# Making Remote Work: Tools

DevFeed: [Making Remote Work: Tools](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/making-remote-work-tools-31913.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<http://blog.jayfields.com/2015/01/making-remote-work-tools.html>)

Author: Jay (noreply@blogger.com)

Published: 2015-01-06T13:27:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Jay Fields](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jay-fields.md>)

Topics: [GitHub](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/github.md>), [Pull Request](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pull-request.md>), [Wiki](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/wiki.md>), [Cisco](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cisco.md>), [pair\_programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pair-programming.md>)

Tags: [chat](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/chat.md>), [cisco](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cisco.md>), [github](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/github.md>), [process](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/process.md>), [pull-request](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pull-request.md>), [remote](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/remote.md>), [remote-work](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/remote-work.md>), [tools](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/tools.md>)

## AI overview

This article presents a snapshot of the communication and collaboration tools used by a remote team. It describes GitHub pull requests and compare view for asynchronous code discussion, Hipchat rooms for separating communication by purpose, Cisco Jabber for video calls and desktop sharing, and a Confluence wiki for organizing the team backlog. The author explicitly states that the list is not a recommended set of tools.

## Source excerpt

I recently wrote about my experiences working on a remote team. Within that blog entry you can find a more verbose version of the following text: Communication is what I consider to be the hardest part of remote work. I haven't found an easy, general solution. A few teammates prefer video chat, others despise it. A few teammates like the wiki as a backlog, a few haven't ever edited the wiki. Some prefer strict usage of email/chat/phone for async-unimportant/async-important/sync-urgent, others tend to use one of those 3 for all communication. As you can tell, we have several different communication tools. When writing, I generally prefer to include concrete examples. This blog entry will list each tool referenced above. However, I cannot emphasize enough that: this list is a snapshot of what we're using, not a recommended set of tools. app: Github usage: We use many of the features of Github; however, the two features that help facilitate remote work are (a) pull requests with inline comments and (b) compare. A pull request with inline comments has (thus far) been the most productive way to asynchronously discuss specific pieces of code. Almost all non-trivial commits will eventually end up in a pull request that's reviewed by at least one other team member. We've found compare view to be the best solution for distilling changes for a teammate with limited context. app: Hipchat usage: We have 3 hipchat rooms: work, social, support. It should be pretty obvious what we use each room for. The primary driver for splitting the 3 is for keeping noise down. Most team members look at chat history for work and support, reading anything that happened between now and the last time they were logged in. Social tends to be more verbose, often off-topic, and never required reading for keeping up with what the team is up to. app: Cisco Jabber usage: Within the team, we primarily use Cisco Jabber for video calls; however Cisco Jabber is also a great way for people within DRW offices