34 Google Docs tips to increase your office productivity

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One of the most used tools to work at home and to share documents with other people, Google Docs is not an essential part of many different type of work carried on a computer, and has nearly replaced standard office programs installed on computer.

Starting with a  Gmail account   or even without, the different Google apps allow you to create online, without any software installed, advanced text documents with Google Docs, spreadsheets with Google Sheets, presentations with Google Slides, forms with Google Forms, and more!

With the help of a few expert Google apps usage tips, and especially Google Docs, you will be to use it for more than simple as a Google notepad online, and can go as far as to managing a whole business and your collaborators with the online Google suite.

From version history to advanced functions, we asked the community what are their tips to make the most of Google Docs. Here are their answers.

Are you using Google Docs to handle business documents? Do you have any good tip on using them for office productivity? Have you used the collaboration functionalities successfully?

Melanie Musson, AutoInsuranceEZ.com: no need to save a draft and resend to everyone

I use Google Docs to handle business documents daily. In order to collaborate with those on my team, we select settings that allow those on our team to edit. On the right upper corner is a blue “share” button. Click that, then go to advanced settings and select who can open the doc. Then select from the dropdown menu “can edit.”

Once the team has access, they utilize the “comments” option to ask questions or add information. Team members can also make edits or make suggestions for edits.

It’s convenient and productive to use Google Docs for collaboration because everyone on the team can have real-time access. There’s no need to save a draft and resend to everyone. They can just keep checking back with the original document as it evolves.

Melanie Musson is an auto insurance specialist at AutoInsuranceEZ.com.
Melanie Musson is an auto insurance specialist at AutoInsuranceEZ.com.

Stacy Caprio, Growth Marketing: write and research without leaving document with Explore

One tip for using Google Docs is you can write and research without leaving the document when you use the Explore feature. The Explore feature lets you search and explore Google for research and answers while you're writing at the same time so you don't have to waste time changing tabs or clicking out of your Google Doc while writing.

Stacy Caprio, Founder, Growth Marketing
Stacy Caprio, Founder, Growth Marketing

James Canzanella, Isolated Marketing Nights: have folders based upon topics

I've been using Google Docs to handle business documents for years now, and I recommend that you keep very neat folders of all your files. Over time, files can begin to pile up and you don't want to spend too much time looking for your specific files. I recommend having folders based upon topics. For example, it could be expenses, income, business plans, or whatever else it may be.

As time goes on, you can then add new files for the previous years given the fact that you won't be accessing them as much. But if you still need to access them? You'll always know where to look. While being neat and organized might sound like a fundamental tip, it becomes much more important as the files and documents begin to pile up.

James is dedicated to helping you build and grow your online business, thanks to both software and affiliate marketing.
James is dedicated to helping you build and grow your online business, thanks to both software and affiliate marketing.

Calloway Cook, Illuminate Labs: only allow people outside the organization to view

Make sure to change the access settings if you're sharing a document with people outside of your organization. It's common for people less familiar with Google Docs and shared collaboration software to make direct edits to a document, which you generally don't want.

We tend to restrict access to our company documents to View Only or in certain cases Comment Only. For something like an investor pitch deck, it makes sense to only allow people outside the organization to view, because that deck will be re-used and sent to other potential investors.

My name is Calloway Cook and I'm the President of Illuminate Labs
My name is Calloway Cook and I'm the President of Illuminate Labs

Vincent Lee, author: invite team for inputs

As part of my process in brand development for clients, I start with building their brand story. Google Doc is my go-to for recording information and as needed, I will invite my team for inputs either by giving them editing or commenting capability. Remember to select the “Suggesting” function under editing so the original text is retained. Commenting is more useful if you are just needing feedback, not edits. A specific paragraph can be highlighted and you can assign a request for comment to a specific person (via their email address). The commenting function is also a good way to track decisions leading to the final version in the document.

Google Doc is also helpful as I write my upcoming book. I am able to invite my editor to vet the content and by using the commenting tool, she can advise a change in direction or idea. And as I prepare the final manuscript, I am able to generate a table of content automatically simply by formatting the chapter titles as a header. The word-count function is also a great tool since I need to keep the length of each chapter the same.

Vincent Lee. I am the author of an upcoming book “The One Game Changer to Boost your Business”. I have been providing branding and design services to clients in North & South America and Africa as a solopreneur since 2015.
Vincent Lee. I am the author of an upcoming book “The One Game Changer to Boost your Business”. I have been providing branding and design services to clients in North & South America and Africa as a solopreneur since 2015.

