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SoundsEngaging's avatar
SoundsEngaging
Helpful | Level 6
4 months ago
Solved

What are the best practices when sharing files with other users while on a Dropbox team?

We are a small core team that engages with freelance producers and editors on a project-by-project basis. Dropbox is central to our workflow, which is why Dropbox Business works well - we are on the annual Dropbox Business basic plan with three licences/9 TB of storage, and also add on 2 x Dropbox Replay licences.

My question is about how best to work the above with our freelancers when we need them to be able to collaborate with us with assets stored on our core Dropbox.

- Let's say Freelancer A works with us for six weeks; we buy a Dropbox licence for them in order for us to collaborate. As we're an annual plan, that's a chunk of cash.

- When that project comes to an end, what are the options for Freelancer A's Dropbox licence? Cancel/request pro-rata refund? Lose the lot? Keep licence and it goes into a "pool" ready for reassignment?

- Let's say we engage Freelancer B to work on another project a couple of weeks later - is it just a case of reassigning what was Freelancer A's licence to Freelancer B? Or do we have to purchase a whole new licence?

Or, is there another way we should be thinking of this? Transferring assets to freelancers, and then them transferring assets back when they've completed work, doesn't easily work for us given the fluid nature of the projects we work on - as new assets arrive, we need our team to be able to see them immediately (ie sync, not share).

I'm sure this is a common use case, so hoping to hear from others who have found the best way of working with freelance/project staff alongside Dropbox Business/teams.

Thanks in advance!

  • Hey SoundsEngaging, thanks for posting your question to our Community today!

    Indeed, to add someone to your team, you'll need to purchase a license for them; so, you'll purchase the license, add the user, share your files, etc., and when you're done, you can remove the person from your team.

    This will free up the license they take up, so now you can either keep it, as an empty seat for the next user you'll be collaborating with, or you can remove it.

    You can remove a license at any time and the reduction will take effect at your next renewal date.

    Basically, this is more up to you and how you prefer to work, but if you'll be removing and adding team members all the time, keeping the license, instead of removing and adding it back, would be more efficient in my opinion.

    I'll of course leave this thread open, in case other users can share other alternatives/experiences with you.

    Let me know if you have any questions!

3 Replies

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  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 months ago

    Hey SoundsEngaging

    Thanks for the update. 😇

    If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way. 

  • SoundsEngaging's avatar
    SoundsEngaging
    Helpful | Level 6
    4 months ago

    That's helpful, thank you for confirming.

    Dropbox now has more of my £££s and our freelancer now has a team licence - I'll check back in here later down the line if the rest of the process doesn't work as expected or if I have other questions.

    Keen to hear if others have different experiences/workflows when engaging freelancers with their Dropbox.

    Thanks!

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 months ago

    Hey SoundsEngaging, thanks for posting your question to our Community today!

    Indeed, to add someone to your team, you'll need to purchase a license for them; so, you'll purchase the license, add the user, share your files, etc., and when you're done, you can remove the person from your team.

    This will free up the license they take up, so now you can either keep it, as an empty seat for the next user you'll be collaborating with, or you can remove it.

    You can remove a license at any time and the reduction will take effect at your next renewal date.

    Basically, this is more up to you and how you prefer to work, but if you'll be removing and adding team members all the time, keeping the license, instead of removing and adding it back, would be more efficient in my opinion.

    I'll of course leave this thread open, in case other users can share other alternatives/experiences with you.

    Let me know if you have any questions!

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