Teamwork is often on the agenda in most companies – but a team is only strong and effective when the conditions are right. The most important thing is to be able to learn from each other. How collaboration becomes possible digitally with the blink.it platform is demonstrated through four practical examples of digital teamwork.
Teamwork means: Learning from each other, completely digital
Being “team-oriented” is probably one of the most popular and important soft skills, both in school and in professional life. In many companies, working together on projects or tasks is everyday life. Teamwork encompasses more than just coordinating with colleagues or supervisors. Working as a group also involves knowing one’s own competencies – and learning from and with others!
Learning is generally a major topic for companies, often in the context of professional development. For knowledge building, blended learning has been the most successful method for years: the combination of online and in-person learning offers diverse advantages for companies in training, such as high transferability to everyday work.
What does blended learning have to do with digital teamwork?
Teamwork and blended learning share a common goal: to integrate independent and collaborative work to enable effective learning. Only in this way can modern learning be implemented and lived in the workplace. The fundamental requirement for digital collaboration is always a suitable learning platform that all team members can access and communicate about.
We at blink.it are convinced that an online platform for blended learning only needs three very simple prerequisites: You can
easily (without technical knowledge)
create your own content (that fits perfectly with your topic)
do it yourself (without being dependent on third parties).
This allows many topics for training to be represented as blended learning. It also makes blink.it an ideal platform for digital collaboration – essentially “blended teamwork”!
Curious? Then test out the blink.it platform directly yourself!
Role distribution in digital teamwork
In teams, it is always about role distribution – this is also the case at blink.it! Basically, there are two important roles on the blink.it platform that are important for the following teamwork methods:
Participants, as the name suggests, participate in the courses and can view content as well as write comments on it.
Admins (administrators) can view content and create and share content within a course.
Below, I will introduce our four methods for digital teamwork with blink.it and give you insights into our own methods for effective digital collaboration. With these tips, you can make teamwork more digital, easier, and more productive in your company!
4 Methods for Digital Teamwork (Examples with blink.it)
Video protocols
Onboarding courses
Video diary
Knowledge management
Teamwork Method 1: Video Protocols
Joint agreements in meetings are particularly important for teamwork. Not only the progress within one’s own team is of interest, but often also the coordination with other teams or departments in the company. Keeping video protocols helps to be able to recall agreements at any time – or to make all important information accessible to absent employees.
Method: We keep a video protocol of our weekly team meeting. Each team reports news and significant events from the past week, as well as key topics for the upcoming week. These meetings are recorded (with a laptop or tablet) and uploaded to a blink.it course. At the end, questions can be asked or clarified that are relevant not only to the individual team.
Role distribution: One responsible person takes on the organization as an admin, creates a new Blink for each meeting, and uploads the video. All other employees are participants who can watch and comment on the videos.
Example: You can see how our weekly meeting runs in excerpts in the following video.
Teamwork Method 2: Onboarding Courses
When new employees join a company, department, or team, onboarding is of utmost priority. It is important to get to know colleagues and supervisors as well as the company culture, processes, and workflows. Essentially, it serves as a form of professional development for the employee as an introduction to the new company.
Our onboarding experience is now available as a concise guide. In it, you will learn how to implement the principle of blended onboarding in your company:
Method: An experienced colleague from the new team creates a blink.it course with a small introductory and welcome video, important information for the first days, suitable videos, links, and materials. The goal is for the new team member to get oriented quickly. Moreover, the onboarding course serves as a knowledge source that can be referred to at any time.
Role distribution: The experienced employee acts as the admin, meaning they can create, modify, and share content. The new employee is a participant and can address questions or ideas directly in person at the workplace.
Tip: At the beginning of my time at blink.it, I wrote a detailed article about my personal experiences in blended onboarding.
Example: Here you can see the welcome video from Corinna, who explains the process of the first weeks and the contents of the onboarding course for new employees.
Teamwork Method 3: Video Diary
Besides images, links, and documents, blink.it offers the possibility to upload videos quickly and conveniently, for example from a smartphone or tablet. This makes it possible to keep video diaries. In short videos, project progress can be recorded for all employees.
Method: We primarily use video diaries as a complement to onboarding courses during the initial period for new employees. To reflect on new knowledge and document progress, each new employee records a short selfie-video with their smartphone (maximum 2 minutes long) after each working day in the first two weeks. The video is uploaded and made available to all employees.
Want to learn more about video production with a smartphone? Check out our info page:
Role distribution: Here the roles are swapped! The new employee becomes the admin and uploads the content. Colleagues and supervisors are participants who can provide tips, praise, and ideas as comments.
Example: Here you can see an excerpt from the video diary from me (Laura) and colleague Jessi, as well as direct feedback from blink.it founder Konstantin.
Teamwork Method 4: Knowledge Management
For both new employees and established teams, a central knowledge repository is useful in everyday work. Whether it is a guide for a specific process, the operation of a rarely used device, or a collection of helpful links: all of that can be gathered in a blink.it course as a knowledge database.
In the blink.it team: Small knowledge databases for individual teams often develop from onboarding courses. These are supplemented by all team members during the onboarding process and are then used again and again. However, there are also targeted courses for important knowledge, such as a course on data protection, that all employees can access at any time.
Role distribution: Here, all team members can take on the role of admins to maintain and supplement the course together and thus build their knowledge pool. No one remains purely a participant; everyone works equally.
Example: This is what an internal course with knowledge for all employees at blink.it looks like. This course serves as training and reference material on the topic of data protection.
Conclusion: Methods of Digital Teamwork on Four Levels
The combination of online courses and direct collaboration proves effective not only for training but also in daily collaboration in teams or departments.
A blink.it course can be used on different levels for better teamwork:
As a video protocol for important meetings and information.
As an onboarding course for new team members.
As a video diary for reflection and project support.
As a knowledge database for individual teams.
In this way, each team member alternates between being the responsible party and a participant. Everyone can contribute their ideas and knowledge. In the spirit of digital teamwork: Everyone jointly contributes to creating something larger and new for the company.
Would you also like to seize the opportunity to improve digital teamwork with blended learning and blink.it with your team or department? Then test blink.it now with the free admin demo, create initial content, and develop your own digital teamwork with your employees!
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Do you want to test how an online course for blended learning works and how you create content with blink.it? Then request your free demo now!
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Do you have questions about blink.it or this article?
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