numbered products are excellent (Windows XP, Windows 7) :) :) :) But, I think this theory applies to Operating Systems.

I don't know about Microsoft Office products. I think, this theory can be expanded to Office products, but, instead of ODD/EVEN, possibly, the cycle is MOD 3, i.e., horrible, good, good, horrible, good, good :) :)

I know Microsoft Office 2013 wasn't great, but, 2007 and 2010 were excellent. So, if this theory is correct, we should expect two good products :) Office 365 being one of them !!! I will post some of my findings when they switch over to it within the next week.

Can anyone recommend a good WYSIWYG program for writing and editing LATEX documents? Probably with a nice equation editor similar to the one in MS Word.

Has anybody tried Google Docs. Works fine for collaboration amongst a smaller number.

I only used Google Docs Draw. I liked it because it was much simpler than alternative tools. I needed to draw simple signal processing block diagrams (squares, triangles, circles, connecting lines). I could start to used it very quickly and most functions were very intuitive and easy to find. However when I needed some slightly more advanced features they didn't exist (like subscript and superscripts) - maybe they added them by now.

A few months later I wanted to edit my drawing I spent few hours trying to find how to insert the Greek letter omega (which I used in my initial files).

In the meanwhile I tried MS Visio 2013 and found that it is a great improvement over previous versions so I am planning to use it in my future papers.

Dear all, I think the current available softwares that can be used for collaboration are many. I tend to agree to the idea that one of the determining factors is the size of the community engages in the colloboration. For those groups involving many nationalities and languages, a software that laverages translation would be more practical. Thanks.

Good point Patrick, collaboration relates to trust.Trust is the key to team.With team work, sharpen by team building philosophy will create an environment for sharing and caring.And finally creating a successful ventures. Thanks.

You are right- trust and respect to each other.I liked the system of coding, when I was chosen as a referee by the journal "Arts in Society" in 2012. I had my own code, and the articles had their own codes. I couldn't share the articles, sending to me for blind reviewing, with somebody The editors gave me 14 days for reviewing. I think, it is a very solid and highly professional system. Besides, it was pleasant, that the well-written manuscripts turned out to be approved by other reviewers too and were published in the journal.For ordinary communication I use my vintage Nokia and e-mailing.

I'm not sure whether this has been mentioned - but Team Viewer is a good application for controlling your collaborator's computer screen remotely. It helps immensely when working with data so that the two (or three or four) of you are literally on the same page :)

@Hansika, You have made three posts, eventually or system did. You can delete last two of them!

Concerning the use of TEAM VIEWER, I do use it when I have to remove bugs and errors on software which is installed far away, or to correct errors in databases done by users of my software, or send a new version of the program without physical departure.

Has anyone used colwiz ?

We just started poking around with it. IT allows up to about 3GB free storage, but, you can collaborate on LateX and Word documents , and share some publications etc.

Dear Tolga, I have yet to find out what is it and how is it run. Have you anything more about it to share?.

@Mohammed, please have a look here http://collaborativelibrarianship.org/index.php/jocl/article/viewFile/155/112 .

Thanks Michael. Will make use the reference. I am yet to refer to the article.

If you want to access system from remote location then Teamviewer is best .

You can use it for Internet as well as Intranet :)

Just a few years ago, effective coordination and collaboration between a group of people required physical proximity, or regular e-mails, phone calls and meetings. Nowadays, however, it’s possible to work on a single project with people from all over the world without ever meeting or speaking to them. Indeed, the emergence of online collaboration tools has revolutionized the way individuals and business work together. Best of all, most online collaboration tools are simple, easy to use and inexpensive. If you haven’t already begun taking advantage of these powerful tools, here are four great ways to start.

Basecamp

Basecamp is an extremely powerful and useful online project collaboration system designed for entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers and business groups. The most used online project management application in the world, the company claims over 4 million users have used the program to collaborate all manner of projects. The application allows you to upload, store, edit and share documents and files online. The interface also provides users with a convenient overview of the project schedule, was well as an account of who is working on what. To-do lists and time tracking ensure that everything is kept in order and on-schedule, while an in-built messaging system allows for effective communication between team members.

Skype

Online video conferences have become widespread in the modern professional world, helping to cut down dramatically on travel costs and expensive long distance phone calls. Although scores of online video chat services have emerged over the past few years, Skype remains the most widely used and convenient. Apart from the standard face-to-face video conference chat, Skype’s Screen Sharing feature allows users to show others whatever is on their screen, which is perfect for presenting slideshows or making visual presentations. A convenient app for portable devices means that Skype can be easily accessed on the go.

