You’ve been “Googling” for years, and you may use Google’s web email service, Gmail. But what other free web services does Google offer that may be of use to small business owners? We sift through their offerings and break down each in today’s
#TechTuesday.
Web-based Collaboration
You’ve likely already heard of
“Google Docs,” but what is it? When many people refer to “Google Docs,” they’re actually referring to a broader suite of free productivity services from Google that includes “Docs” but also so much more. Additionally, these services store their files and information on something called
“Google Drive.” Despite all the buzz behind these apps and Drive, you may never have taken advantage of them.
So, what’s all the fuss about?
Web-based collaboration, to be succinct.
Google Docs is Google’s productivity software that’s designed for collaboration. It’s a suite of services designed for work that allows different Google account users — with your permission, of course! — to upload, access and edit files through their browser. It’s a much quicker way for a group of people to make changes to a document than sending multiple versions of files around as email attachments, all willy-nilly.
The Main Players
Here’s the breakdown of the main players contained within the Google Docs suite of services, as well as how they tie-in with Google Drive. We also throw in a couple ancillary services that you’ll find to be complementary to your organizational efforts:
Docs — This is your word processing collaboration software within the larger Google Docs suite. It’s compatible with Microsoft Word files (.docx), PDF files, simple .txt and .rtf files like you’d create within a notepad or wordpad program, and more. Once you’ve imported one of these file types into Docs and established your sharing controls to allow access to those you choose, your employees can be off to the races. Docs allows the following:
- Edits can be seen as users type.
- Questions and comments can be embedded and left within each doc.
- Built-in-chat allows in-doc communication.
- All changes are automatically tracked.
- Unlimited version history, which means all previous iterations of a document are automatically stored and can be reverted to — and all these iterations don’t count against your free 15 GB of Google Drive allotted storage (more on Drive later)
- Offline editing. You can access your files for editing even when you don’t have an Internet connection, so long as you have the option enabled.
Sheets — This is the spreadsheet software app within Google Docs. You can think of it simply as an online, web-based, collaborative version of Microsoft Excel. It allows for large groups to instantly edit spreadsheets and follow each other’s changes, provides for sophisticated functions, formulas and charts, and of course is compatible with .xlsx, .csv, .html, .pdf and other common files. Like other Google Docs offerings, it also supports the nifty features we detailed above when speaking on the word processing specifications.
Slides — You’re probably seeing where this is going now. Slides replicates the functionality of Microsoft’s PowerPoint, but within the web-based, collaborative framework Google’s suite of productivity services provides. Slides is compatible with PowerPoint files. Unlimited revision history and simple sharing work here just the same as they do with Docs, Sheets and other Google Docs apps, and compatibility is again ensured across PC, Mac and mobile.
Forms — Forms allows you to quickly create professional looking questionnaires for clients within an easy-to-use, drag-and-drop format. Responses to your questionnaire appear in real-time, and your data can even automatically be shared with Google Sheets so that it may be analyzed immediately.
Drive — You may have a bunch of disparate files that need to be stored in a place where your co-workers can access them all whenever they have need. That’s where Google’s Drive comes in. You can upload and share files or whole folders of information with your co-workers. Your co-workers may then view the files within Drive and/or choose to download them onto their computer. Drive also handles the storage of your Google Docs work. Google provides 15GB of storage for free (you can pay to get more, and files created within Google Docs do not count against your limit), so whether you have PDFs, images or videos to share, you’ll be good to go.
Calendars — Google’s web-based calendar solution. You can upload and edit your own schedule here, as well as view the calendars of added co-workers. What’s more, Calendars allow for “Smart Scheduling.” You can choose to “layer” a co-worker’s schedule over the top of yours in order to see how your available times compare. This helps you make quick scheduling decisions when working with a busy team.
Hangouts — Working long distance and away from your team? Google’s Hangouts can come to the rescue. Hangouts is Google’s HD video solution. Using the web camera on your computer, tablet or phone, you can host a Hangout with up to 15 co-workers. Background noise is muted, and the software automatically focuses on whoever is currently speaking. Built-in screen sharing is also offered, meaning you can easily show your co-workers in the video chat what is currently displayed on your computer or tablet.
Wrap-Up
Of course, there are competing web-based collaboration platforms out there, but the above provides you a taste of Google’s popular offerings. You may use any combination of the above to increase workplace productivity among your team at no cost.
As major changes or additions are made to either Google’s app suite or the collaborative web-based software market at large, #TechTuesdays will keep you up to speed going forward. Have an excellent week, everyone!
