[c]

• Use the minimum number of communication media – people are unlikely to commit to a wide range of tools.
• Find a way to bring them together, eg blogs and wikis, discussion boards that can be populated directly through emails, teleconferences or videoconferences.
• Remember – synchronous communication works best for convergence, asynchronous for conveyance.
• Push technologies work best for people with less commitment or less time dedicated to the project; pull technologies require more effort to be successfully implemented.
• Technologies that enable ad hoc communication but require constant presence will only be useful tools if they are already part of project members’ practice. If members are not accustomed to using tools such as MSN or Skype, they are unlikely to start. 
• If a particular system is used as the dominant method of communication, everyone on the project has to be familiar with it. This may mean that some people will have to be trained. Whichever method is chosen ensure everyone is comfortable with using it. If they are not, find one with which they are. The essential thing is that ONE form of communication reaches EVERY project member. It is not good practice to have one communication system for one part of the project and another one for another part as communications will then either need to be replicated (which takes extra time) or will be lost.

Choosing which communication tools to put together in a communication strategy will depend on:

• the size of the project
• the number of institutions and the accessibility of their media
• the practice and experience of the members
• the geographical separation
• the track history of the partners.

For example:

• Strategies for limiting who gets which email will be more important with larger projects.
• Virtual meeting platforms will be more important with projects that are more disparate
• Face-to-face will be more important with partners with whom a level of informality and trust have not built up (or with whom issues have arisen).

 

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