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Google Workspace productivity guide

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Bring new products to market faster

Collaborate and share product designs, computer-aided design (CAD) files, research data, test data, quality guidelines, key performance indicators (KPIs), and mock-ups in a secure workspace using Google Drive or shared drives, where you’ll always access the most up-to-date versions. Manage activities with a shared task list in Google Sheets or a shared team Google Calendar. Get feedback on product designs and materials from employees in Google Forms. Hold live video meetings with your suppliers in Google Meet to improve communications and reduce cycle time. With everyone on the same page, it’s now easier to bring new product ideas and strategies to life.

Customer story

Whirlpool
Learn how

Add files to Drive

If you're using the latest Chrome Browser or Firefox, you can drag files or folders from your computer into a Drive folder. Or, you can click New and thenFile upload or Folder upload and choose the file or folder you want to upload.

Add files to a shared drive

Requires at least Contributor access

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
  3. At the top left, click New.
  4. Click the type of file or folder you want to create or upload from your computer. 

Any files you add are owned by the team. If you leave the shared drive, your files remain.

Create a project plan

  1. In Google Drive, click Newand thenGoogle Sheetsand thenBlank spreadsheet.
  2. Click Untitled spreadsheet and enter a title for your project plan.
  3. Add columns. For example, you might add columns for tasks, task owners, due dates, status, and comments.
  4. Add content to track the tasks in your project.

Create a team calendar

You can only create new calendars from a browser and not from the Google Calendar app. Once the calendar is created, you can find it on your browser and in the app.

  1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
  2. On the left, next to "Other calendars," click Add other calendars Plus and then Create new calendar.
  3. Add a name and description for your calendar.
  4. Click Create calendar.
  5. If you want to share your calendar, click on it in the left bar, then select Share with specific people.

Create a form

  1. Go to forms.google.com.
  2. Click Blank form Plus.
  3. Name your untitled form.

Start a video meeting

  1. ​Go to Google Meet.
  2. Click New Meeting.
  3. Select an option:
    • Create a meeting for later:
      • To share the meeting details for a future meeting, copy the meeting link and share with participants.
      • To directly start the meeting with this link, paste the link into a browser; or enter the link into the “Enter a code or link” field and then click Join.
    • Start an instant meeting: Create a new meeting and join the meeting directly. 
    • Schedule in Google Calendar: To schedule a meeting, you’re directed to Google Calendar.

Tip: Google Workspace Essentials users can't schedule a meeting in Google Calendar.

 

 

Facilitate a mobile workforce

Provide team members with the tools they need to go deskless or mobile effectively. Whether on the plant floor or in the field, team members can use their phones, tablets, or Chromebooks to access product specifications, CAD files, work instructions, training videos, manuals, quality-control checklists, regulatory documents, reports, and best practices stored in Drive and shared drives.

Customer story

Leon Speakers
Learn how

Share a file in Drive

  1. Select the file you want to share.
  2. Click Share or Share Share.
  3. Enter the email address or Google group you want to share with.
  4. To decide what role people will have on your file, select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
  5. If your account is eligible, you can add an expiration date for access.
  6. Choose to notify people.
    • If you want to notify people that you shared an item with them, check the box next to Notify people. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email.
    • If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the box.
  7. Click Send or Share.

Create a shared drive and add members

Shared drives are only available for work or school accounts, and you’re not currently signed in. 

Sign in to your work or school account

Note: You can create shared drives only if your edition supports them and your administrator allows you to create them.
  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. On the left, click Shared drives.
  3. At the top left, click New.
  4. Enter a name for the shared drive.
  5. Click Create.

Learn more at the Google Workspace Learning Center

 

 

Streamline and simplify complex selling

Sales teams spend a lot of time on the road to meet with dealers and partners. Access current pricing databases, quotes, product configuration models, promotions, and other information from anywhere in the world by syncing them to Drive on your mobile devices. Supplement Drive with Cloud Save APIs to manage complex product configurations, rules, and constraint-based models. Unable to travel? Have virtual meetings over Google Meet to save money and time on travel, but still get all the benefits of face-to-face contact. Then, track your key meetings, sales timelines, and product updates with Google Calendar so you don’t miss any deadlines.

