This digital workplace checklist has 12 pass or fail checks, each with a pass rule and the evidence to collect. Give one point for each pass, then add them up, and the total tells you which fix to make first. In practice, a check takes minutes when the evidence is to hand, and it shows a gap when it is not.
Last reviewed 2026-11-05 by Manish Sharma.
A digital workplace is the shared set of chat, meeting, file and workspace tools a firm runs its work on, as the solution page for connected workplaces and managed devices explains. This page scores the set-up behind the goal of improving team collaboration. The build steps sit in the set-up guide.
How the Digital Workplace Checklist Scores
The rule is evidence or no point.
A check passes only when you can show the evidence in the right-hand column on the day. However, a belief that it is true scores zero, and a partial pass scores zero too.
The IT lead runs the review, with one owner from each team, because the evidence comes from the people who hold it.
To use the tables as a template, copy the three tables into one sheet and add columns for date, reviewer and score. Then repeat the review each quarter, which is our suggestion and a cadence you can change. A sheet like this works as a digital workplace checklist template without any download.
However, it is no certification or external audit.
Also, you can run a digital workplace audit with an outside reviewer or on your own, using the same table.
The Full Checklist: 12 Checks, Pass Rules and Evidence
The three tables below are the whole digital workplace checklist. It has five groups, shown in Figure 1: tools, files, workspaces, guests and adoption, with 12 checks and 12 points in all.
Digital Workplace Checklist Tool and File Checks
| No. | Check | Pass rule | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Every tool is on one list | The list holds tool, team, licence count and data held, and your team updated it in the last quarter, including tools bought on a card. | The list with its last-edited date, and a sign-in or invoice check of one team that finds no tool missing. |
| T2 | Every tool has one named owner | A person, not a team or a shared mailbox, owns each tool and can state its renewal date. | The owner column, and one owner who gives the renewal date on the day. |
| F1 | Final files have one stated home | A written rule says where a final file lives, and all 10 files in a sample of recent final files sit there. | The rule and the 10-file sample. |
| F2 | Default sharing is restricted | New shares default to named people or the firm, not anyone with the link, and each open link is an exception with an end date. | A screenshot of the admin sharing setting, and a list of open links. |
| F3 | Files follow a naming rule | At least 8 of the 10 sampled files follow the written pattern. | The pattern and the 10-file sample. |
Workspace Checks in the Digital Workplace Checklist
| No. | Check | Pass rule | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| W1 | Every workspace has a named owner | No workspace is without an active owner. | An export of workspaces with the owner column and zero blanks. |
| W2 | A written archive rule has a trigger | The rule names a trigger, such as a closed project or no activity for a set period, and says who may archive or delete. | The rule, and one workspace archived under it. |
| W3 | Stale workspaces are dealt with | Every workspace past the trigger is archived or has a recorded reason to stay. | An activity report filtered past the trigger, with a decision for each workspace. |
Guest and Adoption Checks in the Digital Workplace Checklist
| No. | Check | Pass rule | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| G1 | Every guest has a sponsor and an expiry date | No guest account is without both. | The guest list export with sponsor and expiry columns and zero blanks. |
| G2 | Every guest has a recent sponsor review | Each guest has a dated sponsor review within the last 90 days, and you removed every guest the sponsor did not confirm. | The guest export with a last-reviewed date column and zero older dates, plus the guest count before and after the review. |
| U1 | Staff have training on the standard tools | The training record covers every team, and new joiners complete it in their first month. | The attendance or completion record by team. |
| U2 | Staff use the standard tools and retired tools are gone | A usage report for the last 30 days shows at least 70 percent of licensed staff in each team signed in to each standard tool, and every retired tool is off or read-only past its date. | The usage report with team and licence columns, and the retire list with dates. |
Every number in the pass rules is our suggested rule. However, none is a benchmark or a finding. Also, change any of them to suit your firm, and write the changed rule next to the check.
