A Guide to Your Team's Shared Workspace

Learn how to create and manage a Shared Workspace in Produce8 to improve team collaboration, measure collective progress, and align on organizational goals.

Table of Contents

1. What is a Shared Workspace?
2. Goals for Your Shared Workspace
3. Structuring Your Shared Workspace
4. Create a Shared Workspace
5. Navigating your Shared Workspace
   1. Workspace Dashboard
   2. Timeline & Activities
   3. Metrics 
   4. Settings
6. Add Subscriptions to Your Shared Workspace
7. Invite Your Team to a Shared Workspace
8. Sharing Data with Your Team in a Shared Workspace
   
   

What is a Shared Workspace?

A Shared Workspace in Produce8 brings together your team’s activities into one centralized view, enabling better collaboration, alignment, and visibility across the organization. It helps you track key team metrics, identify areas for improvement, and create collective goals that drive productivity.

Teams can set up Shared Workspaces at any stage, but starting with Personal Workspaces first allows team members to become familiar with Produce8’s features, making the transition to a Shared Workspace smoother and more effective.

Goals for Your Shared Workspace

A Shared Workspace should be designed with a clear goal in mind. Many teams use it to assess collaboration distractions—such as the impact of meetings, messaging apps, and emails—on deep focus work.

A useful metric to examine is the relationship between the number of interactions with an application versus the total time spent in that application. If a team frequently checks an app throughout the day but spends very little time in it overall, this may indicate context-switching and interruptions that reduce focus time.

By identifying these patterns, your team can make data-driven adjustments to improve communication efficiency. This might include:

• Reducing context-switching by setting dedicated response times for messaging and emails.
• Optimizing meetings to ensure they serve a clear purpose and don’t disrupt deep work.

• Encouraging intentional use of collaboration apps—so team members engage meaningfully rather than checking them out of habit.

The goal isn’t to eliminate these tools but to use them more effectively, ensuring they support—not hinder—productive work.

Structuring Your Shared Workspaces in Produce8

Proper structure ensures alignment with team goals. There’s no single right way to organize your Shared Workspaces—choose a structure that makes the most sense for your team.

Some common approaches include:

• Location (different office locations or remote teams)
• Role (sales, marketing, customer support)
• Department (HR, finance, IT)
• Level (managers, team leads, individual contributors)

The key is to create a structure that supports visibility, collaboration, and alignment with your team’s goals.

Multiple Workspaces

Users can be members of multiple workspaces, making it easier to collaborate across teams or projects while maintaining visibility over relevant workstreams.

Assigning Permissions for Each Member in Produce8

Assigning the right roles and permissions to each member in a Shared Workspace is crucial to ensuring that everyone has the appropriate access to the necessary tools.

In Produce8, permissions can be assigned to individual users based on their roles, both within the workspace and across the platform. Ensure that each team member has the correct permissions to manage the tools and data they need for collaboration.

For more detailed instructions on permissions and roles, please see Roles & Permissions within Produce8.

Assigning Workspace Leads or Owners

Each Shared Workspace should have a designated Lead or Owner to oversee its management. This person is responsible for:

• Ensuring team members have the necessary support.
• Tracking progress and maintaining workspace alignment with team goals.
• Evaluating workflows, collaboration habits, and tool effectiveness to drive improvements.

The Lead should be someone who can assess team-wide work patterns and make informed adjustments to enhance productivity and collaboration.

Create a Shared Workspace 

Setting up a Shared Workspace in Produce8 is simple.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Produce8 account.

2. Open the Sidebar Menu by selecting the Sidebar Menu button in the top-left corner, then select Workspaces.

3. On the Workspaces homepage, you’ll see a list of workspaces you’re a member of. To create a new workspace, select Create Workspace in the top-right corner.

4. Enter Your Workspace Details:

   • Name your workspace (e.g., “Service Team”).

   • Choose a Workspace Icon from the dropdown.

   • You’ll then be prompted to invite team members. If you prefer, you can skip this step and come back to it later.

5. Complete Setup: Once the workspace is created, the workspace will appear on your Workspaces homepage in the Produce8 Web App.

   
   
   
   🎉 That's it! You've successfully set up your Shared Workspace. Now, you can configure settings, invite team members, and add relevant app subscriptions to begin working out loud.

Navigating your Shared Workspace

Your Shared Workspace is only accessible to its members, ensuring a collaborative but structured environment for your team.

To access your Shared Workspace in the Produce8 web app:

1. Log into your Produce8 account.

2. Ensure the sidebar menu is open by selecting the Sidebar Menu button in the top-left corner.

3. Select Workspaces to view a homepage listing all the workspaces you're a part of.

4. Click on the Shared Workspace you want to explore. 

Once inside, use the sidebar menu to navigate between the following key pages:

Workspace Dashboard

The Workspace Dashboard provides high-level insights into how your team spends time across different work activities. It includes:

• Scheduled Time in Meetings – Total time spent in external and internal meetings during the selected period, with comparisons to the previous period.
• Time in Calls – Total time spent in call-based interactions (e.g., Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Teams) during the selected period, with comparisons to the previous period.
• Top Apps – Highlights the top 5 apps used by the team, based on total duration, with comparisons to the previous period.
• Top Categories – Breaks down time spent by category (e.g., communication, project management), helping to identify work patterns and areas for optimization.