Customer story

Katz Americas
Learn how

Upload files and folders to Drive

On your computer, you can upload from drive.google.com or your desktop. You can upload files into private or shared folders.

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the top left, click New and then File Upload or Folder Upload.
  3. Choose the file or folder you want to upload.

Start a video meeting

  1. ​Go to Google Meet.
  2. Click New Meeting.
  3. Select an option:
    • Create a meeting for later:
      • To share the meeting details for a future meeting, copy the meeting link and share with participants.
      • To directly start the meeting with this link, paste the link into a browser; or enter the link into the “Enter a code or link” field and then click Join.
    • Start an instant meeting: Create a new meeting and join the meeting directly. 
    • Schedule in Google Calendar: To schedule a meeting, you’re directed to Google Calendar.

Tip: Google Workspace Essentials users can't schedule a meeting in Google Calendar.

Change your calendar view

After you choose a new view, it becomes your default view until you change it.
  1. On your computer, open Google Calendar.
  2. In the top right, choose a view: Day, Week, Month, Year, Schedule, or 4 days.

Learn more at the Google Drive Help Center

 

 

Train your plant workers anytime, anywhere

Training workers across many locations, shifts, and products? It’s easy to create a self-service training portal. Just store all your product launch videos, marketing campaigns, promotions, plant return policies, and safety procedures in Drive, then embed these stored files in Google Sites. If you need live training, conduct a virtual class across the globe with Meet to save time and travel costs. You can even record the training to make it available later.

Customer story

Roche Group
Learn how

Add files to Drive

On your computer, you can upload from drive.google.com or your desktop. You can upload files into private or shared folders.

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the top left, click New and then File Upload or Folder Upload.
  3. Choose the file or folder you want to upload.

Add files to a shared drive

Requires at least Contributor access

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
  3. At the top left, click New.
  4. Click the type of file or folder you want to create or upload from your computer. 

Any files you add are owned by the team. If you leave the shared drive, your files remain.

Create a site

  1. Choose an option:

    • From the Sites homepage, at the top, click Blank, or to choose a template, click Template gallery and select a template.
    • From Google Drive, click New and thenMoreand thenGoogle Sites.
  2. At the top left, enter a document name for your site and press Enter.

Add Google files to a site

  1. On a computer, open a site in new Google Sites.
  2. At the right, click Insert.
  3. At the bottom of the menu, select the type of file you want to add, e.g. Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, or Charts.
  4. Choose a file and then Insert.
  5. To publish your changes, at the top right, click Publish.

Record a video meeting

  1. On your computer, in Google Meet, click Start or Join.
  2. At the bottom right, click Activities and then Recording.
    • To record the meeting captions, select a language.
    • In some cases, if the recording is played on Google Drive, the recording file might be ready a few hours before the captions are available.
  3. Click Start recording.
  4. In the pop-up screen, click Start.
  5. Wait for the recording to start. Participants get a notification when the recording starts or stops.
    • Meetings can only be recorded for a total of 8 hours, then the recording stops automatically.
  6. To stop a recording, click Activities and then Recording and then Stop recording.
  7. In the pop-up screen, click Stop recording.
    • Tip: The recording stops automatically when everyone leaves the meeting.

An email with the recording link is sent to the meeting organizer and the person who started the recording.

The recording is saved to the meeting organizer’s My Drive > Meet Recordings folder.

For meetings created through:

  • Google Calendar: The meeting organizer is the person who creates the meeting event on Google Calendar.
  • The Google Meet homepage or another product such as Gmail or Jamboard: The meeting organizer is the person who launches the meeting or generates the code.