Dan Bailey, WikiLawn: learn the history feature and resolve comments

My best tips for using Google Docs collaboratively involve learning the History feature and having some kind of process for who comments/edits when. For History, you can see a record of what's been changed, and roll back any changes. This is crucial if someone changes something that needs to be reverted, or if you want to see what an individual employee contributed.

If you click All changes saved in Drive it will open up a view showing the recent changes. They're color-coded, so you can see who did what. Just click on it to get a better view in the doc, and revert if you need to.

In terms of edits and comments, devise a workflow so people aren't stepping over each other. If one person drafts a doc, have it go to another to do a high level once-over. Then send it back to the drafter, let them make changes, and send it down the line for more critical analysis. Resolve comments that are dealt with and leave any you still have questions about.

This should keep things moving smoothly.

My name is Dan Bailey, President of WikiLawn, a provider of on-demand lawn care and maintenance that connects people with the best lawn and outdoor services in 2,500 cities across the U.S.
My name is Dan Bailey, President of WikiLawn, a provider of on-demand lawn care and maintenance that connects people with the best lawn and outdoor services in 2,500 cities across the U.S.

Josephine Ison, Event Entertainers: down to the minute scheduling with Google Docs

As a talent/artist booking agency, *Google Docs is central to the way we keep our team informed in a frictionless way.* The majority of our bookings are live events and these require down-to-the-minute scheduling. This is where G-Docs comes in handy. A live document is shared to all involved members and if any revisions are made to timings and requirements, these notifications are pushed live to them via email notifications. This heavily reduces additional administrative effort and makes our communication clean and clear.

Josephine Ison, Director of Event Entertainers: Josephine is both a vocalist and the Director of an Australian talent booking agency called Event Entertainers. As a boutique supplier, our artists perform regularly at some of Australia’s finest venues for clients such as Qantas, Audi, and Lend Lease.
Josephine Ison, Director of Event Entertainers: Josephine is both a vocalist and the Director of an Australian talent booking agency called Event Entertainers. As a boutique supplier, our artists perform regularly at some of Australia’s finest venues for clients such as Qantas, Audi, and Lend Lease.

Sherese Patton, SLP Media Relations: make a PDF document before sending it over

As a Publicist and PR Consultant I am always on the go. it sometimes is necessary for me to have my laptop with me most of the time and set up a workstation if the space permits. So being able to have access to contract files is extremely helpful and important. I use Google Docs quite frequently for my contract creation and for my questionnaire for onboarding new clients. Because you can access Google anywhere, and I do mean anywhere, It makes is so much easier and so less stressful when you can continue to work on your documents and easily share them.

The best tip I can give is to utilize this app for contracts proposals. Once you are done with the document you can easily share is it with the person you are creating the document for. The one thing I would advise is to make it a PDF document before sending it over, as you do not want the client making changes to it that you are not aware of. However, when you are sharing documents with you team, I would make the corrections in a different color. that way you know when corrections have been made. I have collaborated with other PR pros and we found that having designated colors was the best way to go. This tool is great and has truly been a lfiesaver!

SLP Media Relations was started in Detroit, MI with the goal in mind of helping small business gain visibility and press for their brands. It is the company's belief that all companies deserve the success and recognition of all other major brands. We are passionate about helping our clients reach their full potential and will provide exceptionally service to all those to are a part of our roster.
SLP Media Relations was started in Detroit, MI with the goal in mind of helping small business gain visibility and press for their brands. It is the company's belief that all companies deserve the success and recognition of all other major brands. We are passionate about helping our clients reach their full potential and will provide exceptionally service to all those to are a part of our roster.

James McGrath, Yoreevo: use Suggesting tool to notify document's owner

One feature that we find extremely helpful but is easy to miss is Suggesting. It can be found in the top right. Normally Editing is chosen but if you click on it and choose Suggesting, any changes made both the original text and new text remain on the page. A corresponding bubble on the right side of the page will be created highlighting the suggestion.

As these suggestions are made, the document's owner will be notified and they can accept or reject the changes. If they're accepted, the edit is applied. If they're rejected, the document goes back to its original form.

Each suggestion can be evaluated independently.

This function is really helpful because it's basically a redlined version of your document you can easily evaluate.

My name is James McGrath and I'm responding to your HARO query about Google Docs. I'm a co-founder of the NYC real estate brokerage, Yoreevo. We use Google Docs almost exclusively internally.
My name is James McGrath and I'm responding to your HARO query about Google Docs. I'm a co-founder of the NYC real estate brokerage, Yoreevo. We use Google Docs almost exclusively internally.

Rafa, Homeschool Spanish Academy: learn some useful shortcuts

We use Google Docs to manage every blog post to make sure it's ready to publish. Since we've been working remotely for a long time, the comment function has proven to be quite useful at promoting discussions between writers and editors. Not only does the feature let us work at our own pace, but it also leaves a written record of the whole editing process so words won't stay in the air.

