Workstations
We develop tailored online WorkStation websites for local, national, and global initiatives. WorkStations solve needs for online collaboration and enable users to easily share materials, make announcements, access tools, learn from others' success stories, access guidance from peer discussions and solve needs for online collaboration.
Customized WorkStations help communities work together more efficiently to address the challenges they face.
Community WorkStations:
- Provide shared space for online discussions, posting documents, links to supports, and more. Content shared varies by initiative, but can include embedded video, presentations, Google maps, images, and photo libraries.
- Support collaboration among people working together for improvement in identified goals and issues.
- Promote co-learning and information sharing, which enhances the group's productivity and efficiency.
"This is perfectly aligned to fit [our project's] needs. I didn't realize this technology already existed!"
– Director of a multi-site national initiative
“I consider the WorkStation and ODSS invaluable one-stop shopping for user-friendly supports. We have one-click access to a shared repository of information. Our project team and our grantee communities are spread out across the state. Given this geographic dispersal, we need a central location for information and a tool that supports communication, accessing resources, and managing timelines, and the WorkStation made that possible.”
– Consultant for substance abuse prevention efforts
“If we had had this all along, we would have been so much better organized. Thank you, thank your team.”
– WorkStation user involved with a multi-site prevention effort
Community WorkStation users include:
- Non-profit and non-governmental organizations
- Foundations and their grantees
- Statewide systems for improving population health
- National initiatives and their regional partners
- Global community health partners
Key features of Community WorkStations
| Key Function | What do you need to do? | WorkStation Feature |
| Communicate | Post and collaborate on documents (e.g., meeting minutes, action plans, reports) | Document-sharing library and check-out system |
| Track important tasks and their progress | Project management |
| Share meeting times, agendas, track attendees, and share other event information | Group calendar (compatible with Microsoft Outlook and iCal) and related WorkSpaces |
| Engage in meaningful dialogue with colleagues | Group discussion |
| Communicate in real-time with multiple group members | Group chat |
| Communicate instantaneously one-on-one with other initiative members | Instant messaging |
| Upload and share information that can be accessed and adapted by others | Wiki feature |
| Easily access and share your favorite online resources | Link feature |
| Connect/ Network | Quickly access group members’ contact information | Contacts |
| Share photos and view slideshows | Photo gallery |
| Learn a Skill | Link to tips and tools for building community capacity to bring about change and improvement | Direct links—and ability to prioritize—capacity-building materials from the Community Tool Box |
| Solve a Problem | Submit a question to a consultant or project staff member – and share the response with others | Ask an Advisor |
| Monitor and Evaluate
(optional extra cost) | Engage in participatory evaluation -- Record, graph, analyze, and report information to different stakeholders (at an optional extra cost) | Online Documentation and Support System (ODSS) |
| Design and distribute online surveys | Survey feature |
Content on various pages within the WorkStations can be public or secured by password, depending on user preference.
Support for WorkStation users includes access to End User and Administrator Guides, access to online help materials, and webinar training. Additional support can include onsite training and additional web design customization.
We think you will find the WorkStation capabilities critical assets for your collaborative work.
Visit our Community WorkStation to view the capabilities and plan for the implementation of your own WorkStation.
A comprehensive list of WorkStation clients is available at http://www.myctb.org.
Please contact toolbox@ku.edu or (785) 864-0533 to inquire about obtaining a WorkStation for your own initiative.