Timeline & Activities

The Timeline & Activities page offers a visual breakdown of how the team interacts with work apps throughout the day.

• Timeline – Displays a daily or weekly view of work patterns across three swim lanes:

  • Views: The top lane illustrates typical activities. Look for patterns that represent specific workflows, distractions, focus time, and healthy breaks or offline activities.
  • Calls: The middle lane visually represents time spent in Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams calls, meetings, and huddles.

  • Calendar: The bottom lane displays both past and planned calendar entries, facilitating comparison between scheduled meetings and actual workday activities. 

Understanding Swimlanes & Overlaps

An overlap between Views and Calls indicates that a team member is using other tools while on a call. This overlap could mean:

• Screen sharing or presenting during a meeting.

• Switching between emails, messages, or other apps while on a call.

• Collaborating in a working session, where team members actively engage with shared documents or projects during a call. 

The swimlanes provide context for your team’s workday activities, helping you:

• Identify periods of deep focus work versus frequent context-switching.
• Spot patterns of meeting overload or excessive multitasking.
• Understand how work happens across different tools and apps.

• App & Category Filters – Click an app name or use the ellipsis (…) menu to toggle on “Show Categories,” allowing you to analyze app usage in context.

  
  

Below the Timeline, you'll find:

• Activities Feed – A detailed log of team interactions with apps, showing session durations, timestamps, and frequency.

• App Filter – Easily narrow down your view by selecting one or more specific apps.
  
  
  

Metrics

The Metrics page provides a data-driven view of how your team spends time across apps, calls, and meetings within the Shared Workspace.

Date Selector

Use the date selector to adjust the timeframe for displayed metrics. You can toggle between daily or weekly views and review current or historical data within your account’s data retention period.

Key Metrics & Insights

Scheduled Time in Meetings 

The Scheduled Time in Meetings donut chart displays:

• Total time spent in internal and external meetings for all workspace members.
• A count of internal and external meetings within the selected timeframe.
• A comparison to the previous period to identify trends in meeting time.

Time in Calls

The Time in Calls donut chart displays:

• Total time spent in calls across platforms like Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.
• A count of call interactions during the selected timeframe.
• A comparison to the previous period to track call volume and trends.

App Categories

The App Categories section provides a donut chart summary to show how time is distributed across different app categories (e.g., Messaging, Productivity, Meetings).

• Hover over the chart to see category breakdowns and total time spent in each.
• Below the chart, a table lists detailed breakdowns including:
  • Total time spent in apps within each category.
  • Change from the previous period, showing increases or decreases in usage.
  • Trends, allowing you to analyze time-series data for daily and weekly patterns.

App Metrics 

The App Metrics section provides a detailed breakdown of app usage, helping teams understand where their time and attention are spent.

The donut chart summary visually represents the proportion of time spent in each app, showing how work is distributed.

Navigating App Metrics

• Hover over the chart to see which app each color corresponds to, as well as the total time spent and number of interactions.
• Below the chart, the detailed breakdown table includes:
  • Views – Number of times the app was interacted with.
  • Total Time – Time spent actively using the app, including calls.
  • Average Session Duration – The average length of each interaction.

Drilling Down into App Data

By clicking the arrow next to each app, you’ll see:

• The data source for that app’s activity.
• Total Time – Combined time spent in the app and in calls.
• Views – Number of interactions.
• Average Session Duration – The typical length of each app interaction.

Clicking on any Trends link will open:

• Time Series View – A historical breakdown of app usage.
• Intensity Heatmap – Highlights usage peaks and patterns.

Customizing Your View

Use the controls at the top of the page to adjust your view:

• Scope – Toggle between weekly, daily, or specific day totals.
• View – Choose between Total Time, Interactions, or Average Duration.
• Time Frame – Select a custom range (min. 1 week, max. 3 months).

If Zoom, Slack, or Microsoft Teams are among the top apps, you can view call-specific data by selecting the Calls tab, where you can switch between:

• Time in Calls
• Call Interactions
• Average Call Duration

Workspace Settings

The Settings page allows you to manage your Shared Workspace, including members, app subscriptions, and workspace preferences.

Accessing Workspace Settings

To access Settings in your Shared Workspace:

1. Open the Sidebar Menu in the Produce8 Web App.
2. Select Workspaces and navigate to your Shared Workspace.
3. In the sidebar, click Settings to access configuration options.

Managing Workspace Members

The Members tab allows you to view and manage workspace participants:

• View Members — See a list of all team members in the workspace.
• Modify Roles & Permissions — Update user roles based on workspace needs.
• Add or Remove Members — Adjust the team as needed for optional collaboration.

Managing Followed Apps

The Followed Apps section lets you control which apps are included in the Shared Workspace.

• Click + Follow More Apps to add relevant tools to the workspace.
• Use the ellipsis (...) menu next to any followed app to:
  • Manage Data Sources — Adjust App settings.
  • Stop Following — Remove an app from the workspace.
  • Access the App Settings — Configure specific app preferences.
    
