Set up a shared project folder for your team

The situation. A new project is about to start, led from the organisation you work for. You are the project lead of the project team, which has six members in total, each working at a different organisation. A lot of confidential information will be shared within the project.

What you will use. A group inside your organisation and, within that group, the Drive.

1. Create the group #

Choose New group, the + icon at the bottom of the groups rail. Select your organisation, give the group a fitting name and add a clear one-line description. Add your five team members under Members. If your organisation uses group types, pick the right type. If your team members are already in your contacts, they show up sooner when you search for them while adding members. See Contacts.

When you create the group, you automatically become its Owner. Every member can read everything in the group, and nobody outside it can. For large teams it is advisable to work with at least two owners, so that one can take over the other's role during absence. See also Groups.

2. Build the folder structure #

The folder structure is entirely up to you. If your organisation works with many similar groups of the same types, we advise also agreeing on a fixed folder structure. That makes information more recognisable and easier to find.

Go to the group's Drive and create folders with New folder; for example "01 Contract", "02 Working files", "03 Deliverables". Settle the structure as much as possible at the start; moving things later is easy with Move to folder, but agreeing early in the project avoids confusion later.

3. Upload the files you already have #

Select Upload › Folder to upload a folder from your computer in one go. You can also simply drag files into the right folder. The Uploads panel appears at the bottom of the screen, where you see the progress. Good to know: all your files are first encrypted on your own device and only then sent. So nobody can read along on the way.

4. Add a journal for overall project progress #

Within the folder structure, you as a team are entirely free to create several journals. A tip is to create one general journal for project progress in any case, which you as project lead use to keep the rest of the team informed of progress.

Journal types

At organisation level it is possible to define types of journals and specific labels for each type of journal. This helps you tell journals apart more easily. It also makes it possible to produce management information from this information eventually. Coordinate this with your application or organisation administrator.

Creating a new journal

To create a new journal, select New journal and give it a fitting, recognisable name such as "Project progress". Select the right journal type and any suitable labels. Also agree with your team which other kinds of journals you keep together (for example conversation or meeting reports). Using tags such as #decision or #client makes the log even easier to search later. See Journals.

5. Tell the team where things are #

Post a short welcome message in the group's Chat and describe the proposed folder structure, the purpose, how you will work with journals and which information you do and do not want to share with each other through this group. Add the agreement that all project files and confidential information are exchanged only through this platform, and that no other separate applications such as WhatsApp or unsecured email are used for this.

What your colleagues see #

The group becomes visible in everyone's groups rail. The Drive shows the same folders and files as yours, decrypted for each person on their own device. All members (unless they only have read rights) can upload, rename and move like you; only Settings is limited to owners and admins.

When the project changes #

• Someone joins: Settings › Members › Add member. They see everything in the group right away.
• Someone leaves: remove that person. The group encryption rotates automatically after removal; all remaining members hold the new group key, and the removed person can no longer access anything. See End a colleague's access.
• The project ends: through Settings you, as project lead, can Archive group. The group remains accessible, but read-only.