“Work” used to be a place, as in “I can’t talk now, I’m at work.” The work-place housed the things we needed to do our jobs: desk, phone, computer, copier, files, fax machine, mail sorter, supplies, etc.
Now, work is an activity that can happen in a variety of places anytime. The only constant is the shared network drive. That's where everyone goes to work, no matter where they are physically. But for many organizations the shared drive is a non-collaborative, counterproductive mess.
How to fix it
State the goals:
Awareness I know this file exists
Findability I can find it
Accessibility I can view and edit it unless it’s private for a good reason
Ownership I know who is in charge of this file
Sharing I can share this file with others as needed
Disambiguity I am confident there is no other place for this subject
Organize the network drive by function rather than by department. You might be surprised at how may functions involve more than one department, spawning duplicate inconsistent files. Ask what does your company deliver that people are willing to pay for? A good place to start is your website tabs. This is your value proposition, and the basis for your functional buckets.
Welcome to the new collaborative workplace – it’s the shared network drive.
Promote collaboration, eliminate redundancy and highlight intersections that spark innovation. A fresh network drive is a lot cheaper than renovating the office.