πŸ‚ Apptoberfest πŸ‚: Tips on setting up operations in Confluence

We invested in organizing our Confluence from the start of founding Easy Apps, a fully remote company, two years ago.

Confluence can feel like herding cats. Lots of rules users don’t intuitively follow isn’t the answer, but the wild west leads to people preferring to work in a word processor like silo.

herding cats.gif

A few (I hope) actionable tips. Add your own in the comments.

Only one page requirement

Every page needs a table of contents macro (default configuration) at the top.

table of contents.png

Since everyone already uses h1-h6, which feeds the table of contents, there is no need for training. Short pages can end up long and overwhelming, while a space admin can quickly sense if the page needs to be cleaned up by looking at the table of contents.

Make sure you have added the boring business stuff

Core business information needs to be properly documented. If not, it inevitably ends up with situations of panic (unnecessary stress and time wasted).

For example: full contact information for all team members and those you work with externally. You β€˜never’ need someone's mobile number until you do.

Content management

We focus on blatant errors, key inconsistencies or legal requirements.

Find and replace

For example, we renamed one of our apps. We used the bulk find and replace tool which is one of the features of our content manager app Space Content Manager. Accuracy is essential. With this tool we never miss an occurrence. Missing an occurrence often leads to mistakes/confusion/questions at some point. Saving time is a bonus.

find and replace.png

Label management

Labels are encouraged but not required, mainly because we don’t want to provide excuses for not adding content to Confluence. This is the larger challenge. A separate challenge is that a new label may be created by mistake when a label already exists. Then categorizing by labels breaks down, so we review labels.

Here is an example I made up: not only singular and plural, but also a British spelling for a company that uses American English as its standard.

label manager.png

Use a label manager like the one that comes with Space Content Manager to merge labels.

Lay out the tools you use

A parent page with a list of the tools we use. Child pages that detail how we use (and don't use) each. Few people care about tools unless they encounter a difficulty that prevents them from doing something.

For example, we use Slack, but Jira and Confluence comments come first. When someone needs a reminder, we send a link to the Slack how-to page. Without such a page, no one bothers to say anything because explaining takes too much effort, and productivity gradually lags and people complain.

Meeting notes

Every meeting, regardless of its size, should have a page with meeting notes. These notes should be added to the calendar invite. We use the built in meeting notes template to create the page.

There is no requirement for a lot of content when create a meeting page. The page allows people who are not running the meeting to get on the agenda or to add details without creating internal messaging. Plus, fewer meetings begin with someone clueless and asking questions; instead, they can scan the page and progress from clueless to not totally clueless (a small win is still a win).

 

What do you do to keep Confluence active and organized without alienating users?

0 comments

Comment

Log in or Sign up to comment
TAGS
AUG Leaders

Atlassian Community Events