    

Admin Settings

The Admin tab provides additional workspace customization options:

• Change Workspace Name — Edit the workspace title to better reflect its purpose.
• Update Workspace Icon — Select of modify the visual icon for quick identification.

Add Subscriptions to the Shared Workspace

To ensure your Shared Workspace includes the right data, Workspace Owners or Admins should add relevant app subscriptions. While you can invite your team at any time, adding apps first ensures they have the right data sources available from the start.

To Follow Existing Data Sources: 

1. Log in to your Produce8 Web App.
2. Open the Sidebar Menu and select Workspaces.
3. Click on your Shared Workspace from the Workspaces homepage.
4. Click the ellipsis (...) next to the workspace name to bring up a list of actions.
5. Select Follow More Apps! to open the App Catalog.
6. Find and select the relevant apps for your team. Or choose Select All at the top to follow all apps. 
7. Click Follow Selected to add them to the Shared Workspace.
8. Click Done on the Finished! page to exit.

Once the apps are added to the workspace, team members will be able to follow them as needed.

Follow an Existing Data Source

If your account is set to Automatically Follow Apps, all existing and newly added apps are already included in your Shared Workspace

1. Log in to your Produce 8 web app account.
2. Ensure the sidebar menu is open by selecting the Sidebar Menu button in the top-left corner, and select Workspaces.
3. This will display a homepage with a list of Workspaces you are a member of. Click on your newly created Shared Workspace.
4. Click the ellipsis (...) on the top left of the sidebar navigation next to the name of your Shared Workspace.
5. This will bring up a list of actions. Click on Follow more Apps!
   
6. You will then see the below screen where you can select the Apps from the Catalog. Select the relevant Apps for your team and then click Follow selected.
7. The Apps you have added will then appear in the Activities tab of your Shared Workspace. These Apps activity will now be available within your Shared Workspace!

Create a New Data Source

If you don’t see the app you need in Produce8, you can create a new data source:

1. Follow steps 1–6 above to open the App Catalog.
2. Click Create New App at the bottom of the catalog.
3. Follow the prompts to connect a new data source.

For more detailed instructions, see Connecting to your Work Apps.

Invite Your Team to Your Shared Workspace

Before inviting your team, ensure they understand how the Shared Workspace will be used. It’s helpful to set up app subscriptions first so that members can follow relevant apps upon joining

1. Log in to your Produce 8 web app account.
2. Open the Sidebar Menu and select Workspaces.
3. Click on the Shared Workspace you would like to invite team members to.
4. Click Add Workspace Member on the right hand side.
   
5. Choose an invitation method:
   • Invite via Email — If your team member already has a Produce8 account, their name will appear in a dropdown. If not, enter their email address to invite them. 
   • Invite O365 Contacts —Search for contacts in your Office 365 directory and invite them directly. 
6. (Optional) Add a personal message to the invitation.

7. Assign a permission level (Member, Lead, or Owner). [For more details, see Roles & Permissions in Produce8]. 

8. Click Send Invitation(s).

Team members will receive an email invitation to join the Shared Workspace.

How to Share Data with Your Team in Your Shared Workspace

Your Personal Workspace data remains private, but in a Shared Workspace, you choose which app activity to share. Enabling data sharing allows the team to gain meaningful insights into collaboration patterns while maintaining privacy.

Approving Data Sharing in a Shared Workspace

1. Log in to your Produce8 Web App. 
2. Open the Sidebar Menu and select Workspaces.
   
3. Click on the Shared Workspace where you want to allow data sharing.
4. From the Sidebar Menu, select Followed Apps.
5. Review the list of apps in the workspace.
6. Choose how you want to approve data sharing:
   • Approve All Apps — Click Approve All to allow data sharing for all apps in the workspace.
   • Approve Specific Apps — Approve individual apps by selecting them from the list.
7. Once approved, activity data from the selected apps will become visible in the Shared Workspace.

💡 Note: It may take a few minutes for shared activity to appear in the Activity Stream and Timeline in the Produce8 Web App.

Troubleshooting Data Visibility

If no data appears after approval, ensure that:

• The Produce8 Browser and Desktop Extensions are installed and active. 
• Your browser is not in Incognito mode (data won't be captured in private browsing sessions).
• You are using the correct work profile in Chrome, Brave, or Edge.

If you continue experiencing issues, contact Produce8 Support for assistance.

Manage Your Shared Data Sources

If you no longer want a particular app’s activity to appear in the Shared Workspace, you can stop following it at any time.

To remove an app from the Shared Workspace:

1. Open your Shared Workspace in the Produce8 Web App.
2. In the Sidebar Menu, select Settings, then Followed Apps.
3. Locate the app you want to adjust. 
4. Click the ellipsis (...) next to the app name.
5. Select Manage My Data.
6. In the next screen, click the dropdown menu next to the data source.
7. Select Don't Share to stop sharing data from that app.
   
   
8. Click Done to confirm.
   
   

💡 Note: This action only affects your individual data sharing preferences. The app will remain in the Shared Workspace, and other team members who are sharing data will see activity from it.