Instant Messaging/Conference Bridges/Skype
The number one problem with having a distributed development team that's peppered around the globe is the lack of impromptu communication.
On a nonglobal project, you can chat with your lead developer over Starbucks in the lounge, and decide to add code to throttle the call manager to help prevent the server from going critical. After a quick foosball break, you can tell your designer to make the aqua UI a few shades closer to cerulean... Think about it. How many decisions on your team are made in informal settings? Even if it's 10 percent, that's a significant portion lost when you're working with a global team.
But great tools can help bridge the gap of space and time. We encourage Instant Messaging among team members. When global partners feel free to ask questions or get confirmation before proceeding, they spend less time blocked and can move ahead with the confidence that they're doing the right thing. By creating more formal means of communication, conference bridges can help deal with the problem of less informal communication.
In software development, we're used to scheduling the minimum possible number of meetings. But when you're working with a global team, you'll probably need more team meetings because the only time the whole team will be together is when you schedule it. For the team to get comfortable working together, they need to feel like they're in the same room once in a while (even when that isn't possible). You want the team to feel like a team, for people who have questions to contact the experts with answers. It's a forum for informal communication -- just one that you have to plan for in advance.
Skype can be a better phone than a phone. The voice quality can be better and the integrated chat lets you explain things in written format if there's a language issue.
Conclusion
Technology can't bridge space and time -- not yet, anyway. But when it comes to working with distributed development teams, anything that facilitates communication brings your team closer together.