Trello

Although Basecamp reigns supreme in the online project management systems market, other contenders have emerged that cater to more specific project types. One such tool is Trello – a simple and free online collaboration tool perfect for individual or smaller group projects. Trello’s friendly interface allows users to create a project by adding items and lists, and assigning people to specific tasks. The online tool then provides real time updates on all actions and progress to members of the project team.

Sync.in

Sync.in is online collaboration in its simplest form. This web-based word processor enables users to view and co-edit the same notes and documents in real time from anywhere in the world. Numerous users can collectively plan projects, brainstorm and compose documents, while color coded text allows people to easily identify who made which edits. A handy time-slider also allows users to recount earlier versions and edits of the document and edit any changes made, while a chat box enables communication between the various collaborators. Sync.in is incredibly easy to use, the basic service is free, and it requires no logging in or signing up.

Often when people talk about collaboration, they’re talking about getting everybody around the conference table, or gathering at the pub to sketch out some ideas on the back of bar napkins. That’s great when your team is in the same room – or even the same town – but at ADwërks we’ve run into a few collaboration challenges.

First of all, Art Director Sara Sullivan lives in Chicago. She’s been there about three years now. A few years after Sara’s move, our online media specialist and strategist, Heather Solberg, moved a little further away – Shanghai. Yep, China.

Why did they move? Well, love makes you do crazy things, like follow your husband to Chicago or Shanghai just weeks after you get married. Why did we keep them on? Because they are both great employees who we didn’t want to lose.

Throw in our largest client (located in Minneapolis, with marketing people in Chicago and San Diego) and we’ve gotten pretty good at long-distance collaboration. Here are a few of the rules and tools we’ve used to make it work.

RULES

Respect the time difference

Chicago’s not a problem, but Shanghai is 13 or 14 hours different (depending on Daylight Savings). With that time difference, a meeting at 2:00 PM CDT would mean 3:00 AM in China. Thankfully Heather’s a night owl, so we do a lot of calls when it’s 9 or 10 AM here and 10 or 11 PM there.

Don’t forget the remote workers

You know what they say: “out of sight is out of mind.” But you need to work to include your long-distance coworkers. Whether you’re brainstorming, recognizing their work, or just Skyping them in when you’re having a beer on Friday afternoon, try to remember them, even though they are far away.

Embrace the face-to-face time

Heather gets back from China twice a year and Sara visits from Chicago every few months, so we try to make the most of those visits. During Heather’s brief stay in July, she and I flew up to Minneapolis for a face-to-face meeting with a client.

Respect their time with family

Why fly to Minneapolis? To give Heather as much time with her family as possible. Flying made it a one-day trip versus spending two days in the old BMW.

Don’t overwork

Especially with co-workers in other time zones, it’s tempting to send work to them at the end of the day, just to get it off your desk. Presto! The next morning it’s done and waiting in your in-box. But since these employees aren’t walking out the door at 5 PM, it’s often hard to know when you’re piling on too much work. Keep the communications flowing so this doesn’t happen.

Trust your employees/co-workers

Since you’re not seeing what they are doing hour-by-hour and day-by-day, you have to rely on employees and co- workers who are good at managing their own time. And you have to trust them to do it.

We’ve learned that working with long-distance employees has made us more flexible and accessible to our clients. While in Philadelphia for a conference, a client asked me to sit in on a GoToMeeting presentation with a potential vendor and the client’s IT staff. Since I’d become versed in the long-distance relationships, I was comfortable joining from my iPad.

And when one employee asked to work part time to extend her vacation in the Cayman Islands, we were able to say “yes… if you don’t rub it in by sending too many pictures from the beach.”

What once seemed like an impossible idea works fine if you’ve got the right rules and the right tools.

Essential Long-Distance Tools

Skype

Super easy video conferencing … and would you believe the connection between Sioux Falls and Shanghai is often better than Chicago? It’s not as good as face-to-face, but it’s the next best thing. For example: just this morning we were talking to Sara when a question about digital ads came up. We could see that Heather was online, so we added her to the Skype call. Instant collaboration, no different than if she was 20 feet away.

GoToMeeting

Quick, easy collaboration, with the ability to pass control and the visible screen back and forth. Worth every penny of the $49 a month.

Yammer

It’s like Facebook for your co-workers. Our remote employees told us they missed the witty banter and snarky comments around the office, so we use Yammer to keep Heather in China up on Mike’s friendly jabs at Andrew. Some businesses use Yammer for important internal communications; we restrict its use to smart-ass jokes and spreading the culture.

VPN

Secure access to our file server is vital. We’ve looked at cloud options but with the terabyte of data on our server, VPN is a cheaper, more efficient option.

Chat

To accommodate the quick questions between the production manager and an art director that usually happen over a workspace wall, we use Google Chat.

Skype is probably the best.

I like skype, drop box, google drive.

Now we can use RG too.

Skype is wonderful