What Confluence feature do you find you use more, now that you’re working from home?

[Brittany Sudlow]

Hi all! I’m Brittany, a product marketer new at Confluence, starting a 4-part “mini discussion series” to inspire you (and us) while working remote. And yes, there are prizes!

Phew, had to squeeze that last bit in early so it made the preview snippet! Thanks for reading on. For the next four weeks, I’ll be posing questions so we can all exchange ideas on how to make the best out of this new remote-work norm. Each week, I’ll pick a random winner from the participants who commented on the post. You’ll get to select a nice piece of Atlassian swag.

So, what features have you started using more, while remote?

I polled some of my teammates and our staff pick is: in-line comments. Since we can’t chat at our desks, we comment in-line to give our thoughts. A lot. We also “like” pages to give a virtual head nod “hey, I saw this.”

PS: Don’t forget about templates. There are project plans, meeting notes, and brainstorming guides with built-in remote work best practices. Also the new homepage and navigation should help you feel like you’re still eavesdropping on that desk clump chatter with the “feeds” of your coworkers projects.

Remember, comment below with your “remote power feature” for a chance to gain some knowledge, camaraderie…and possibly swag. See you next week!

[Mike]

Our organization is very blog heavy to distribute information to different groups (add votes for CONFCLOUD-30644 / CONFSERVER-30644). With more people working remotely, blogs are even more heavily used. 

[Jack Brickey]

I have been WFH for about 4yrs now so my routine hasn't really changed. However, I have noted that others seem to be using Confluence for more meeting notes and documentation in general. I think that when folks work remotely they are more compelled to take notes and record in written form. So I think it is less about features than just generally adopting Confluence as a whole. That said, I believe the typical meeting minutes features: action items and mentions are racking up the points.

[Bridget]

I find myself using our Project Plan template a whole lot more. Now that everyone is experiencing Zoom overload, we are making a concerted effort to cut back on meetings. By creating Project Plans, I can convey all the information I would have communicated during a zoom call, so that people can absorb what they need to learn without having to worry about how their hair looks on video ;). Here's a screenshot of the template:

[Brittany Sudlow]

Glad to hear! We also do a lot of blogs here which is how I've "gotten to know" colleagues (since I'm new) in very different departments. We also have every single new hire write an intro post about their hobbies, career background, share photos, etc!

[Kat Warner]

I pay more attention the the daily email that lists which pages in Confluence have been added/edited. It helps me get a sense of what people are working on outside of looking at the Jira Daily Board like I do when walking around the office.

[LarryBrock]

Like many, I've been working remote for many years.  For me, "remote" means not-in-our-company-office which is now full-time at home but has also been in client offices in the past.  I find my home space is getting much more use than it did previously as I have started using more than my work-issued laptop for things like standup meetings which I tend to take from our back-yard sitting area if they are in the quiet of the morning.  My tablet works great for this task and is much more manageable with a coffee mug in one hand. :-)

Cheers!

[LarryBrock]

Love this template @Bridget - can I "steal" it?

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

I keep a running list of what I'm working on and the general status of each project on my personal space! I feel like my priorities are changing a lot, so it's really great to check in with my teammates and shuffle that list around as things get stuck, drafts are under review, or something gets a little "hotter."

[Brittany Sudlow]

@David_Gaskill Great question! I think the options are endless, depending on what you're trying to accomplish, your type of work, etc. Check out Team Central, they have some helpful articles on how you can accomplish different types of projects using our tools. Hope this helps!

[Marco Brundel]

Also in our company, more blogs are written and more inline comments are posted.

[Ashwin Kumar H M]

Feature for copying complete hierarchy - with child pages and attachments - when copying a page. Similar to what you have in Server version.  

[LarryBrock]

Mobile app on my iPad @Brittany Sudlow 

[Brittany Sudlow]

Agreed on the backyard coffee. I do the same. Do you use the mobile app or the web browser? 

[Brittany Sudlow]

Love that! I wish I could see the design, I'm sure it's comprehensive with so many changes. Have you used the "My Tasks"? (Click your profile image and it's near the bottom). This has how I manage completing the requests my teammates tag me in so I don't slip up!

[David_Gaskill]

I don't work remotely, but would be interested in learning what I need to have in place to do so, in case there's another outbreak, or whatever!

[Brittany Sudlow]

Good point Jack! It's almost a "culture" you have to adopt as an entire organization. 

[Bridget]

All yours, @LarryBrock ! ;)