Collaboration Features in Google Workspace

Google Workspace is a cloud office solution. The suite gives you access to a range of tools, such as Gmail, Meet, Docs, Drive, Sites and more. Formerly known as G Suite, this Google product allows you to work in a flexible, collaborative manner.

Here, we’re introducing you to some of the features that allow collaboration to become even easier, especially in times of remote and flexible working. If your organization uses Google Workspace, you’ll be able to collaborate with your team in the following ways…

Comments in Docs, Sheets & Slides

In Docs, you can ‘Add comment’ when you highlight text with the blue button that appears on the right hand side. All other contributors to the document will be able to see your comment. You can also assign jobs to people.

To do this, type ‘@’ and then the email address of the user. You will then have the option to ‘Assign to Name’. That user will receive an email with the assignment, comment and a link to the document, so that they can easily complete the action.

You can also use the Insert Comment button on the top toolbar in Sheets, Slides & Docs too.

Drive links in Emails

When sharing things via email with your internal team, you can simply embed a Drive link.

When composing an email, head to the toolbar on the bottom, and you will see the Drive logo. Hover over this and it will say ‘Insert files using Drive’. Once you click this, a new window will open that displays your Drive. You can navigate to the relevant file and insert it into your email, where it will be displayed as a handy link.

Present to Meet from a Doc

New to docs, you can now present to a meeting, directly from your Google document.

On the top toolbar, next to the share icon, there’s a blue screen icon: ‘Present to a meeting’. If you have a meeting scheduled in your Calendar, you can simply select the meeting and present your tab to everyone there.

Coming soon will be the ability to join a meeting while you’re working on a document. You’ll see everyone in a sidebar, with no need to leave the document you’re working on. Perfect for taking notes and updating docs as you go.

Sharing Keep Notes

If you head to keep.google.com, you will find a note taking service. With Notes, tick boxes, colours and reminders, this is a flexible solution that you can use on the go.

There’s a collaboration element in Keep which allows you to add collaborators. On Notes, head to the bottom toolbar and then add a ‘Collaborator’. The other users will be able to see and edit your note in their own version of Keep.

If you don’t want collaborators to edit a Keep Note, you can share it via Google Docs.

Smart Chips in Docs

You are now able to integrate more into your documents. Smart chips allow you to link other documents, users, or calendar events into a Google Doc. It also allows collaborators to preview items without leaving the document that they’re in.

The link feature has also been updated. When you highlight text, right-click and select ‘Link’, as well as being able to add a link as normal, you will also get suggestions for documents to add.

Soon, Smart Chips will be heading to other Google services, such as Sheets & Slides.

New Features Coming Soon

Checklists are coming to Docs soon. This will allow teams to keep on top of projects where multiple people are involved; especially with the ability to insert document links and tag other team members. You will also be able to assign items in the checklist to people, and eventually, these checklists will appear in Google Tasks.

Emoji reactions are heading to Docs too in the next few months. This will allow you to gauge reactions from the team when you’re collaborating on documents together.

We hope you find some of these features helpful!