You probably know how well Google Docs works for you on a personal level. But have you stopped to think about how it can benefit your business?
Google Docs is more than a word processor
The business version of Google Docs offers all the capabilities of other office suites like Microsoft Office, including word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. But since it is widely used by the younger generations in school, the adoption in the workplace is fast and easy.
The word processor comes with all the features you’d expect from such a tool, including spell checking, a word counter, voice typing capabilities, the ability to insert pictures, charts, and tables into your document, and more. The spreadsheet app, Google Sheets, handles everything from simple graphs and tables to complex equations. The presentation app, Google Slides, lets you build quality presentations in just minutes. The form builder app, Google Forms, allows you to create forms. Google Forms lets you generate questionnaires and surveys to send out to clients or your employees.
There are many add-ons you can download to enhance the features of Google Docs even more. Here is a link to some available add-ons.
Best of all, Google Docs only requires an internet connection and web browser. So, if you have a smartphone, tablet, PC, or work on a variety of desktops at different locations, all you need to do is open an internet browser to start editing or creating new documents.
Obviously, and like all other cloud solutions, you do not have to download anything onto your computer. Even the documents you create are automatically saved to the cloud and do not take up space on your computer, although you have the option of saving files to your hard drive.
Collaboration and accessibility
Collaboration is a big deal when you consider Google Docs. Employees can access files 24/7 wherever they have an internet connection. This flexibility is very helpful, particularly for employees who are often traveling and working from mobile devices, employees working remotely, or who may be at home due to illness. Accessibility like this can truly multiply productivity.
Companies that use Google Docs can simplify work-based collaboration. Think about the lag time that exists when employees email documents to other employees. Now think how much this can be eliminated as communication is in real-time, and access to documents is available worldwide.
Since Google Docs runs in a web browser, you don’t need to install it on your computer. However, that does mean that it relies on the internet. If you lose your internet connection, you won’t be able. As a workaround, Google offers a Drive app for Chrome and a Drive desktop program, which provides offline access to all your Drive files, including files in Google Docs. To work offline, however, you need to set up the feature ahead of time. You cannot choose to work offline if your internet suddenly vanishes.
Control what gets changed and who makes the changes
When employees work in scattered, remote areas, Google Docs lets you all work together on the same document at the same time; it keeps track of every change. You can also access the shared folder of files. Feedback and changes are saved instantly. Google Docs provides a revision history throughout the entire process. This is important because with collaboration comes a requirement for tracking changes using version control. Collaboration is essential in the business workplace. Being able to not only access information from anywhere, but the ability to control the version of any document employees are working on is a huge boost in productivity to your company. The owner of the file can control exactly who can make changes. Also, multiple users can access and edit the same file at the same time. It also allows employees to view who else is working in the document and making changes to it as they work.
In addition to editing a file directly, collaborators have the option to make suggestions to the content. Your edits will display as recommendations, and the owner of the file can then accept or reject the suggestion, or make comments on the suggestions. This time-saving feature benefits everyone involved.
Not only can you view the history of changes, but you can also choose an older version and revert back to it if the current version gets messed up.
Although multiple employees can access and edit the file at the same time, editing doesn’t have to happen in real-time. You can choose to leave comments for your collaborators to recommend changes, or to add or delete content.
Simplicity brought to your business
Just think how much time you will save with real-time collaboration! No more sending edits and comments back and forth through multiple emails until you get a file approved.
Another feature is the ability to easily import a file to Google Docs or export a file from it. You do not need to worry about compatibility issues or maintaining the latest version of it, either.
You can import many file types, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PDF files (.docx, .doc, .pdf, .rtf, .txt, xlsx, .csv, .html, .ods). And you can even collaborate and comment on Microsoft Office files without it having to convert to Google’s format. So you can communicate seamlessly with employees or customers who use those apps.
Google Docs is an easy application to learn, especially if your employees already know how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
So as you can see, Google Docs has many features, including efficient collaboration by your team to enhance productivity. If you would like to know more about how Google Workspace can help your business, contact us today.