Another way to increase productivity through Google Docs is to learn some useful shortcuts. As a writer, shortcuts such as word counting (CTRL + SHIFT + C) and introducing headers (CTRL + ALT + 2) are a great way to make writing an efficient and pleasant experience. If you're organizing your document with headers, that also allows you to quickly navigate through the titles via the sidebar to the left of the document. This makes going through large documents quite easy!

My name is Rafa and I'm a writer and administrative assistant at Homeschool Spanish Academy. I'm a psychology student, creative developer and aspiring polymath that's always trying to learn new things and improve as a person. I'm a nerd when it comes to language, education, and videogames. My goal is to practice all these disciplines in unison and make something great with my time.
My name is Rafa and I'm a writer and administrative assistant at Homeschool Spanish Academy. I'm a psychology student, creative developer and aspiring polymath that's always trying to learn new things and improve as a person. I'm a nerd when it comes to language, education, and videogames. My goal is to practice all these disciplines in unison and make something great with my time.

I'm the founder of an eCommerce and affiliate business for which I work with freelance writers and editors frequently via Google Docs.

Find freelancer writers on Fiverr

For which I have some associated tips for productivity for online businesses like mine:

  • Create shareable links for docs to pass to your writer, which can then be checked by your editor and SEO team in real-time. You can adjust the permissions to allow certain users to edit/read-only or allow anyone with the link to edit as necessary.
  • If the doc needs reworking to add comments for specific team members by using the comment @ functionality, this nudges the team member automatically via email to your feedback!
  • Use the headers to break down documents into SEO ready formats prepped for pasting directly into your website without adjustment.
Ahmed Mir is the founder of direct to consumer CBD brand Nature and Bloom. Previously, he worked at BetterWorld Books for 6.5 years across a variety of commercial roles growing the business.
Ahmed Mir is the founder of direct to consumer CBD brand Nature and Bloom. Previously, he worked at BetterWorld Books for 6.5 years across a variety of commercial roles growing the business.

Marc Bromhall, Beginner Surf Gear: send emails directly from a spreadsheet

We've been using Google Suite for over 4 years now to manage our business. One of the niftiest features we've discovered for boosting productivity is sending emails directly from a spreadsheet. This is a great tool for project managers or team leads who are constantly communicating with multiple members of a team. Let's say you've just wrapped up a meeting and there were several action points in the meeting that need to be delegated to different team members. Instead of emailing all of these people separately, you can use  Google Sheets   to take note of who needs to do what.

In the first column you will put their email and in the second column will the be the note on what they need to do. After the meeting is over and the sheet is complete all you need to do is copy and paste some code into Google Script Editor which you can find under the Tools tab in Google Sheets. Once the code is pasted in you simply click on send emails at the top of the page and in seconds all your team members will be emailed their individual messages. We find this tool has saved us a huge of time over time over the years and it one of the many features we love about Google Suite.

Tutorial: Sending emails from a Spreadsheet
Marc is Co-Founder of Beginner Surf Gear, a website dedicated to helping people become better surfers. Marc has a background in digital marketing having spent a number of years working for ad and martech companies in London. He holds an BA degree in Business Studies and an MA in International Relations.
Marc is Co-Founder of Beginner Surf Gear, a website dedicated to helping people become better surfers. Marc has a background in digital marketing having spent a number of years working for ad and martech companies in London. He holds an BA degree in Business Studies and an MA in International Relations.

Shreeram Thapaliya, Nepal Trek Hub Pvt.Ltd: export in different formats and print

I have been using the google docs since last year. It is the most amazing thing for me from Google after Gmail. I have also been using the Google Sheet. I think for business it is very great to use the google docs as compared to the Microsoft docs. You have various options that you can share and edit documents at once and multiple people can edit it and take out the final versions of each document easily. It saves the time of the employees. All the things you can do from  Microsoft Word   that you can do from Google Docs. This document also stays back up on Google Drive, if you don’t like to put it here then you can also export in different formats such as Word file, PDF file or any other extensions. If you want to get the print then directly you can print from here what else do you need more than this? I like the grammar checking options very much. You can write very good sentences with the help of this Google Docs. I even write my emails through the Google Docs then send it through. I think I have used the most of the functionality. If it remains, I will learn it soon because I am using it 2-3 hours each day. I also see the lack that the Google Docs does not count the words and characters.

