Category: Deck

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What Australian teams should look for in an online workspace

An online workspace is a virtual environment where your teams can work together to get their job done, without physically being in the same place. At a minimum, your online workspace should have features like:

  • Calendar and Email
  • Video calling and Chat messaging
  • File sync and share with co-authoring
  • Assignable Tasks
  • Secure access from any device

We talk here about the 3 ways that a good online workspace should help you get your job done.

But where is the data stored? Many online workspaces will load balance where data is stored across a range of global data centres, meaning it’s often unclear exactly where your data is being stored and how it may be accessed.

For Australian teams, in addition to all the good things we’ve talked about above, your online workspace should also offer on-shore data storage options. e.g. in Australian based data centres (like AWS or NextDC) or on infrastructure that you manage on your own premise.

deskonline.cloud was created to offer Australian Businesses and individuals an online workspace with on-shore data storage options. We chose Nextcloud as the platform to build deskonline.cloud, an Australian based alternative to Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, Office 365 and all of the other cloud-based workspaces that don’t offer on-shore storage options.

There are two ways that deskonline.cloud can help you to transition to an easy to navigate online workspace with onshore data storage:

  1. we can work with your IT team to help you set up your own self-hosted Nextcloud online workspace; or
  2. we can do it for you and set you up with your own branded online workspace in deskonline.cloud.

Either way, we’d love to help! You can get in contact with us at info@deskonline.cloud or pop us a message on LinkedIn

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the Deck app in deskonline – Gig List is looking empty *COVID

keeping track of our gigs this year using the Deck…those lists would usually be packed full of cards by now!

Labels – these are customisable per deck, add your own to track status or use the predefined labels.
Users – assign users to the card to notify someone of a task or activity they need to be involved in. We use it here to show who’s got a ticket to the show.
Stacks – SO MANY STACKS of cards! I’ve said this before, it’s like having an unlimited amount of post-it notes, only they don’t fall off the wall 😉

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Using the Deck for brainstorming

There is something slightly therapeutic about removing post-it notes from the  block and  re-sticking them elsewhere.

But I can say I’ve been won over by the ability to seamlessly create, categorise and task manage stacks of notes online; no paper required!  My stacks of notes are then accessible from my mobile, tablet/laptop or desktop and can be shared with others for review or real-time update via a secure link.

First though, let’s recognise and acknowledge the old school method that has served us well for many years.

The reality is though, that this is how you’re probably doing brainstorming in your team workshops now:

  • Grab a few ‘decks’ of post-it notes;
  • Get your team in a room;
  • Realise some people you need are in a different office, organise to dial them in because there are no VC rooms available;
  • Find a wall;
  • Group brainstorm and write ideas on each post-it note;
  • Remember that you forgot to dial the other guys in;
  • Bring the guys on the phone up to speed, decide it’s easier to take a  photo of the wall of post-it notes and send it;
  • Resume brainstorming and shout at the speaker phone over your shoulder as you as you stick post-its on the wall;
  • Decide the mass of post-it notes on the wall needs grouping and owners assigned;
  • Pull them off the wall and put them back onto the wall in new groups;
  • Watch the moved post-it notes fall off the wall;
  • Put them back on the wall again.  Yell into the speaker phone to keep the off-site guys in the loop;
  • More fall off, repeat last step; then
  • Discuss who will own which actions.  Take a photo of the whole wall, collect all the post-it notes and assign someone to convert the picture into an action plan.

As exciting as this sounds, there is a now a far more efficient and collaborative way to get the job done:

  • Create a shared ‘Deck’ and send the link to everyone;
  • Do you want to chat too?  Open up  ‘Talk’ in Deskonline.cloud for chat or video conferencing;
  • Group brainstorm and start filling up the stacks with notes;
  • Realise the decks need grouping, create some categories or new stacks;
  • Drag and drop notes to the right stack and update categories;
  • Assign owners and due dates to notes along the way;
  • Chitty-chitty-chat-chat.  Repeat last two steps; then
  • Everyone kicks back with a cheeky beverage to admire the glorious looking set of ideas and actions on  your shared deck, knowing that an alert notification will tell them when there’s an upcoming task due

 

This is the Deck, a Nextcloud app and it’s live now in deskonline.cloud your Australian based NextCloud provider.