Learn more at the Google Meet Help Center

 

 

Manage plant operation processes online

Streamline your plant processes by moving all your operations and processes online. With Google Forms, you can create electronic forms for product recalls, time off requests, supply orders, acknowledgements of company policies, and more—in just minutes. These forms are easy to update and can be accessed from kiosks, computers, or mobile devices.

For each piece of equipment, production line schedule, or task, create Sites pages and shared drives with photos, assembly instructions, how-to videos, and other file types. Plant floor workers can then read instructions on shared workstations and minimize assembly errors.

Customer story

Shaw Industries
Learn how

Create a form

  1. Go to forms.google.com.
  2. Click Blank form Plus.
  3. Name your untitled form.

Create a site

  1. Choose an option:

    • From the Sites homepage, at the top, click Blank, or to choose a template, click Template gallery and select a template.
    • From Google Drive, click New and thenMoreand thenGoogle Sites.
  2. At the top left, enter a document name for your site and press Enter.

Add files to a shared drive

Requires at least Contributor access

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
  3. At the top left, click New.
  4. Click the type of file or folder you want to create or upload from your computer. 

Any files you add are owned by the team. If you leave the shared drive, your files remain.

Learn more at the Google Docs Editors Help Center

 

 

Manage tasks and schedules online

Tracking tasks and schedules across multiple sites, multiple geographies, and hundreds of employees can be time consuming. Use Sites, Sheets, and Calendar together to create a dynamic schedule—plan and distribute tasks, track completion, manage exceptions, and more—all in one place. Team members can access these schedules remotely from their mobile devices or through any web browser. Need feedback or updates on a task? Employees can directly add comments and change their statuses in Sheets.

Customer story

Learn how

Create a site

  1. Choose an option:

    • From the Sites homepage, at the top, click Blank, or to choose a template, click Template gallery and select a template.
    • From Google Drive, click New and thenMoreand thenGoogle Sites.
  2. At the top left, enter a document name for your site and press Enter.

Create a project plan in Sheets

  1. In Google Drive, click Newand thenGoogle Sheetsand thenBlank spreadsheet.
  2. Click Untitled spreadsheet and enter a title for your project plan.
  3. Add columns. For example, you might add columns for tasks, task owners, due dates, status, and comments.
  4. Add content to track the tasks in your project.

Share your calendar with someone

  1. On your computer, open Google Calendar. You can’t share calendars from the Google Calendar app.
  2. On the left, find the “My calendars” section. To expand it, click the Down arrow Down arrow.
  3. Hover over the calendar you want to share, and click More and then Settings and sharing.
  4. Under “Share with specific people or groups,” click Add people and groups.
  5. Add a person’s or Google group’s email address. Use the drop-down menu to adjust their permission settings. Learn more about access permissions.
  6. Click Send.
  7. The recipient will need to click the emailed link to add the calendar to their list. Learn how to add someone else’s calendar.

Tip: To share a calendar that you don’t own, you need to ask the owner to give you “Make changes and manage sharing” permission.

 

 

Recruit and onboard workers quickly

Manufacturers experience a high employee turnover, so shortening the recruiting and onboarding process improves the bottom line. After interested candidates submit their information through Forms, you can conduct interviews with your top choices from anywhere in the world with Google Meet. Use Gemini for Google Workspace to take notes during the meeting so you can focus on the candidate. Then, streamline the onboarding process with a Sites website containing new employee checklists and tasks.

Customer story

Learn how

Create a form

  1. Go to forms.google.com.
  2. Click Blank form Plus.
  3. Name your untitled form.

Start a video meeting

  1. ​Go to Google Meet.
  2. Click New Meeting.
  3. Select an option:
    • Create a meeting for later:
      • To share the meeting details for a future meeting, copy the meeting link and share with participants.
      • To directly start the meeting with this link, paste the link into a browser; or enter the link into the “Enter a code or link” field and then click Join.
    • Start an instant meeting: Create a new meeting and join the meeting directly. 
    • Schedule in Google Calendar: To schedule a meeting, you’re directed to Google Calendar.

Tip: Google Workspace Essentials users can't schedule a meeting in Google Calendar.

