This site gives an overview of the most important platforms and tools we use at ACLED in our day-to-day work.
Embedded Files
Bamboo HR
Bamboo HR
Bamboo HR is a Human Resources software, that we use for onboarding, as a repository of employee and contractor information, leave requests, etc. See further information on the Human Resources page.
Slack
Slack
Slack is a team messaging platform. As correspondence over email is often slower and more time-consuming, a large proportion of communications between ACLED team members occur via Slack. ACLED has a workspace set up on Slack with a number of channels created for specific topics, including multiple channels for each regional desk depending on their needs. These channels allow specific groups of ACLED researchers and their managers to share information on events, ask for help with specific coding questions, or coordinate work on various projects or specific countries/sub-regions (e.g. all of the researchers working on Mexico have their own sub-channel, with the RM, ARM, and GPC all being members). Meetings can also be conducted via Slack by calling individual team members or via group calls.
Please create an account and we generally recommend downloading the desktop version. There is also an app for your phone.
Your Slack profile should mention your current position with ACLED and your time zone. You can add/edit it by going to “Edit profile”, also see (see Slack help center Edit your profile). Under “What I do” mention your positions and the countries/regions you cover (e.g. Researcher for Indonesia and Malaysia). If you have fixed working hours, please add those to your profile under "Working hours" by also specifying your time zone (e.g. Mon-Fri 9:30-17:30 Central European Time (CET) (UTC±1:00).
You can ask your colleagues or visit the Slack help center if you have specific questions.
Slack channels
Slack channels
Each desk has its own regional channels, please ask your RM to add you to those. There are also some ACLED wide channels:
#general
This channel is for team-wide communication and announcements. All team members are in this channel.
#acled-impact
This is a place where you can drop citation/media mentions, quotes, examples of use, or insight highlighting your work and ACLED data & analysis at large! See further here Impact Slack Channel.
#acled-social
This channel is for all ACLED staff and contractors to connect on topics outside of ACLED work.
Some further public social channels including #acled_travel, #acled_recipes, acled-fm. If you want to follow these channels, you can just search for them on Slack and join.
Zoom
Zoom
ACLED uses Zoom to host most of its meetings. Zoom is free and it only takes a few minutes to sign up for an account that can be used to host your own meetings. These have no time limit if the meeting only involves two people, or a 45 minute time limit if the meeting is joined by three or more people. In order to join a Zoom meeting, you either need the link to join it via a browser, you can download the desktop version to join there, or you can call in. When inviting others to join a meeting, Zoom will give you a number of different options for inviting them, although the link is usually simplest. ACLED has a paid Zoom account which is available as needed to all ACLED managers. If access is needed, the Operations Coordinator can be contacted for the login details.
LearnUpon
LearnUpon
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a centralized platform that allows organizations to create, deliver, and track training and educational content for staff. It helps ensure that learning materials are accessible, consistent, and easy to manage, while also providing reporting tools to monitor progress. At ACLED, we use LearnUpon as our LMS to host and manage trainings, ensuring our team can easily access the resources they need for onboarding, professional development, and ongoing learning.
Google Drive
Google Drive
Google Shared Drives are shared spaces where teams can store and share their files and folder. Unlike files in My Drive, files in the Shared Drive belong to the team instead of an individual. Even if members leave, the files stay exactly where they are so your team can continue to share information and get work done.
The Training Coordinator and your RM invite you to all the relevant Drives:
Regional Desk Drive
Researcher Ressources Drive
If you need access to an ACLED Drive folder, please do not click on "Request access". Instead, send a message on Slack to your Research Manager or to the Assistant Research Manager. We will do our best to attend to your request ASAP. When you request access through the Drive, all senior management and Directors receive an email, which can be rather disruptive when multiplied by the entire ACLED team.
If you do not have access to a folder, make sure first you are using the email you regularly use for ACLED - sometimes we have multiple emails and can be logged in to Google with a different account.
If you have any further questions please reach out to your RM.
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