Enterprise Nation

At some point, even working from home, you will need to collaborate with a group of people in different locations. This might be to develop a new product, work on ways to promote what you do or organise a public event. Thankfully there are a range of free services to help you do this effectively online.

E-mail

The first obvious one is e-mail which offers a simple way of communicating with groups of people spread far and wide.

To make it efficient, set up a group mailing list so that you can send the same message to everyone involved. Most e-mail programs allow you to do this or, if you can’t find the right menus, make it simple and type up a word processor page with a list of all the addresses you need, then just 'cut and paste' these into your address bar when you send out your next e-mail.

Online documents

There is a lot of choice here but Google Docs is an effective and free solution. You will need a Google account (and might already have one if you use Google Mail). Set this up for free and you then have access to their documents service.

You can produce documents, presentations and spreadsheets online and give collaborative access to them to whoever you select. This is a really simple way of working together on a project. You might, for example, need to write an introductory text for an event. Everyone you authorise can log in and work on it whenever they have a moment (no time zone restrictions here), and all the changes are visible to everyone involved.

It cuts time and allows you to work effectively with people miles away. You can even put a spreadsheet of your budget online so your group can keep an eye on what is being spent!

Online spaces

These are interesting as they offer you an integrated online 'room' to work in. UK-based Huddle is a good one which gives you a secure 'space' to upload files, a group whiteboard where you can come together and make live notes, an integrated calendar which will e-mail reminders to everyone, when a task needs doing, as well as phone and video conferencing if you need to chat or do 'face to face'.

The basic service is free (although you obviously need to pay for phone charges if you use that aspect) and you can upgrade to a larger storage option and extra facilities. Even UK Government departments are using this system to cut down meeting times and make collaboration more economical - which it seems they all need to do at the moment!

So, never feel isolated again. Set up some online work spaces and stay in touch or network electronically. You can even do it in your slippers - no one will ever know.

Andrew Pepper is an artist and founding editor of WeLikeArtists.com which specialises in practical guides and intelligent savings for artists and independent creative practitioners.

Photo credit: Manzabar