I am Shreeram Thapaliya and working in tourism since 13 years. I have also done Master Degree in Business, Studies. Last year I founded a adventure company (**) that takes the people to the mountains, We lead people to the expedition and climbing.
I am Shreeram Thapaliya and working in tourism since 13 years. I have also done Master Degree in Business, Studies. Last year I founded a adventure company (**) that takes the people to the mountains, We lead people to the expedition and climbing.

Joe Flanagan, Tacuna Systems: mention team members to get them notified

I've been using Google Docs collaboratively for many years. This tool allows you to create and share files very easily. Google Docs also give absolute control as access to shared files can be limited to viewing, commenting, or editing.

Some of the productivity tips of Google Docs include:

  • Mention team members in a comment on a document to ensure that they are notified of the comment.
  • Add company Jargon to the dictionary
  • Use bookmarks to navigate long documents
Joe Flanagan is the Lead Project Engineer at Tacuna Systems
Joe Flanagan is the Lead Project Engineer at Tacuna Systems

Ken Eulo, Smith & Eulo Law Firm: understant the edit permissions when sharing an invite

When collaborating with employees in your company on Google Docs, you need to understand the edit permissions when sharing an invite. 90% of the time we have had trouble collaborating on Google docs, it is because the sender did not select “allow anyone with the link to edit.” This is a quick fix and only takes a second, so be sure to select this option if you want the receiving party to be able to edit the document. However, if you only want to send a document to the party so they can view it, leave the edit permission on “can view.” There is a third permission, “can comment,” which allows the receiving party to make comments on the document. This permission is useful when you are sending the document to a client for feedback, or to a superior for review.

Ken Eulo, Founding Partner, Smith & Eulo Law Firm: Smith & Eulo Law firm provides criminal defense representation for clients facing criminal charges in Orlando, FL and the surrounding areas. We are a group of dedicated criminal defense attorneys who are passionate towards all areas of criminal law.
Ken Eulo, Founding Partner, Smith & Eulo Law Firm: Smith & Eulo Law firm provides criminal defense representation for clients facing criminal charges in Orlando, FL and the surrounding areas. We are a group of dedicated criminal defense attorneys who are passionate towards all areas of criminal law.

Norhanie Pangulima, SIA Enterprises: use saved version history and voice typing

Google Docs is one of the Google apps that I always use in my writing tasks. The concept of using  Microsoft Word   online through Google Docs is very helpful to me especially that sometimes, my edits were not saved and the changes got lost when there’s a power outage or I accidentally exit the program. This app has numerous features that most people don’t know.. One is that this app allows 200 simultaneous viewers at a time in one document.

SOURCE

It’s one of the best tools for team collaboration.

Here are two more helpful features of Google Docs and tips on how to use them:

  • 1. Saved Version History. Google Docs automatically saves every edit that is made. By clicking the File menu, you can see Version History and track changes made in the document and the user who made it.
  • 2. Voice Typing. This feature is very useful when writing notes and if you just want to focus on writing whatever comes to your mind and just edit later. Google Docs allow you to type in words you say like a dictation. To use this, click on Tools, then Voice Typing.
Norhanie Pangulima, Content Marketing Executive @ SIA
Enterprises
Norhanie Pangulima, Content Marketing Executive @ SIA Enterprises

Philip Weiss, PhilipWeiss.org: use the tab key to auto-select formulas

Many people struggle using Excel in Google Docs since it can be confusing to learn how to use all its features. Especially in regards to formulas, which are a nightmare for most of us non-financial types. Even though I disliked learning Excel, it's one of those necessary skillsets that we can apply to many facets of our work and daily life to keep things organized.

Here is my favorite tip for saving time with Excel formulas, which many people tend to struggle with. So what you want to do is use the tab key, which lets you auto-select the formulas. This way you don't need to waste time typing them out in full each time. As you start filling it in, the field will populate a list of suggestions from Excel. Then all you have to do is move your arrow key up or down to select your formula, hit enter and done.

If there is a problem with any of the formulas, you can quickly debug it by selecting the formula then hitting F2. Then you can cycle through parts of the formula by holding shift and pressing the left arrow. F9 will show the final calculation of the formula, after which you can hit Esc to keep the formula or enter to preserve the value.

Philip, founder of PhilipWeiss.org, a travel blog focused on digital nomad lifestyle and culture.
Philip, founder of PhilipWeiss.org, a travel blog focused on digital nomad lifestyle and culture.

Polly Kay, English Blinds: trace work back to its original author

We use Google Documents for collaborations with freelancers and third-party contractors that we don't wish to provide with access to our own document drives or company intranet, either due to security concerns or because it is simply faster and more efficient in this context to get to work via Google Drive.