Tool Inventory and Owners: What to Ask For
Ask for the list, then test it against one team.
Key Takeaway A list that misses a tool one team signs in to fails T1.
First, the gap to expect is tools bought outside IT, such as a team plan paid by card. Then check one team’s sign-ins or invoices against the list. For T2, ask one owner for the renewal date; if they do not know it, the owner is only a name on a sheet.
Overall, a low score here means you do not yet know what the firm runs. Also, tool overlap and duplicate licences count only as a pass or fail under T1. If the list shows two tools doing one job, picking a platform that fits your firm helps you decide which to keep. Step 1 of the set-up guide shows how to build the list.
File Home and Sharing Defaults: What to Ask For
Ask to see the rule, the setting and a sample. A sample beats an opinion because it is evidence.
Take 10 final files saved in the last 30 days (both figures are suggestions).
Then check where each file sits for F1 and whether its name follows the pattern for F3. For F2, capture the default for new shares in the admin console, then list the links open to anyone.
Data-loss tooling can watch for files that leave the firm, and a short entry on stopping data from leaving explains the idea. For staff devices and home set-ups, see the home-working device checks; this page does not score devices. The set-up guide gives the fix for any failed file check.
Workspace Ownership, Archive and Guest Access: What to Ask For
Ask for two exports: workspaces with their owners, and guests with their sponsors and expiry dates. Also, zero blanks is the pass rule for both.
This invented illustration is not data. If an export shows 14 workspaces and 3 have no owner, W1 fails, because the rule allows none.
For guests, expiry and review are two separate tests. First, G1 asks whether the guest had an expiry date set at invitation. Second, G2 asks whether the sponsor reviewed the guest on a dated record, within the period you set. For example, a guest with an expiry date but no review passes G1 and fails G2. Reviewing accounts and removing those no longer needed is also part of account management in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, control AC-2.
However, these checks cover collaboration spaces only. For the removals that follow a review of user accounts, use the step-by-step account review. Also, the glossary entry on permission rules covers who may open what. The set-up guide gives the fix.
Adoption Evidence: Proof That Staff Use the Tools
Key Takeaway Training records and usage reports are the evidence. A survey of opinions does not count.
In short, a check passes when both exist and meet the rule.
U1 asks for the record by team, so a gap shows which team has no training. For U2, take the admin console report: divide the people who signed in during the last 30 days by the licensed staff in each team. Also, our suggested pass line is 70 percent, and you can change it. Then check that each retired tool is off or read-only past its date.
Overall, a low score here means the tools are bought but not used. Instead, this digital workplace checklist leaves the cost of that to the article on collaboration challenges.
What Your Score Means and What to Fix First
Add the points, then read the band in Figure 2. The order rule is the same in every band: fix the guest and owner checks before the tidiness checks, because they carry the access risk.
| Score | Band | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| 11 to 12 | Audit-ready | Keep the evidence and repeat the review each quarter. |
| 8 to 10 | Sound with gaps | Fix the failed checks, starting with any in the guest group, then repeat in 30 days. |
| 5 to 7 | Patchy | Fix guest expiry and review (G1, G2) first, then the owner checks (T2, W1), then the rest. |
| 0 to 4 | Unmanaged | Stop adding tools and guests, then build the inventory and owners first. |
Also, the band limits are our own wording and you can move them. “Audit-ready” means this: what an auditor would ask for is the evidence column, and you hold it. However, it makes no claim about any named standard or legal requirement. After a second review, a digital workplace assessment becomes a trend you can compare.
Fixing a Failed Digital Workplace Checklist Check
To fix a failed check, use the guide on how to build each control. Then, to see why it matters, read why the mess hurts a business. If you would rather score the 12 checks with an outside view, the box below says how.
Digital Workplace Checklist FAQ: Questions on Running the Review
How frequently should you run a digital workplace checklist?
Who should run the review?
Can a small firm use this digital workplace checklist as it stands?
What if a check has no evidence yet?
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