Level 6 Team Communication Guidelines #

1. Abstract#

This document will serve to provide students with advanced guidelines on how to communicate effectively with your team, so that you can use the concepts in your own projects and in the workplace after you graduate from university.

2. Table of Contents#

• 1. Abstract
• 2. Table of Contents
• 3. What Is Expected
• Microsoft Teams
• Zoom
• Cisco Webex
• Gitter
• Element
• Discord
• Slack
• 4. References

3. What Is Expected#

At Level 6, you will have completed many projects involving some form of group work, even if it is just two of you. You should have experience using at least one communication tool as well as some experience with the Scrum framework. At this level, we expect you to use one of the following tools (preferably one of the top 5) in your projects:

Microsoft Teams#

• Download/link: https://www.microsoft.com/en/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
• How to use: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/microsoft-teams-video-training-4f108e54-240b-4351-8084-b1089f0d21d7

Zoom#

• Download/link: https://zoom.us/
• How to use: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials

Cisco Webex#

• Download/link: https://www.webex.com/unified-homepage-081220201.html
• How to use: https://help.webex.com/en-us/xqsxxt/Get-Started-with-Cisco-Webex-Training

Gitter#

• Download/link: https://gitter.im/
• How to use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21cKayA2x0M

Element#

• Download/link: https://element.io/

Discord#

• Download/link: https://discord.com/
• How to use: https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/360045138571-Beginner-s-Guide-to-Discord

Slack#

• Download/link: https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/
• How to use: https://slack.com/intl/en-gb/resources/using-slack/how-to-use-slack

It is also expected that you follow the Scrum framework (or something similar) and use it in conjunction with Kanban project managament. As a reminder, here is a diagram of the Scrum framework for you to follow. The framework is highlighted in detail in the Level 5 Guidelines:

Fig. 1: The structure of the Scrum framework. By Scrum.org.

You should follow the Scrum framework whilst simultaniously communicating through one of the tools highlighted above when working remotely. If you follow this guidance, you will have the correct structure for effective communication, which will help mitigate many of the problems and risks that might arise during software development.

4. References#

[1] Scrum.org. What is Scrum? https://www.scrum.org/resources/what-is-scrum.