Use "take notes for me" 

  1.  On a computer, open meet.google.com.
  2. Select a meeting.
  3. At the top right of your screen, click Take notes with Gemini .
  4. Click Start taking notes.
    • Meeting notes are added to a new doc and shared with people on the calendar invite that are within your organization.
    • Manually refresh “Summary so far.”
    • Stop and restart taking notes: All meeting participants internal to the organization can stop taking notes at any time. You can ensure that any confidential or sensitive discussions aren't part of the meeting summary.
    • When host controls are enabled for the meeting, only the host and co-hosts can start and stop taking notes.

Create a site

  1. Choose an option:

    • From the Sites homepage, at the top, click Blank, or to choose a template, click Template gallery and select a template.
    • From Google Drive, click New and thenMoreand thenGoogle Sites.
  2. At the top left, enter a document name for your site and press Enter.

 

 

Centralize key assets

Keep all internal news, executive blog posts, project schedules, product documents, online forms, training content, and more in a single Sites website. Now your organization has a one-stop destination for all important information, which any employee (or just a select group) can access anytime, from any device.

Customer story

POSCO
Learn how

Create a site

  1. Choose an option:

    • From the Sites homepage, at the top, click Blank, or to choose a template, click Template gallery and select a template.
    • From Google Drive, click New and thenMoreand thenGoogle Sites.
  2. At the top left, enter a document name for your site and press Enter.

Add a page to your site

  1. On a computer, open a site in new Google Sites.
  2. At the right, click Pages.
  3. At the bottom right, hover over Add New page.
  4. Click New page Add.
  5. Enter the page name.
  6. Click Done.
  7. To publish your changes, at the top right, click Publish.

Add Google files to a site

  1. On a computer, open a site in new Google Sites.
  2. At the right, click Insert.
  3. At the bottom of the menu, select the type of file you want to add, e.g. Docs, Slides, Sheets, Forms, or Charts.
  4. Choose a file and then Insert.
  5. To publish your changes, at the top right, click Publish.

Learn more at the Google Sites Help Center

 

 

Create and manage work instructions

Need input on work instructions from various teams, but want to avoid version control and edit locking issues? Collaborate in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides by creating content simultaneously, viewing edits in real-time, and providing feedback with the Comment feature. When your instructions are done, Drive's sharing features and access controls make working with external agencies and vendors simple and secure. Every time you make updates or edits, Drive syncs your changes to the cloud so everyone’s always accessing the most up-to-date content.

Customer story

Briggs and Stratton
Learn how

Add comments in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

  1. On your computer, open a document, spreadsheet, presentation, or video.
  2. Highlight the text, images, cells, slides, or scenes you want to comment on.
  3. To add a comment, in the toolbar, click Add comment Add comment.
  4. Type your comment.
  5. Click Comment.

Share a file

  1. On your computer, go to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, or Vids.
  2. Double-click or right-click the file you want to share.
  3. Click Share Share.
  4. Enter a recipient.
  5. Click Send Send.

Add files to a shared drive

Requires at least Contributor access

  1. On your computer, go to drive.google.com.
  2. At the left, click Shared drives and double-click one of your shared drives.
  3. At the top left, click New.
  4. Click the type of file or folder you want to create or upload from your computer. 

Any files you add are owned by the team. If you leave the shared drive, your files remain.

Note: To store and access files on your desktop, use Google Drive for desktop. See Install Drive for desktop.

Use generative AI at work

If your organization supports it, you can use the artificial intelligence add-on, Gemini for Google Workspace. Use Gemini directly in Google Workspace apps like Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Vids, and Gmail, to help you write, visualize, organize, and connect. You can also use Gemini as a standalone experience at gemini.google.com. 

Learn how

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Want advanced Google Workspace features for your business?

Try Google Workspace today!

 

 


Google, Google Workspace, and related marks and logos are trademarks of Google LLC. All other company and product names are trademarks of the companies with which they are associated.

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