As virtually everyone has a Google account anyway and the sharing settings for individual folders can be so finely tuned, this enables us to transfer ownership of files, collate work from multiple contractors in the same place, edit and revise content, and trace work back to its original author long after the event.

It has also proven useful for the freelancers and contractors we are working with as well, as they can then manage folders for multiple different projects or clients all in the same place, partitioning and assigning permissions as appropriate without risking the security, integrity, or confidentiality of their other clients' content.

Polly Kay, Senior Marketing Manager at English Blinds - Polly has over a decade of experience as a digital marketing consultant and senior marketing manager, serving a diverse range of clients ranging from SMEs to large international corporations and household names.
Polly Kay, Senior Marketing Manager at English Blinds - Polly has over a decade of experience as a digital marketing consultant and senior marketing manager, serving a diverse range of clients ranging from SMEs to large international corporations and household names.

Esther Meyer, Grooms Shop: try voice typing, set permissions, use spell-checker

I have been using Google Docs for a while now. May it be for business or for personal documents, it is very handy, which is why it is my application of choice. Doing my remote work is a lot easier using Google Docs. I have a remote team with whom I work with and it is normal for us to collaborate, which is why Google Docs is a godsend for us.

Here are my top tips for using google docs effectively:

  • 1. Give voice typing a try. If you're the kind of person who thinks faster than you type, this might be a great feature for you. Use Ctrl+Shift+S to launch the feature then speak away. Watch as Google does the typing for you. However, be prepared to do some editing as this might not always get your words correctly, let alone format.
  • 2. Set permissions properly. When sharing your documents, make sure that the access that you’re giving the users is suited for their needs. You can choose for them to be able to edit, view or comment.
  • 3. Amazing spell-checker. Google Docs has an intelligent spelling and grammar checker. Your writing cannot be bad with this tool, as it catches errors accurately for the most part. Grammar is very important when it comes to careers, as professionals who failed to progress to a director-level position within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues.
SOURCE
Esther Meyer, Marketing Manager @ Grooms Shop: My name is Esther Meyer. I'm the Marketing Manager of GroomsShop, a shop that is providing high-quality personalized gifts for the wedding party.
Esther Meyer, Marketing Manager @ Grooms Shop: My name is Esther Meyer. I'm the Marketing Manager of GroomsShop, a shop that is providing high-quality personalized gifts for the wedding party.

Oksana Chyketa, BreatheWeb.com: use shortcuts and built-in functions

I truly enjoy working with Google sheets, which is awesome because my work is tightly connected with Google docs. So, learning all about the shortcuts is a must for people like me. Google sheet shortcuts gradually save my time and allow me to focus on more vital issues. My favorite commands though are Ctrl plus semicolon key (for inserting the current date), Ctrl plus pageUp/pageDown (for moving between the sheets), Ctrl plus Shift plus V (for pasting plain text only), and lots more which I constantly use.

But the best tip while working with  Google Sheets   that I could share with you - is using functions. They are truly amazing and help produce impressive results. For instance, I usually use the =REGEXEXTRACT function to get the domain from a URL and this one =VLOOKUP to find the data (if any - true/false) in another sheet. And of course, the =UNIQUE formula.

There is an easy way to indicate the duplicates - using the UNIQUE function. Basically, the UNIQUE formula looks at a range and pulls out all the unique values from it. It’s beneficial for those who want to speed up their workflow working with a considerable amount of data. For example, when I have an extended range of prospective opportunities generated from different sources, it sets aside repeated data which effectively slows things down. So, if it weren’t for the UNIQUE function, I would probably spend much more time on reviewing opportunities (keywords, websites, emails) than I do now. And the better part about this function is that it works for both, numbers and texts.

Oksana Chyketa, the Marketing Specialist at BreatheWeb.com
Oksana Chyketa, the Marketing Specialist at BreatheWeb.com

Milos Djordjevi, SaveMyCent: translate documents directly in Google Docs

Since I usually collaborate with a lot of people, I use comments a lot. Since it’s very easy to make changes in Google Docs, people may not notice everything on time. That’s why I always ping people in a comment and make sure that we agree on all of the changes, before actually making them. Sometimes I feel that I have a very lively chat within one document. However, this helps me maintain all of the information in one place.

Also, sometimes I need to translate documents to other languages. I like that I can now do it directly in Google Docs, under the ‘Tools’ menu. Luckily, I usually need just a couple of other languages so this translation turns out quite good. I have an editor who simply checks the translation, which saves a lot of time.

Milos Djordjevic, Co-Founder, SaveMyCent: With passion in economics, and knowledge of digital marketing, Milos Djordjevic successfully leads SaveMyCent guided by a wish to bring you the best coupon deals on the US market.
Milos Djordjevic, Co-Founder, SaveMyCent: With passion in economics, and knowledge of digital marketing, Milos Djordjevic successfully leads SaveMyCent guided by a wish to bring you the best coupon deals on the US market.

