Lets get practical about this; meaning, how do we actually work with each other. There are two key elements to understanding this:
- how the CoLab works and
- how we use information and communications technology to do this.
How do we work with each other?
We currently got two ways of answering that question:
- you can check out our CoLab dashboard (this is where we point people that are starting to do work as part of the CoLab).
- you can have a look at the CoLab user guide.
How do we use information and communications technology?
When running a collaborative project where people are not based in the same location (distributed working) technology can be very helpful. For our current purposes this is what we use. A lot of the content is accessible even without creating an account, because we are trying to be transparent about the whole thing.
However, digital collaborative working is a skill to be developed. Therefore, the best way to understand all the ins and outs is to get involved!!!
*Messaging* - general and thematic conversations that CoLab members feel are important, to move the CoLab forward. In the team we currently use Slack for our everyday conversations. Once you got involved you can join the conversation.
*Project Management* - we are using a KANBAN board to coordinate, schedule and assign tasks within the CoLab. Whilst you could do that with post-its or a spreadsheet, we decided to use Trello. You can have a look at things here.
*Proposals and decision making* - Whenever we have to agree on stuff we collaboratively develop proposals and make decisions on them. Loomio is a useful tool if you do that on a regular basis. We are also developing some guidance around decision making, check out what we have done with Loomio here.
*File Storage and office applications* - We do use word processing, spreadsheets, etc. as well. Those files need to go somewhere where we can share them easily and where different people can work on them (sometimes, at the same time). Google Apps (Drive, Docs, etc.) is what we currently use for that purpose.