Spotlight #1: Collaborate using Team Folders

Spotlight #1: Collaborate using Team Folders


Hello All,

This is the beginning of our new Spotlight Series for Zoho WorkDrive. WorkDrive is a file management and collaboration tool for teams of all sizes. In this series, we will discuss individual features and related use cases in detail, to help you make the best use of WorkDrive.

So, here's our first spotlight series article: Collaborate using Team Folders.

Teamwork using traditional content collaboration platforms involves sharing files with your teammates, managing their access permissions, and a futile attempt to keep track of all the changes they make. It doesn't end there. Every time you need access to a file created by someone else, you have to request access and wait for them to share it with you. It's even harder to keep these files organized for easy access.

These collaboration woes are now a thing of the past. Zoho WorkDrive introduces an entirely new way to create, store and share files to collaborate with your team members—Team Folders.



There are two types of Team Folders: Private Team Folders and Public Team Folders.

1. Private Team Folders
You can create Private Team Folders to store and work on files that are exclusive to your department, or related to a specific project. Only the team members who have been added to a private Team Folder can access its files and folders.

2. Public Team Folders
You can create Public Team Folders to store common team files so that all the members in your team can access them. Anyone in the team can join a public Team Folder and access its files and folders.

How Team Folders can make your workday easy

Smooth onboarding for new team members
Adding members to your Team Folder is simple and quick. Just enter the required email address, assign an appropriate role (Admin/Organizer/Editor/Commenter/Viewer), and add them. You can also add groups to a team folder. All group members will have the common team folder role assigned to the group.

Fine-grained roles and permissions
WorkDrive lets you assign a Team Folder member higher access permissions to a file or folder within it. For example, a member with viewer role in a Team Folder can be given edit or higher access to a sub-folder or a file.

Advanced file sharing
The goal behind Team Folders is to reduce the number of times you have to share files individually with your teammates. Files added to a Team Folder are already available to all its members. You can also share files individually with members of your team with specific access permissions when needed.

Our advanced external sharing feature lets you create multiple links to share the same file with different stakeholders, like clients and partners. You can set access permissions, passwords, and expiry dates, and decide who can download a file. You can also request user data like name, phone number, and email address.

Note: As an admin, you can disable external sharing for your Team Folder altogether when required.

Quick file search
Never worry about losing a file again. Find anything in no time with our advanced file search by just entering the file name, author, or even a keyword. Narrow down your search further by filtering the search results based on file location, type, or date range. Learn more about searching files in WorkDrive.

Built-in Zoho office suite
With WorkDrive, you don't have to spend time or money on external office suite apps to work on your ideas. Easily create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations with the help of our intuitive Zoho office suite consisting of Writer, Sheet, and Show.

Files in draft mode
Do you want to work freely on your files without other members commenting on or editing your work too early? 

Working together with your team in a Team Folder doesn't mean your files are available to your team before you're ready for their contribution. When you create files using Zoho Office Suite in a Team Folder, they'll remain as drafts and are visible only to you. When you mark those files as complete, they will be accessible to other members in your Team Folder.

File locking
Have you ever faced a situation where you shared a customized offer with a client, and then one of your team members changed the offer details to share it with a different client? The first client was likely upset by the change. How do you prevent this from happening in the future?

You can use the Check Out option to prevent your team members from overwriting the changes you make to a file. To allow others to edit the file, check the file back in. Learn more about locking files.

Smart notifications
Unread Notifications in WorkDrive will keep you informed on every change made in your Team Folders. You won't be startled by an unrecognizable file when you return to something you'd been working on earlier.

Follow our Community to stay connected on the series, and do not miss any product updates.

If you have any queries, please leave a reply below or contact support@zohoworkdrive.com.