With most large projects, there is the inevitable time when everyone needs to get in a room and talk through some aspect of the project. Our team spans a couple time zones and includes some ever-wanderers and so we've decided to schedule regular check ins.
Once a week at a set time, anyone on the team interested, and everyone with an open task meets virtually to share updates, talk through different ideas, and go over how the project is generally going. Usually there is about a dozen of us. We gather using Zoom video chat and go through a small prepared agenda which includes a check in on action items from the week prior and any deadlines we've set up.
I typically play project manager and help guide the agenda, keeping us from going off topic (for too long). Another person typically takes notes and updates our project plans with any new time changes or action items.
To prep for the schedule and to make sure that we're setting the right dates, the project admins have put together a rough set of milestones and deliverables for the project. We added very general time estimates on each, linked those which had dependencies (ie; you can't attach the bar without the frame being welding), and then laid them out in GANNT style.
All of our documentation is using the Goole Drive suite of tools including Google Docs for notes, Google Sheets for budget keeping and crowdsourcing materials, and then Kanbanchi for project planning. It's been a really effective way to keep all of our documentation central and shareable to anyone on the team.
For us, these meetings are both a really effective way to stay on task and keep this project and it's action items close in mind. But also, to continue to be reminded of why we're doing this; to strength our own community as much as it is to provide a source of awe and experience for our larger Burner family.