Google has one of the most enviable company cultures of any company in the world. Aside from its tricked-out office spaces, Google is famous for its many perks and employee-driven creativity. But what makes Google a truly great place to work is its collaborative spirit and motivation for teamwork.
In the last couple of years, Google studied the habits of 180 computers. He also conducted hundreds of interviews. The company wants to understand what makes a perfect team. It offers numerous tools to help people work better with others, so the goal is not surprising.
Let's take a look at some of Google's most inspiring teamwork tools and examine how they could improve your online collaboration.
Gmail is an easy-to-use email provider that offers 15 GB of storage space per account. What you may not know is that it also allows collaboration through a delegation option How to Give Someone Gmail Access Without Sharing Your Password How to Give Someone Gmail Access Without Sharing Your Password With the Gmail Delegates feature, you can grant someone else's access to your account without revealing your password. Read more . Delegates can read and send email on your behalf while accessing the account.
Check out this feature by going to Settings . Then, look for the Accounts section at the top.
Find the section that says Grant access to your account . Radio buttons allow you to choose to show conversations as read or unread once delegates click on them.
Enter a person's email after clicking Add another account link. That action sends your delegate an activation link. Be sure to tell the person to set up within seven days.
Download free: Gmail for Android | iOS
Thanks to its color-coding capabilities, Google Calendar is a great way to visually organize your busy life. How to block out time in Google Calendar for a productive work day. How to block out time in Google Calendar for a productive work day. Do you have problems with time management? Here's how to block out time in your Google Calendar to increase focus, reduce stress, and improve productivity. Read more . You can use red to designate work obligations and save blue for fun stuff.
The tool also allows you to share How to share your Google calendar with anyone How to share your Google calendar with anyone We show you three options for sharing your Google calendar. Using iCal, even Apple Calendar and Outlook users can see their schedule. We also explain how to revoke access to your Google calendar. Read more . Make some or all of your calendars public, so people can see when you're free.
Do you want to share a calendar with only one person? Click the down arrow to the right of the relevant calendar in the main list. Then choose Share this calendar .
On the next page, look for the Share with specific people zone. Then enter the person's email address.
You can also share calendars with any internet user. Go back to the down arrow menu and choose Calendar settings .
Scroll to the Calendar address section, then click the little green iCal button .
Copy the generated URL and send it to colleagues, friends or other people you know. Please note that anyone who receives the link can access the calendar.
Google Calendar's sharing capability is great for planning meetings, study sessions, or other collaborative activities. It also saves you from repeatedly telling people you're busy. They can only look at a calendar that you've shared with them.
Download free: Google Calendar for Android | iOS
Google Sheets is a spreadsheet application that you can use with other people simultaneously.
Advantages like conditional formatting and built-in formulas 4 Google Scripts That Make Google Sheets Much More Powerful 4 Google Scripts That Make Google Sheets Much More Powerful Google Data Sheets are great, but can be even more powerful if you use Google Scripts to enhance their capabilities. Read More save time for you and your collaborators. You can even watch other people make edits in real time.
Do you want to send a notification to a collaborator on the sheet? Simply right click and select Insert Comment , then type a plus sign Send a notification to the collaborator using her email address..
Because Google Sheets automatically saves your changes, you won't worry about losing your work. If you need to see a list of changes and the people responsible, you can check the revision history.
To quickly see the revision history, simply click the note at the top of the sheet that tells you when the last edit was made.
Before you share your spreadsheet, make sure each collaborator has a Google account. Then click the Share button at the top right.
Add the email addresses of the people you want to access the spreadsheet. Then click on the pencil icon. Your last action allows you to specify whether people can view the sheet, edit it, or do both. Alternatively, you can create a share link.
Choose view/edit permissions when doing so and you can bundle a message or email the link to your team.
Download free: Google Sheets for Android | iOS
Google Docs works perfectly to put your head together with teammates.
Use it while writing to-do lists, brainstorming projects, or anything else that's made better by feedback from others.
As you look through the document, keep an eye out for the colorful, flag-shaped icons with people's names. They tell you who is responsible for making changes.
A contributor can also take notes to clarify the reasons behind edits or ask questions. How do you do this?
You guessed it – follow the same steps mentioned in the Google Sheets section above. The only difference is that you will need to highlight some text to place your comment in the document.
Share a document with people through the same process used for Google Sheets. You can also use the shareable link option in the corner of the share box.
