Chris Hartjes returns with another inside look at telecommuting in part three of his "So you want to telecommute?" series (parts one and two). This time the focus is on remote collaboration.

So now that you've gotten an environment created where you are being trusted to do your work as assigned (despite what people think, just doing a good job isn't always enough in the minds of those who manage programmers and designers), and you have a way to be held accountable for the stuff you are working on, we are on to the sticky issue of collaboration.

He suggests a few different ways to keep connected - immediate methods like IRC, a somewhat less real time tool like Campfire - and the most important point regardless of the technology: keeping the communication lines constantly open between you and your coworkers.