Jeff McLean, McLean Company: Google Docs has a free app to collaborate anywhere

We collaborate on Google docs for everything from blog posts to email templates. Google Docs is the easiest tool to share content with your team, and effectively work on the project together. Many people are not aware that Google Docs has a free app, so you can collaborate with your team anywhere that you have cellular data! The app is extremely user friendly, and I haven’t come across any functionality restrictions within the app that differ from the desktop version. Be sure to only share the Google Doc with essential personnel, because if you have too many members editing the doc at the same time, things tend to get a little messy. To combat this, I usually send the Google Doc to each member individually at separate times, so they can make any edits they wish to the document without interruption.

Jeff McLean, Co-owner, McLean Company: McLean Company provides industrial/commercial flooring and painting services for clients in Danvers, MA and the surrounding areas. Our services include concrete sealing, dustproofing, line striping, and other forms of industrial maintenance.
Jeff McLean, Co-owner, McLean Company: McLean Company provides industrial/commercial flooring and painting services for clients in Danvers, MA and the surrounding areas. Our services include concrete sealing, dustproofing, line striping, and other forms of industrial maintenance.

Julie Singh, TripOutside: view-only for completed documents, edit for others

We use Google Docs frequently to share projects, ideas, initiatives and deliverables with our remote teams. Sharing documents with them real time and allowing them to view and edit our documents is very important for our business, and now made so much easier with Google Docs. We can create documents and spreadsheets that our team can also access, add instructions, and review completed work easily. We use share link functionality for both view-only access for completed documents and edit access for those documents that are in-process and to be updated by other team members.

Google Docs is an important collaboration tool in our business!

Julie Singh, Co-Founder, TripOutside
Julie Singh, Co-Founder, TripOutside

George Hammerton, Hammerton Barbados: be clear when a document is complete or not

I manage a small business made up of people who love to travel for work and for pleasure, routinely flying between the UK and Barbados in particular but spending the majority of the year with our teams in different parts of the world one day than they were before – this poses some unique technology challenges.

When we were just getting started and there were two of us we used the office suite and Dropbox, but as the business grew the game of ‘are you in this document’ became stifling for the business, we decided we needed tools which allowed us to collaborate without without thinking about it. We needed to change to a collaboration-positive suite and for that we went with the undisputed king of collaboration for remote team and that was Google Docs.

Now we use Google Docs for just about everything and while it’s been wonderful at removing the friction, removing the need to wait your turn to update a spreadsheet. These days our portable office is made up of iPhones, MacBooks, Google Suite, and a Web Browser. With a simple set of the right tools we can now work from anywhere, together.

My number one tip would be to be clear when a document is a work in progress and when it is complete – you don’t want someone else’s unfinished edits to crop up in a document just as you export it for publication.

George Hammerton, Director, Hammerton Barbados: Top UK based luxury vacation rentals company for travellers to the Caribbean destination of Barbados.
George Hammerton, Director, Hammerton Barbados: Top UK based luxury vacation rentals company for travellers to the Caribbean destination of Barbados.

Md Mohsin Ansari, Troop Messenger: go back and retrieve old files that you deleted

Google Drive has its own way to deal with version control, which allows you to go back and retrieve old files that you deleted or older versions of a file. The way Google Drive deals version control it is that it stores up to 100 revisions of a document or 30 days of versions per document, which counts towards your total storage allowance. The trash folder is used to store deleted files and if the trash folder is deleted the files are gone forever.

Md Mohsin Ansari is a Marketing Manager at Troop Messenger- a team communication software that comes with all the requisite features. It brings all internal communication to one place. Mohsin is accountable for analyzing the market trends, demographics, and dealing with all promotional and media channels.
Md Mohsin Ansari is a Marketing Manager at Troop Messenger- a team communication software that comes with all the requisite features. It brings all internal communication to one place. Mohsin is accountable for analyzing the market trends, demographics, and dealing with all promotional and media channels.

Mason Culligan, Mattress Battle Inc.: use Google Docs with loom to share screen records

Having my remote teams use Google Docs contributed to increased productivity. From the feedback I gained from them, the comment and suggestion functions are efficient ways to collaborate, especially among teams in different timezones. Multiple users can edit in real-time and simultaneously. Plus, everyone can have access to files in cloud storage.

Leveraging Google Docs decreases delayed work coordination among your teams, especially remote ones.

