A Digital Workplace alone does not guarantee efficiency. What you actually need – regardless of your tool of choice – is a common work culture. We compiled the most important principles for productive collaboration in the Q-Team.
The practical examples mentioned in the guide mainly refer to an Office 365 working environment. This is not to be understood as a recommendation for a specific tool, but is merely for the sake of simplicity. However, all principles can be applied to (almost) all collaboration tools.
1. Central platform over individual preferences
Where exactly did we store that file? And why? To avoid cross-platform searches, we defined MS Teams as a central collaboration platform for Qudits, and thus as a ”container” for everything in terms of files, conversations, projects, etc.
Each area of responsibility – whether it's a department, a project or an initiative – gets its own Team (= collection of people and content). Each Team can be divided into different Channels (= section for conversations, files and tools). For example, if you create a dedicated Team for the customer ”Q-Dits”, the individual projects of Q-Dits can be divided into different Channels. Most recently, it's also possible to restrict access to individual Channels so that the information can only be retrieved by a specific group of people within the Team.
In addition, Channels can be enriched with a wide range of features. We especially recommended the tool MS Planner, which can be added to a Channel in one or, if required, several tabs in order to organize the Team's tasks. Alternatively, Planner can also be accessed via the browser and is able to automatically send e-mail notifications to an employee if a new task has been assigned to them. This way, all Team members have an overview of upcoming tasks and know who needs to do what by when.
2. Written over verbal
Who said that again? And what was the conclusion of the meeting? In a world of remote work and digital workplaces, it is particularly important to document agreements and results. Verbal agreements and meeting outcomes should always be recorded in writing, directly in the conversation of the relevant channel – visible to all participants at any time.
This principle also applies to calls between colleagues: we reach an agreement verbally, but the agreement is subsequently recorded in writing by one person in a shared channel.
3. Channel over direct message
Oops, ended up in the wrong inbox again. Collaborative working also means sharing knowledge. Information that is relevant to the whole team or to several people does not belong in direct messages, but in the appropriate channel. This ensures that everyone involved is on the same page.
There are, however, exceptions: sensitive or purely personal information that is not relevant to the whole team can go into a direct message.
4. Focus over constant availability
Being available everywhere at all times does not necessarily make us more productive. Turning off notifications and setting clear time windows for processing e-mails and messages helps to work in a focused manner and get into the flow. This also includes setting your own status in MS Teams so that colleagues know when you are available and when you are working in a focused manner.
5. Trust over control
How much did the Q-Team work today? In a collaborative working environment, trust plays a central role. Instead of monitoring employees, we rely on personal responsibility and self-organisation. This means: we trust that each person contributes to the common goal – regardless of where and when they work.
These five principles are not rigid rules for us, but living guidelines that we continue to develop together. Because collaborative working is a continuous learning process.