Be productive and collaborative

• Click “Settings” icon and then select “Settings” from the menu.
• Click the Labels tab.
• Scroll to the Labels section and click “Create new label.”
• Enter the label name and click “Create.”

• In your inbox, check the boxes next to the email.
• Click the “Labels” icon .
• Check the boxes next to the labels you want to add and click “Apply.”

• In your inbox, check the boxes next to the email you want to move.
• Click the “Move to” icon .
• Click the label you want to move your email to.
• Your email will move from your inbox into the folder you specified. You can find the email again by selecting the label from the left-hand navigation. When you click on the label you will see all emails you’ve labeled with that same topic.

  

• In the Gmail search box, click the Down arrow on the right-hand side.
• Enter your search criteria, then click “Create filter.” For example, here you could enter Jane Doe’s email in the From field.
• Check the “Apply the label” box and choose a label to automatically sort incoming email fitting your search criteria (e.g. “High Value Donor”). If you’d like emails fitting your search criteria to be automatically moved out of your inbox, but want to be able to access them later, check "Skip the Inbox (Archive it)".
• Click “Create filter” on the bottom right.

  

Click here for more tips on applying common email filters!

• In Google Drive, click the “New” button on the left with the plus sign, and then select Google Docs from the dropdown list.
• Type docs.google.com in a new browser window to create a new blank document.

• View access allows users to see the document itself, but does not allow them to see comments or suggestions from other reviewers. You can tell you have view-only access to a document by looking for the “Viewing” icon on the top right of the page.
• Comment access allows users to suggest changes to your document text via “Suggesting” mode. It also allows users to insert comments into the document by highlighting text and clicking the small comment bubble that pops up to the right of the page. You can tell you have comment-only access to a document by looking for the “Suggesting” icon on the top right of the page.
• Edit access allows users to directly edit, add, and remove content from your document. It also allows them to add other users with varying permissions.
• Keep in mind, if you are sharing sensitive documents like financial files, you can further control access to your document by clicking “Share” in the top right, then clicking “Advanced,” and finally by reviewing and checking the boxes listed under Owner Settings.

• Click “Share” at the top right and then add each user email and change the permission setting accordingly. It’s best practice to enter a quick message to your users telling them why you are adding them to the document. Click “Share” at the bottom, and Google Docs will email each user letting them know you’ve shared the document and providing the link.

• Click “Share” at the top right, then click “Advanced.” Enter the names of the people you want to invite to the document and their permission level, but be sure to uncheck the “Notify People” box. Once you’ve added each user, send an email to the group with the link to the document and a few notes on how you’d like each person to provide feedback. When they click on the link, each user will be taken to your Google Doc but will only have the permission you applied to them individually.

• Timezone. If your team works in a few different locations, you can select to display a second timezone on your Google Calendar so that you are scheduling meetings at the right time for both parties.
• Working Hours. If you tend to work consistent hours in the office and leave time for commutes or childcare pickup, you can let your colleagues know by checking the “Enable working hours” box and specifying when you are available. When a colleague tries to schedule you for a meeting outside your working hours, they will receive a notification letting them know when you are typically available.

• Access Permissions. Check the box to make your calendar available to people within your domain, and then decide whether you want colleagues to be able to see all event details (e.g. name, other attendees) or only see when you are free/busy (e.g. they will see a block of time that says “Busy” for each of your meetings).
• Event Notifications. You know your own working style best! Set your meeting event notifications so that you’ll be ready for your meetings and on time.

• Go to Calendar Settings and on the left-hand navigation, click “Add calendar” and then “New calendar.” Pick a name and provide a description for your team calendar, and click “Create calendar.”
• Next, scroll down on the left-hand navigation for “Settings for my calendars” and click on your new team calendar name. Under “Share with specific people” you can either add the individuals from your team with permissions to make changes and manage sharing, or you can add a team alias.
• Finally, you can share the calendar with your broader organization by adding individuals or aliases to the calendar with “view only” access. Now anyone can see your calendar events and know when things are coming up!

• Use color-coding to keep track of notes with similar themes or notes that are associated with the same project or effort.
• If you are brainstorming on a whiteboard, take a photo of your brainstorm and add the image to your Google Keep note so you can keep track of it!
• If you have a more standard to-do list with quick tasks, use checkboxes to mark things as complete! At the bottom of a Keep note, click the three dot icon and then select “Show checkboxes.”
• Add a label to your notes to categorize them and find them more easily. Click the three dot icon at the bottom of your Keep note and click “Add label.” To see all notes with that label in the future, use the left-hand navigation to see all notes with that label.
• Share Google Keep notes with your colleagues by clicking the Collaborator button at the bottom of a note and adding the email of the colleague you’d like to add.

  

  Click here for more on Google Keep!