In addition to the comment and suggestion functionalities of Google Docs, one of my best practices is using Google Docs with Loom. I record myself and my screen talking about a particular file and talk my employees through it. Doing so saves a lot of time explaining without the need for lengthy emails or chat messages.

Using Google Docs bridges the gap of not being together as a team.

I am Mason Culligan, and I founded a website hosting company ten years ago and have worked in the IT industry for the past 15 years. I run a multimedia company that employs remote employees, so I deal with online collaboration daily. To ensure a collaborative work environment, we use Google Docs.
I am Mason Culligan, and I founded a website hosting company ten years ago and have worked in the IT industry for the past 15 years. I run a multimedia company that employs remote employees, so I deal with online collaboration daily. To ensure a collaborative work environment, we use Google Docs.

Will Bachman, Umbrex: create interview notes on Google Slides

Our team actively uses Google Docs for a wide range of tasks that require collaboration or real-time access to the latest version.

On projects that involve interviewing experts, for example, one team member creates interview notes in Google Slides. We share this Google Slides document with our client so that everyone can see in real time the latest insights that we are gathering - no one needs to wait for a weekly progress review.

We are currently in the final stages of creating a course on how to set up your own consulting practice. The course includes ninety short videos and more than two-dozen downloadable tools and templates. We're using a Google Sheet to coordinate efforts on this project. We've shared access with the video editor, the website editor, and the course creator so that everyone can update status real time as the first-draft edit of a video is completed, when the feedback is provided, when the final draft video has been sent back, and when the video has been added to the website.

Will Bachman, co-founder & Managing Partner of Umbrex a virtual global networking community connecting 650 top tier independent management consultants in 30 countries.
Will Bachman, co-founder & Managing Partner of Umbrex a virtual global networking community connecting 650 top tier independent management consultants in 30 countries.

Nikola Baldikov, Brosix: let Docs turn your spoken words into text

As we are now entering the time of intense voice search, there are some tricks about Google Docs you might be curious to find out about. Did you know that you can give your fingers a break and let Docs turn your spoken words into text? As long as your computer has a microphone, all you have to do is open the Tools menu and select Voice typing–or hit Ctrl-Shift-S (or Cmd-Shift-S)–and then speak away. Docs will use Google’s standard voice-to-text system to figure out what you’re saying (mostly, anyway) and put it on the page. What is more, Docs’s voice-to-text function also lets you speak commands for common forms of punctuation and paragraph formatting. You can say things like period, comma, and question mark or give instructions like new line or new paragraph. If you want to take a break, say stop listening and then say resume when you’re ready to continue.

My name is Nikola Baldikov and I`m a Digital Marketing Manager at Brosix, a secure instant messaging software for business communication. Besides my passion for digital marketing, I am an avid fan of football and I love to dance.
My name is Nikola Baldikov and I`m a Digital Marketing Manager at Brosix, a secure instant messaging software for business communication. Besides my passion for digital marketing, I am an avid fan of football and I love to dance.

Edgar Suppes, Grailify: version history shows which parts have been edited

Here's my favorite Google Docs tip:

It's called Version history and this little feature saved my life a couple of times already in the past. To see the Version history feature you need to click on File and then Version history. A panel opens on the right side of the document and shows different versions of that specific document. By clicking on any older version you can even see which parts of the doc file have been edited.

My name is Edgar Suppes and I am one of the two founders of Grailify. Our platform is one of the largest platforms for sneaker news & sneaker releases in Europe with over 1.3 Mio. visits per month and over 280,000 fans in social networks. Our free Grailify app has over 230k Downloads on Android and iOS combined.
My name is Edgar Suppes and I am one of the two founders of Grailify. Our platform is one of the largest platforms for sneaker news & sneaker releases in Europe with over 1.3 Mio. visits per month and over 280,000 fans in social networks. Our free Grailify app has over 230k Downloads on Android and iOS combined.

Flynn Zaiger, Scottsdale SEO Optimists: equations utilize connecting to other data tools

Many people treat Google Docs as simply an online  Microsoft Office   Suite, but there are many tools, formulas, and features that are only available because it's online, and those are some of the ones that can make it a far more advantageous tool for a business owner to use. Some of my favorite features are the equations ImportRange, and ImportData, because these specifically utilize connecting to other data tools, or worksheets. ImportRange is great for connecting between not just different worksheets, but entire workspaces. You're able to incorporate data from other Microsoft Sheets files, which allows you to calculate certain pieces while still restricting access to others. ImportData and ImportXML, on the other hand, allows you to utilize the information from any .CSV file, which opens up your data tables to allow you to use a vast variety of information that is available in a commonly used format online. Finally, for those needing data that isn't neatly formatted into a .CSV or .XML file, you can utilize ImportHTML which allows you to bring any website into your worksheets.

