Google Apps is a suite of full-featured business and productivity applications designed around the optimization of teamwork and collaboration in the workplace. This app suite offers endless possibilities for getting things done, both individually and as a team, with tools like professional email, collaborative calendars, video chat, online storage, document sharing, and much more.
Here’s a look at five different apps from Google, and how you can use them to bring your team together and work more productively and efficiently as a group.
Generate team documents with Google Docs
Google Docs is a collaborative office suite application that lets your team easily create documents, edit, add comments, and even chat within the application. There are four components to this app:
- Drive: Google’s online storage and sharing platform
- Docs: Word processing similar to MS Word
- Sheets: Spreadsheets similar to MS Excel
- Slides: Presentations similar to MS PowerPoint
Within Google Docs, when you set sharing permissions to allow anyone to edit a document, your team can have the same document open at once — and any changes or comments they make will appear in real-time for all users viewing the document. There’s also an in-app chat function that lets your team communicate while creating or editing documents.
Google Docs is also available for mobile platforms, so your team can collaborate on the go, no matter where they are.
Share documents with Gmail
Arguably the most popular business email platform, Gmail provides a wide range of easy-to-use tools for productivity and collaboration. One of the most useful features in Gmail for collaboration is the ability to insert Google documents directly into an email from Google Drive. With this feature, your team can share documents quickly and conveniently with anyone, even those who don’t have access to your shared storage — such as customers, clients, or co-workers in other departments.
Schedule meetings with Google Calendar
Google Apps’ interactive, multi-user Calendar is an excellent tool for helping your team keep track of meetings and events. With Calendar, you can schedule meetings and events including details like time and location, and they’re instantly available in real-time for the whole team to view. You can also invite people to meetings or events directly from the app, and your team can accept or decline invitations, leave comments, and more.
Gather input with Google Forms
The Google Forms app allows you to create a wide variety of forms, surveys, and questionnaires, so you can collect and view team input quickly and conveniently. Forms supports multiple question response types, including text, multiple choice, checkbox, scale, and date. The app also provides you with an automatic summary of responses in easy-to-read graph format — and real-time collaboration lets your whole team view and react to responses.
Connect conveniently with Google+
More than a social network, the Google+ app features some great collaboration tools for business. Google+ Community allows you to create a private team environment with interactive message boards, comment capabilities, and more.
You can also use Google+ Hangout, a fully featured video chat application, to conduct virtual team meetings. Create a group chat “backchannel” during wider company meetings to collaborate on your points, or hold a private video meeting for up to 15 people when in-person meetings aren’t feasible or convenient.
To learn more about cohesive team work, or to find candidates who have the necessary team-oriented skills to fulfill open positions within your company, contact the recruiting experts at The Armada Group.
