How we use GDrive

oikos has no physical presence, a lot of what we do only exists in the virtual space. Google Drive is where we store all of our files - any document, presentation or spreadsheet is stored here and accessible to the team which makes Google Drive one of the centerpieces of our organizational infrastructure. We use several different Shared Drives which are the places where to find team- or content-specific files.

Google Drive also enables us to share files with each other, work asynchronously on them, and even make them available to externals. If you want to learn more about Google Docs, Sheets & Slides, sharing files and more, you can move to the next sub-page:

How we use Google Docs, Sheets & Slides

Best practices to structure a Shared Drive

To make our remote work as a growing team with a lot of fluctuation easier, here some best practices to ensure a structured file storing system:

• Use a numbering system to name your folders. Like that, they will stay in the order you want them to be rather than being in alphabetical order

• Try to use a limited number of main folders in your shared drive which represent the main areas of your work (rule of thumb: aim for max. 10 folders as the initial structure, then making sub-folders)

• Same holds true for every layer of folders. Try to minimize the number of folders in each folder layer!

• Try to have not too many layers of folders in your shared drive. Otherwise, you or others will need to click through a labyrinth of folders to get to the searched-for file (rule of thumb: max. 4 clicks to get to a file)

• Try to sort ALL files (docs, sheets, slides) in the folder system and not let them float around somewhere.

• We have a SHARED drive for a purpose. Avoid storing files in your personal Google Drive if they are relevant for other team members and the organization.

On short-cuts and how to use them:

Sometimes, a certain file could be stored in more than one place as it belongs to multiple topics and it makes sense to make it accessible through multiple folders. Instead of having to make a copy of a document, Google Drive offers a very practical solution: short-cuts. A shortcut is a link that references another file or folder. Shortcuts point back to the original file so you always have the latest info. Shortcuts are visible to everyone with access to the folder or drive.

Overview of Google Drive permission levels

In general, any oI team members has access (contributor/content manager) to all the Shared Drives, no matter their roles. Like that, we can live up to our TRANSPARENCY principle. Only certain Shared Drives (will) have restricted access to ensure data security and privacy.

Permission level	Permissions
Viewer	View the shared drive, files, and folders
Commenter	View the drive, files, and folders Comment on files within a shared drive
Contributor	All of the above, and: Edit the drive, files, and folders Approve or reject comments and suggestions made by other users Create new files or folders in the drive Upload files and folders to the drive Add people to files in the drive Restore files and folders in the drive’s trash can
Content Manager	All of the above, and: Move files and folders within the drive Move files and folders to the drive’s trash can Restore files and folders in the drive’s trash can
Manager	All of the above, and: Move files and folders to and from the drive to another shared drive Delete files and folders in the drive’s trash can