Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools

Chapter 5Project Planning and Tracking

“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.

— Will Rogers, humorist

Whenever two or more people share a task, the total amount of time required to complete that task goes up just a bit because the people involved need to spend additional time coordinating their efforts. Without coordination, they run the risk of duplicating effort or leaving portions of the task undone (or both!). As your team grows, the amount of time needed for this type of coordination effort (or project management) grows right along with it. Virtual teams must not only have a good plan, but also must have a mechanism for tracking the progress against that plan. There are many software packages created ...