Tools for Collaboration
Each one of these digital tools has proved to be extremely useful for your National Executive Council. I hope that they can be just as beneficial for your team!
Your National Executive Council uses several tools to collaborate with each other on large projects. These tools include Google Drive, Trello, and Doodle, all of which are explained in detail below.
Google Drive
Google Drive allows you to create, share, save documents with a click of a button. By creating account with Google Drive, you gain access to Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides. All of these files can easily convert to Word Documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations.
One extremely useful aspect of having access to these Google files is that multiple people can work on them at one time. Say you have to create a workshop with another member who lives over an hour away. You can either video call or call each other and then construct the slideshow and notes simultaneously for your workshop on Google Docs and Google Slides. Then you can save these files on the Drive. Once you save them, you can access the files anywhere as long as you have the Google Drive app.
Trello
Trello was something new to me. After you establish an account, you can create multiple "organizations" that you can invite members of your team to join. Within each organization, several boards can be developed. For example, the "NEC organization" has a board for each goal outlined in our Program of Work. Within each board there are three lists: to do, doing, and done.
You can add cards to each list according to any tasks you have. For example, if an officer needs to write an article for the local paper, you can create a card that says, "write article," on the To-Do list within the Public Relations board. Once the article is written, you can move it to the "Done" list.
On each card you can add attachments, create checklists, tag specific people to the card, create labels, and set deadlines. When deadlines approach, organization members receive email notifications.
Doodle
Doodle enables groups to quickly schedule meetings. Someone has to initiate a poll for members. The initiator will select various dates and times for people to choose from. The options are then emailed to selected individuals. Members can choose "no," "if need be," and and "yes" to the proposed dates and times. After everyone has completed the survey, Doodle will inform the individual who sent the poll which time works best.
