At present we have 3 projects launched, but in their infancy, 2 projects were are working on and 2 in the planning stage. Keeping these 7 projects up to date and on schedule or in development is a real challenge.
We have been communicating and directing these projects through traditional meetings and conversation but keeping each project on track and all parties informed soon became overwhelming, so we added Collonas Workplace to our project management. It take a little while to get the settings right and proxy set up, but since then, its been a really useful tool.
Collanos allows unlimited number of members to work, communicate in real time or asynchronously reducing the need for constant email updates and permitting fewer meetings.
Projects and related projects are stored in a single, consolidated workspace. From now on we all access the same project-related activity / task / comments / documents without the need of going back and forth between multiple tools / channels. Meetings, now less frequent, are also more productive due to our shared understanding.
Instant notification is possible, but a little annoying when teaching so I have turned my off, the IT team however find it useful. Collanos Workplace also allows you to send instant messages to team members (all with set permissions) and alerts you when updates have been made. The usual, ‘Im busy’ or ‘Im available’ is useful but its a feature we have come to expect.
Did I mention Collanos Workplace is free! The service is backed by premium services or bespoke solutions, but as yet, its done all I need and more. We have set up a Collonas to help support and encourage communication between the network managers in the county. I am keen to see how it is adopted.