And, if you use it, are you getting the most out of it?

 

Formerly G Suite, Google Workspace has a multitude of valuable features and uses. Find out if you’re making the most of them here (and if not, how to).

 

Technology moves forward at an alarming rate. Despite our best intentions, reading that user manual for that absolutely-must-have new bit of kit quickly slides down the ever-growing to-do list.

What is Google Workspace anyway? Read on for a thorough yet pain-free low down on Google Workspace, and how it can help your business.

There’s a reason I’m besotted with Google. Google’s master brainiacs spend their entire lives tweaking and innovating their software and tools to make our lives easier. And if we’ve paid for it, we should at least make sure we know what’s available to us and our business.

If you’re like many of my clients, you’re time-poor and always looking for ways to streamline how you work. So I’ve put together an intro list of tips and tricks to help you reap the benefits of your investment… and the ingenuity of the world’s leading technology gurus.

 

Just what does Google Workspace do?

Google Workspace takes all the apps you have come to know and love, and hosts them inside one happy home.

Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet and many others are all in the same place. With 69% of workers wasting up to an hour each day switching between apps, Google’s essential digital hub is designed to boost productivity. The result for your business? Greater internal efficiency.

With the way we work changing massively over the past five years (and even more dramatically since the arrival of COVID 19), small businesses have had no choice but to quickly adapt their technology. But given the financial limitations of small business, just how do you support a remote team, work with international clients, or work via a mobile office (aka your laptop)?

The answer is simple – Google Workspace. While there are multiple alternatives, Google’s online system for organisation and collaboration is the most streamlined, cost-effective, and intuitive of them all. It’s also the most powerful, which is why I’m sharing a few of my favourite tips for getting the most out of it.

 

10 reasons to fall in love with Google Workspace

So what’s all the fuss about?

 

1. Gmail

On top of the standard Gmail features (spam blocking, email filtering, message scheduling, reminders and snoozing), Google’s Workspace version offers customised employee email addresses to match the company domain. This is critical for brand consistency. It also significantly increases consumer credibility compared to the likes of a Yahoo, Outlook or Hotmail domain.

Gmail also seamlessly integrates with Google Workspace’s other tools. This lets you send meeting invites via Google Calendar or chat about projects directly via Google Chat and Google Meet. And with in-built grammar nudges, including Smart Reply and Smart Compose let you speed through that inbox, even on the run, typo-free.

Did I also mention that it’s ad-free?

 

2. Drive

Google’s cloud-based storage system offers between 30GB and 1TB (or unlimited) file storage – huge.

 

3. Docs

This is Google’s web-based word processor. The suite includes Google Sheets (spreadsheets), Google Slides (presentations), and Google Forms (surveys).

Unlike other word processing tools, it enables real-time collaboration. No more losing your work because someone else is working on the file at the same time! Google Docs supports up to 10 people working on a document at any one time, with a whopping 200 people able to view a document simultaneously.

Version history tracks changes and makes reversing edits easy. It’s also easy to manage, with the blue Share button letting you set editing permissions and create a link for online collaboration.

 

4. Calendar

Integrating with Gmail, Drive and Meet, Google Calendar enables you to separate personal and work tasks within the same calendar function. Employees can maintain their own diary as well as keep up their colleagues’ diaries.

Managing events and meetings is effortless. Simply create an event, task or reminder before adding guests, a location, or the video conferencing link. You can also schedule Calendar to remind you of the meeting beforehand.

 

5. Work Insights

For those on a Google Workspace Enterprise Plan, enjoy increased business visibility via the Work Insights dashboard. It’s perfect for those in managerial, IT, CFO, or business development/improvement roles, providing clear data to help guide decision-making.

With reports on collaboration, productivity, and service-specific data, such as how many people are using Gmail or Sheets, you’ll gain insight into staff performance and engagement with the software, helping you drive continual improvements across the business.

 

6. Currents

Do you have with large numbers of staff working remotely and want to boost interaction? Need a single place to connect ideas and employees? Google Currents will help – it’s like a digital bulletin board. Staff can post messages to the entire company or direct them to specific working groups. It also enables direct messaging.

Google Currents lets you segregate groups based on business goals or projects. From here you can manage discussions, share documents, and work as a united team irrespective of distance. It also lets you communicate important communications quickly and effectively to the entire organisation or specific users and/or groups.

 

7. Vault

Google’s archiving service, Vault, helps businesses keep on top of the constantly changing world of data policy. The Vault isn’t a backup and restore service – it’s an archiving compliance tool to support organisations who may be required to keep data for a specific time. So even if an employee files and messages and empties their trash, that data will still be retained in the vault.

Depending on each industry and business, Google Vault lets you specify the rules around archiving. So if you need to move data after a certain time, you simply set up a retention rule and… voila! Vault will remove it from user accounts and purge it from the overarching system.

Only specific users have access to the Google Vault. These users can create Audit Reports, export content into a variety of formats, and retrieve data by file type, user, date, and keyword. But remember – it’s for eDiscovery and regulatory purposes, not backup and data restoration!

 

8. Chat

Replacing Hangouts, Chat is Google’s main business messaging tool and is built specifically for team communications.

Because it’s all part of the Google family, it makes sharing content (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc) easy. Message teammates directly, schedule meetings, work together in groups (or ‘rooms’), and even use it as a high-level project management tool by allocating tasks. The search functionality is amazing, helping you find what you need, when you need it.

 

9. Meet

Before being reimagined to complete with the likes of Zoom, Google Meet used to be Google Hangouts. Meet provides a secure space for virtual meetings – chat with your team, work on a project or assignment, interview clients, or even live stream.

It’s also flexible – if you Google Meet with someone who isn’t all that computer-savvy, there’s no need for them to install software. You simply schedule directly from Gmail or Calendar. They simply join the meeting from the link, which automatically launches Google Meet within their default browser.

Need to meet on the run? There’s a Google Meet app for that.

 

10. Endpoint

Globally, our reliance on digital communications to maintain business momentum has highlighted just how critical solid security Google Endpoint is a great security feature that syncs with your Google Workspace domain to give you control over the devices accessing your data.

Endpoint monitors and manages all devices registered with the company. Security requirements can be tailored to company policy, such as requiring strong passwords of certain lengths and characters. Crucially, devices can be locked and even wiped in the event of loss or damage.

You can set restrictions to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Chat – anything within your Workspace. It will even limit access to office computers only.

 

However you use it, it’s a valuable tool to control access to confidential data within your business.

 

Google Workspace’s newest features

 

It’s like Christmas for us IT fans every time a new feature is released! Here are some recent ones that you may not know about (yet):

Pin conversations in Google Chat: Keep a conversation at the top of your list in Google Chat by pinning it, and access it easily when you log in.

 

 

 

Schedule Google Calendar events from Google Chat: Look out for the iconic calendar icon (below) from within a chat:

(Can’t see it? You’ll need to be on Google Workspace (G Suite) Basic subscription or higher.)

 

 

View your personal and work calendars in the same place: Nowadays more than ever there’s a work/life crossover. This feature can prevent you (or someone else) double booking yourself. If your organisation allows it, you can enable both calendars from within your Calendar app.

 

Want to stay bang up to date with all that geeky goodness?

 

Follow the Google Workspace Blog to get the latest news, tips, and tricks from the Google Workspace team.

Prefer to watch? Google Workspace’s YouTube channel has all the goods.

But if you want it in bite-sized snippets here and there – and in plain English – stay right where you are!

 

What’s your favourite Google Workspace feature?

Or perhaps you don’t use it yet but have questions. Whatever your thoughts, jot them down here and join the conversation or email me here.