Dropbox Tips (Part III) – Group File Sharing

(This blog post is part of a Productivity series on“Dropbox Tips.” To read the other posts in this series go here: Part I – Document Backup, Part II – Accessibility, or Part IV – Public File Sharing)

Most of our family lives a long way from us. In fact, many of our friends do as well.

I work with many groups of people in many different locations. We need to share files but we’re on dispersed teams. Perhaps you’ve found this as frustrating as we have.

The third tip we have regarding the use of Dropbox is Group File Sharing. Here are some examples:

1) Inter-Team Sharing (same location)

Dropbox permits you to give different people access to different folders. For example, each person on your team may receive access to your “team” folder. This reduces cost by giving you a document sharing platform that bypasses the costly servers of the past.

However, if you were using Dropbox to share files with potential clients, you could put those files in the “client resources” folder restricting access to only those potential clients you’re in negotiations with.

For employees, you could have a separate folder for each direct report. Each person might have a tracking file in their folder, any long-term projects they are working on, and file their monthly reports in the same file. This keeps these files out of your inbox, in an organized and easy to find place, and you see a Dropbox notification on your screen when they’ve been completed.

2) Dispersed Teams (different locations)

Dispersed teams face unique challenges. How do you share files with a team that’s located in 5 countries? What tools facilitate collaboration rather than miscommunication?

Using Dropbox to collaborate on a project, a team member creates a folder and gives each person access. Then each person can place documents to share, collaborate on, or a request for feedback in the folder. This “pushes” the file out to everyone, reduces inbox clutter, and facilitates communication/understanding (ie everyone had access to the file, whether they chose to view it or not is another matter).

3) Family Files

Families like sharing pictures, videos, and presentations. For couples, you could create a “family folder” for each of your families (ie “husband’s family” and “wife’s family”). Within these folders you could easily share pictures, videos, and anything else with your family. Websites such as Facebook are a great way to share pictures but Facebook reduces the quality. Using Dropbox allows you to share high quality images (within reason, otherwise you have to upgrade to a paid version).

4) Group File Sharing Allows Sharing with Friends

Groups of friends often take part in activities together. When small children are involved, people who avoid social media, or in a business context, oftentimes people prefer not to share pictures on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Instead you can easily create a folder in Dropbox, name it “Friday Dinner Group”, give the other friends/families permission to add/delete content, and then begin sharing pictures securely among you without involving the whole world.

How do you plan to employ Dropbox in your company or family?

=========

(Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and create a Dropbox account, I will receive an affiliate storage space. However, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)