Flynn Zaiger is the CEO of a digital marketing agency that dedicates itself to improving the SEO, SEM, and social media for dozens of companies around the world each month.
Flynn Zaiger is the CEO of a digital marketing agency that dedicates itself to improving the SEO, SEM, and social media for dozens of companies around the world each month.

Jason Parks, The Media Captain: sharing documents without login

I recommend utilizing GSuite for Business.

Our agency has a lot of back and forth with clients for approval on projects.

By simply sharing a Google Doc or Google Sheet, our clients are able to easily access this without having to login to a Gmail account.

The cost for our agency (15 people) is around $8.50 per user per month but it's definitely been worth the investment and has streamlined communication.

Jason Parks is the owner of The Media Captain, a digital marketing agency based in Columbus. Jason has been featured in the New York Times, The Huffington Post, Inc., Yahoo News, Search Engine Watch, The Columbus Dispatch and Entrepreneur.com. Jason has assisted in launching successful digital campaigns for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies to medium and small sized businesses.
Jason Parks is the owner of The Media Captain, a digital marketing agency based in Columbus. Jason has been featured in the New York Times, The Huffington Post, Inc., Yahoo News, Search Engine Watch, The Columbus Dispatch and Entrepreneur.com. Jason has assisted in launching successful digital campaigns for Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies to medium and small sized businesses.

Isaac Hammelburger, Search Pros: multiple employees may edit the same document real-time

Google Docs is one of the tools which make remote work easier for every one. In Google docs, the possibilities are endless. This is most helpful today since most employees have started working from the safety of their homes. Therefore, this can be used to work closely even in the distance. Google docs is a tool wherein multiple employees may edit the same document real-time. It’s just a matter for sharing a document to your workmates and making it editable. This is much easier since you are working on the same document and you wouldn’t need to compile different documents to make a single unified one. It also saves time since you can work on the document at the same time instead of passing a document from one person to another. I definitely recommend teams to use this tool to have a more efficient work flow.

*Isaac Hammelburger,* Founder@ Search Pros
*Isaac Hammelburger,* Founder@ Search Pros

Riley Adams, Young and the Invested: cuts down on project lead times

As a financial analyst, I live in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. The software allows for powerful collaboration functionality by having multiple team members and partners participate in creating files simultaneously.

When every person's input can be gathered at the same time, this dramatically cuts down on project lead times and also guards against version duplication or missing edits and suggestions. By avoiding all of these and working together in these Google documents, teams can accomplish more in less time, resulting in greater return on investment for the company and also for greater agility in responding to customer needs.

My name is Riley Adams and I am a licensed CPA in the state of Louisiana working as a Senior Financial Analyst for Google in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have a personal finance site dedicated to helping young professionals find financial independence and explore entrepreneurship at https://youngandtheinvested.com.
My name is Riley Adams and I am a licensed CPA in the state of Louisiana working as a Senior Financial Analyst for Google in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have a personal finance site dedicated to helping young professionals find financial independence and explore entrepreneurship at https://youngandtheinvested.com.

Logan Burwell, Tech: Reviews and news: Google systems work so seamlessly together

Because in order to to write my blog, I have to write almost everyday, I end up using Google Docs every day! When I am writing a first draft of a blog, I always write it on Google Docs first. On Google Docs, you can write anything with ease, plus it is extremely easy for me to input and edit any links that I am putting into my articles. Google Docs has an extremely good spell check system that often catches me if I spell something wrong or use incorrect grammar. I love how Google Docs makes everything so easy, and it is definitely my number one choice as far as writing goes.

Not only do I use Google Docs for my business, but I also use other applications in the Google family. One of the other Google applications that I use besides Docs is Google Sheets. I can make a spreadsheet for expenses, revenue, and statistics for my website. All of the Google systems work so seamlessly together, that it is really the only thing that I need.

My name is Logan Burwell, the founder of techreviewsandnews.com. Here’s a quick overview of what I do: My company writes blogs about a lot of the latest technology and things about it that a lot of people may not know. I have been using Google services and Google Docs for almost my entire life.
My name is Logan Burwell, the founder of techreviewsandnews.com. Here’s a quick overview of what I do: My company writes blogs about a lot of the latest technology and things about it that a lot of people may not know. I have been using Google services and Google Docs for almost my entire life.

Yoann Bierling
About the author - Yoann Bierling
Yoann Bierling is a Web Publishing & Digital Consulting professional, making a global impact through expertise and innovation in technologies. Passionate about empowering individuals and organizations to thrive in the digital age, he is driven to deliver exceptional results and drive growth through educational content creation.



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