System and method for managing communications and collaboration among team members

A method of providing communication and collaboration among team members, wherein the team members include first members of a first group of members and second members of a second group of members, organizational disparate from the first members, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a teamwork tool server supporting a team room environment, the teamwork tool server being coupled to the first members via a first network structure and to the second members by a second network structure, the team room environment including one or more activities for which communication and collaboration among team members is provided;
• providing a global directory coupled to the teamwork tool server including an identification for each of the first members and the second members;
• providing a local directory coupled to the teamwork tool server, the local directory including a team room user profile for each of a plurality of team room members defined by the one or more activities, wherein the team room members are selected from the first members and the second members, wherein the team room user profile includes review authority for one or more of the team members in the pluralities of first and second team members;
• receiving a request for access to the team room environment with respect to the one or more activities from one user of the first members and the second members;
• verifying an identification for the one user in the global directory;
• permitting the request for access to the team room environment according the team room user profile for the one user;
• receiving data from the one user via the team room environment;
• transmitting the data to at least one of the one or more team members having review authority for review and approval;
• and
• receiving approval from the at least one of the one or more team members having review authority prior to associating the data with one or more of the activities.

A method of providing communication and collaboration among team members and non-team members, wherein the team members include first members of a first group of members and the non-team members include second members of a second group of members, organizationally disparate from the first members, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing a teamwork tool server supporting a team room environment, the teamwork tool server being coupled to the first members via a first network structure and to the second members by a second network structure for providing access to the team room environment by each of the team members and the non-team members;
• providing within the team room environment a team room and a second collaboration environment;
• permitting access by the first members to the team room and the second collaboration environment;
• permitting access by the second members only to the second collaboration environment;
• associating a plurality of the first members and a plurality of the second members with the team room;
• assigning a review authority to one or more of the team members in the pluralities of first and second team members;
• defining a plurality of activities associated with a project roadmap, wherein each activity includes an activity description and wherein each activity is associated with the team room;
• receiving data from the first team members and the second team members via the virtual team room environment;
• transmitting the data to at least one of the one or more team members having review authority for review and approval;
• and
• receiving approval from the at least one of the one or more team members having review authority prior to associating the data with one or more of the activities.