Collaboration Tools to Establish Connectedness and Possible Barriers to be Encountered

Collaboration Tools for a Virtual Team
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Collaboration Tools for a Virtual Team
After the second virtual meeting, every team member was assigned specific tasks to accomplish, and the progress updates will be given weekly. Most importantly, the new software release date was moved up two months due to the update of the firm’s system architecture. Team member two, the computer engineer from the East Coast office, has missed two last meetings and has not responded to any emails. Team member five, the corporate communicator from the West Coast office, has concerns about meeting time. In addition, a new team member from Thailand, a software tester, is joining the virtual team. The primary focus is on the best collaboration tools to establish connectedness and the possible barriers likely to be encountered.
One of the best collaboration tools for this virtual team is Zoom. Zoom is the best video conferencing tool that would allow proper participation for every team member. Specifically, the virtual team has members from different parts of the world (Dyer & Dyer, 2020). Currently, a software tester from Thailand would be joining who has a general understanding of English and minimal ability to write and read. In reality, this member needs to be welcomed warmly into the team and introduced to other members. Moreover, the individual has to be updated on what the team has been doing for the last two meetings so that the person can catch up. Zoom is the best tool to achieve all the above objectives and would make every to feel involved.
Slack is the other collaboration tool that the virtual team would use. The best thing about this app is that members can use it on their mobile devices, such as tablets, laptops, or smartphones. Since every team member was allocated specific tasks, Slack would make it to provide updates weekly. The app solves the issue of time differences, which has been raised by team member five (Abramson, 2019). As such, when an individual finishes his or her assigned tasks, he or she can leave updates for others to see on Slack. Even if some members might be unavailable at the time of posting the updates, one gets feedback when they see what an individual has posted. In addition, Slack allows the use of audio files, which might be an advantage to the new team member from Thailand.
The choice of my collaboration tools supports my effort to establish connectedness. Zoom will help all team members interact, share things about their lives and brainstorm about the training plan. Since the virtual team uses a leaderless structure, it means that all members are equal. Zoom facilitates horizontal communication, flexibility, and reliability (Dooley, 2021). Team member two will be called and invite the indiv...