Download free: Google Docs for Android | iOS
Think of Google Keep as a beautifully basic project management tool. How to Use Google Keep for Simple Project Management How to Use Google Keep for Simple Project Management Looking for a basic, intuitive, cross-platform project management tool? We show you how to use Google Keep for simple projects. Read more.
It works on Android and iOS devices, plus your favorite web browser. You depend on Google Keep as a place for notes, drawings, lists, images, and audio clips. You can even share your Keep Notes How to share Google Notes with other apps on your phone How to share Google Keep Notes with other apps on your phone Did you know that Google Keep on your phone also allows you to share notes with other apps? Read More
You can also put important notes at the top of the Keep page, set reminders for important notes, and easily export notes to Google Docs.
Start sharing by finding the Contributor Icon . It looks like the head and shoulders of a person with a plus sign on the left. From there, you can share with someone by name or write an email.
To share notes with multiple people at once, you can create a Google family group for up to six Google Keep users.
To use this feature, however, you must also create a Google Families account. As the creator of the Family Group, you can assume the role of Family Manager. You can then share the Google Keep stuff with your family group, easy peasy.
Download free: Google Keep for Android | iOS | Chrome
Preparing for a group presentation? Avoid endless phone calls and emails about how to proceed, and collaborate with Google Slides instead. Select an Attractive Template 7 Places to Find Beautiful Quick Presentation Templates 7 Places to Find Beautiful Quick Presentation Templates Your search for last-minute presentation templates ends with these online resources. These template websites cover PowerPoint and Google Slides. Read More Make your words pop with hundreds of font possibilities.
Like Google Docs and Sheets, this collaboration enabler enables on-the-fly editing by any authorized person. Simply follow the now familiar process for granting privileges and look for the blue Share button. It's in the upper-right side of your screen.
Google Slides also plays nicely with Microsoft PowerPoint. You can import and edit PowerPoint slides with Google Slides Maker. It also converts PowerPoint files into Google Slides.
Download free: Google Slides for Android | iOS
Google Hangouts is a messaging application. Try it to talk to one person at a time via text message or up to 150 people.
You can also start a video chat with up to 10 people. Start a new conversation by clicking the plus sign . Then add people by name, email address, or phone number. Finally, choose whether you want a message-based conversation or a video call.
Allow more people to join by clicking the person icon and selecting Add People . Then follow the same process you did when creating the chat.
You may also want to give the conversation a name, so there are no questions about the discussion topics. To do so, select the gear icon at the top of the chat box to open Hangout settings. Then search for Hangout Name and write something descriptive.
There are many other tricks that you can implement. 10 Awesome Google Hangouts Tricks You Should Definitely Check Out. 10 Awesome Google Hangouts Tricks You Should Check Out. Google Hangouts has several useful hidden features that promise to make conversations and video calls easier and more fun for you. . We will show you what you can do with them. Read More
Download free: Google Hangouts for Android | iOS
You can get all of the above tools to enhance all of your team's efforts at no cost through Google Drive. However, if you're collaborating for business reasons, paying for G Suite may be a better idea.
G Suite is Google's packaged solution for organizations of all kinds. It offers all of the above tools, plus several others. Essentially, it allows you to access all the tools we've discussed in this post from one location.
The G Suite version of Google Drive has a central admin panel with data loss prevention features. It also has a machine learning-based search function that helps people find files faster.
You can also create a Team Drive. Unlike content in a regular Drive account, the materials are owned by the team, rather than individuals.
That means if someone leaves, your files stay where they are so your team can get back to work. Right click on a file and go to Add star to mark it as important, so people find it later.
After finishing a two-week free trial, you will pay a monthly amount per user based on the tier level. The most basic package does not include unlimited storage. The G Suite for Teams version costs $10 per month per user.
Buy G Suite: $5-$25 per month per user depending on package chosen after a two-week free trial.
Getting familiar with these tools is simple. This is because the process for carrying out certain tasks (such as sharing documents) is identical in all applications. Also, while you now have the necessary mobile app links, all the tools work in web browsers. Most even allow you to continue working alone or with others, even without an Internet connection.
With so many professional tools available (for free!), there's no excuse not to be an amazing team The 6 Best Free Online Meeting Tools To Collaborate With Your Team The 6 Best Free Online Meeting Tools To Collaborate With Your Team Teams small we don't need expensive enterprise applications for collaboration. Here are six great tools you can use to manage your team's data, communication, and more. Free. Read more.
What collaborative tools would you like your team to use more of? Tell us in the comments section below..
