Teamwork is on the agenda in most companies – but a team is only strong and effective if the framework conditions are right. The most important thing is to be able to learn from each other. We will demonstrate how collaboration with the blink.it platform can be made possible digitally with four practical examples of digital teamwork.
Teamwork means: Learning from each other, even completely digitally
“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 common. Teamwork involves more than just coordinating with colleagues or superiors. Working as a group also means knowing one’s own competencies – and learning from and with others!
Learning is generally a significant topic for companies, mostly 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 various advantages for companies in continuing education, such as a high transfer into everyday work.
What does blended learning have to do with digital teamwork?
Teamwork and blended learning share a common goal: combining independent and joint work to enable effective learning. Only in this way can contemporary learning at the workplace be implemented and practiced. The basic requirement for digital collaboration is always a suitable learning platform that all team members can access and use to exchange ideas.
We at blink.it are convinced that an online platform for blended learning only requires three very simple prerequisites: You can
easily (without technical knowledge)
create your own content (that perfectly fits your topic)
create it yourself (without relying on third parties).
This allows many topics for further education to be mapped as blended learning. It also makes blink.it an ideal platform for digital collaboration – almost “blended teamwork”!
Role distribution in digital teamwork
In teams, it’s always about role distribution – the same goes for blink.it! Essentially, there are two important roles on the blink.it platform that are important for the following teamwork methods:
Participants, as the name suggests, generally take part in the courses and can view content as well as write comments about it.
Admins (administrators) can see content and create and share content within a course.
Next, I will introduce our four methods for digital teamwork with blink.it and provide you with insights into our own methods for effective digital collaboration. With these tips, you can make teamwork in your company more digital, simpler, and more productive!
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 in teamwork. Here, not only the progress in one’s own team is of interest, but often also the coordination with other teams or departments within the company. Keeping video protocols helps to recall agreements at any time – or to make all important information accessible to absent employees.
Method: We keep video protocols of our weekly team meetings. Each team reports news and important events from the past week, as well as the main 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 not only relevant to one’s own team.
Role distribution: A responsible person takes over the organization as an admin, creates a new Blink for each meeting, and uploads the video. All other employees are participants who can watch the videos and comment on them.
Teamwork method 2: Onboarding courses
When new employees join a company, a department, or a team, the onboarding process is of the highest priority. It is important, in addition to getting to know colleagues and superiors, to understand the company culture, processes, and workflows. This can be seen as a further education for the employee as an introduction to the new company.
Method: An experienced colleague from the new team creates a blink.it course with a short introductory and welcome video, important information for the first few days, suitable videos, links, and materials. The goal is for the new team member to find their way quickly. Additionally, the onboarding course serves as a knowledge source that can be accessed 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 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.
Teamwork method 3: Video diary
In addition to images, links, and documents, blink.it offers the possibility to quickly and easily upload videos, for example from a smartphone or tablet. This allows for keeping video diaries. In short videos, project progress can be documented for all employees.
Method: We primarily use video diaries in addition to onboarding courses during the first 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) at the end of each workday during the first two weeks. The video is uploaded and made available to all employees.
Role distribution: Here the roles are reversed! The new employee becomes the admin and uploads the content. Colleagues and superiors are participants and can add tips, praise, and ideas as comments.
Example: Here you can see an excerpt from the video diary of 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 a helpful tool in everyday work. Whether it’s a manual for a specific process, the operation of a rarely used device, or a collection of links to helpful texts: All of this 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 during the onboarding process by all team members and then reused repeatedly. However, targeted courses for important knowledge, such as a course on data protection, are also available to all employees at any time.
Role distribution: Here, all team members can take on the role of admins, maintaining and supplementing the course to build their knowledge pool together. No one remains a pure 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 a reference guide on data protection.
Conclusion: Methods of digital teamwork on four levels
The combination of online courses and direct collaboration proves itself not only for further education but also in daily collaboration in teams or departments.
A blink.it course can be used on various 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 context, each team member is sometimes a person responsible and sometimes a participant. Everyone can contribute, their ideas, and their knowledge. True to the spirit of digital teamwork: Everyone together helps create something bigger and new for the company.
