Now that his first project nearly over, one team member is already looking forward to solving the next problem. "I'm pretty sure the project is going to branch out into a number of other projects," says Jason (not his real name), "and I think all the team members will get the opportunity to work together again."

If Jason is right, there will likely be a lot more projects in the works for his team. He believes there are countless companies—from small to large—that could benefit from using IdeaConnection™.

"At the company where I work, it's difficult to get people to focus on a particular goal or project because they are always tied up with day to day issues," Jason says. Even when those people are focused, choices are limited. "You can't just go out and hire people for a project unless you have a huge budget; with IdeaConnection™, you get the benefit of having a really good selection of people at (I expect) a fairly good price because we are either working part-time or in our spare time."

"And people are more qualified because you can really pick and choose the skill sets," Jason adds. " I would suspect at least dozens of individuals were available in IdeaConnection's innovator pool simply because of our credentials for this project—whoever did the selection did a good job because we got a great, diverse team."

At the beginning of the project, the team's roles weren't really well defined and it was up to them to make that happen. "In the beginning I found it somewhat difficult to get an understanding of how to leverage other people—and that's what I do for a living," Jason says. "My background [engineering] brought a practicality to the project and the team. I cracked the whip; sometimes I brought the conversation to a halt and tried to redirect it but I think everyone was comfortable with our roles."

Although Jason had never worked remotely, he now feels confident about doing it again. However, at the beginning of the project, Jason had a few doubts, mainly to do with whether or not he fit in, "But that soon went by the wayside," he says. "I even expressed my doubts to Paul Wagorn at IdeaConnection.com: fortunately, he didn't pay any attention to it."

As well, Jason wasn't so confident of the outcome at the beginning of the project; in fact there were times when he felt somewhat overwhelmed. He couldn't see a solution until the team bantered back and forth. "I didn't let it get to me though," he says.

Fortunately, his family also supported him and even helped with the project. "My wife did a lot of actual work on some of the software and my son was a test subject," he says, laughing. "At one point I just had enough so my wife picked it up and finished it—I guess she became part of the team because all the other guys pitched in and helped her get it done." Jason notes that the best part about working collaboratively with strangers is that there is no labeling, no preconceived notions and no cliques.

At the end of the day, Jason was pleasantly surprised that the project turned out to be such a success—even though it was "quite the challenge." Jason equates that success to "a great team and a great variety of ideas." And Jason's wife is also looking forward to another project.

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