A project with several people rarely starts from a common tool. It starts from a message thread, a shared folder somewhere, a tracking spreadsheet and a weekly meeting to piece everything back together. Every piece of information exists, but never in the same place.
In Flots, the shared project serves precisely as that common space. The team's tasks, notes, whiteboards and documents live there together, with the same members and the same permissions. Here's how to set it up, and a few simple rules to keep it readable.
A shared project, the team's common space
A Flots project gathers everything related to one subject: its tasks, notes, documents, milestones and pinned items. On your own, it's a well-organized folder. With others, it becomes the team's meeting point.
The benefit comes down to one rule: access is decided at the project level. People who are members of the project see what it contains. You don't share a note here, a whiteboard there, a file somewhere else, with the risk of leaving someone out.
And everyone keeps their personal organization alongside it. The shared project is added to your space.
Inviting collaborators to a Flots project
Sending an invitation takes a minute.
- Open the project you want to share, then its list of members.
- Add each person by email address.
- Choose their role: Editor or Reader.
If the person already has a Flots account, they're added right away. If not, they get an invitation email to create an account and join the project; the link stays valid for 7 days.
They then find the project in their own Flots, with everything it already contains. No need to send them the notes or files one by one.
Owner, Editor, Reader: choosing the right role
Roles are set on the project and apply to everything it contains, notes and whiteboards included.
| Role | What they can do | For whom |
|---|---|---|
| Owner | Reads, writes, manages the project | The person leading the subject |
| Editor | Reads and writes | Those who move the work forward |
| Reader | Views only | A client, a manager, a jury that follows without stepping in |
The Reader role is for people who follow along without producing. A client can follow the progress of their file without any risk of moving a block or deleting a paragraph. In a note, the "Read-only" mention appears right in front of them: they don't type into the void.
Assigning tasks: who does what, in black and white
A project task can be assigned to a member. It then shows up in their own list, next to their personal tasks, and progress updates as soon as they tick it off.
That's what replaces the "can you take care of it?" thrown out in a meeting and forgotten the next day. A task with nobody assigned is a task everyone thinks someone else has taken.
To see who's busy this week and rebalance, the Planning view takes over. The shared team calendar guide explains how to read everyone's workload without merging calendars.
One task, one name
Even with two people, assign. A task "for the team" belongs to nobody.
Notes and whiteboards: writing and drawing together live
The notes in a shared project are written by several people at the same time. A banner at the top of the note shows who's there, and everyone's changes merge instead of overwriting each other. The minutes are ready when the meeting ends.
Whiteboards follow the same logic. Linked to the project, they're drawn on together live, with the same roles: other people's strokes appear while you draw.
The details are in two dedicated guides: collaborating live on a note and getting started with whiteboards.
Shared documents: one place for files
The contract, the mockup, the screenshots, the client's PDF: in a project, the Documents tab brings together the files that belong to it. Members find them there, rather than on the computer of whoever received them.
An image dropped onto one of the project's whiteboards also lands in these documents.
Simple team rules for a shared project
The tool isn't enough if everyone files things their own way. No need for a ten-page charter: three or four conventions set at the start keep a project tidy for months.
Where to write what. Agree on it once and for all.
| What you need to put down | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| An action to take, with someone behind it | An assigned task |
| Meeting minutes, a decision, a procedure | A project note |
| A diagram, a flow, an idea that's still fuzzy | A whiteboard |
| A file received or produced | The project's documents |
Pin the reference. The brief or the "how we work" note gets pinned at the top of the project. Every newcomer lands on it first.
A decision taken in a note becomes a task. Before closing the minutes, turn the actions into assigned tasks while everyone is still there to say who's taking care of them.
The right role, not the default role. Editor for those who produce, Reader for those who follow. The fewer people who can edit, the fewer surprises.
A well-set-up shared project is a single address for the team: you know where to look, who's doing what, and where to write. Create one for your next shared subject, invite the first person, and assign them a task.
One project, the whole team, in one place.
Members and roles set once, assigned tasks, notes and whiteboards written together live.
