Smart working has only become very popular in recent years. Still, for its part, Google has always worked on services and platforms capable of transforming any place into a natural person or group office. All these efforts then morphed into what we now know as Google Workspace, which was only recently identified as G Suite. As you may have guessed, today, we will analyze everything that the Mountain View company offers, at what price and above all, for whom. We will try not to leave out any element to create a complete guide from every point of view.
What Is Google Workspace?
First of all, however, let’s answer in a more general way the question that will accompany us throughout the guide: What is Google Workspace? In the most technical way possible, it is a group of services, software and tools dedicated to productivity and “office life”. In particular, however, all the platforms that we will discuss shortly will not limit themselves to offering their functions to the individual user.
But also put them in contact with their colleagues, thanks to cloud synchronization and direct collaboration with other Google users. All this, therefore, will transform any computer with a Web browser into a powerful work tool. Precisely for this reason, many companies use Google Workspace to facilitate smart working and collaborate and complete their tasks in the office.
Google Workspace Is Now Available To Everyone
Until recently, Google Workspace was a paid service only to companies, but from today, or rather, starting from June 2021, all its features and functions will be ready for use by anyone (always by signing up for a subscription). All that will be needed will be to have a Google account (always free), which can be requested through the Gmail site. After that, to start the registration to Workspace, you must access the official website by clicking on a link and pressing the blue “Start your free trial” button at the top right. From here, a quick setup wizard will start, where you can also choose your plan.
The Latest In Google Workspace
However, in addition to the new individual plan, Google has presented further innovations for the Workspace services. All will allow users to improve their productivity further and facilitate collaboration with colleagues. Among the most important additions, we can only mention an essential evolution for virtual rooms known as “Rooms”. All users who work on a project can assign tasks, talk and exchange ideas without difficulty.
Its use will be very similar to that of “Trello” and therefore characterized by studies to be completed and moved under the most appropriate column. The privacy issue could not be missing, mainly affecting Google Meet, a videoconferencing service. Several hardware optimizations will be released in September to improve stability and security during meetings. And finally, additional security and privacy features to help protect against malware and phishing of all kinds.
What Google Workspace Includes
After taking a more general look at the service, let’s focus our attention on the platforms included, always remembering that none of these will be an end in itself. Still, all will be able to communicate with each other quickly and easily and obviously will also facilitate collaboration between multiple Google Workspace users.
Gmail
Let’s start with probably the most popular service. Gmail is the most used mailbox in the world, which in this context is transformed into a powerful and secure business tool capable of integrating Rooms, Meet, Chat, Calendar, Keep and much more. Each project starts from an email, and with Gmail, it will be possible to manage it in the best way.
Drive
Instead, Drive is a file container on the cloud. It can be seen as a kind of USB stick in which to add all the documents to be used. The available space will vary according to the activated profile and will start in any case from 30 GB. Drive will also be accessible from Gmail and all other services, so you always have all the necessary files.
Meet
With the arrival of intelligent working and distance learning, Google Meet has managed to win over many other similar services. It is, in fact, a video conferencing platform, entirely online and therefore accessible from any device equipped with a screen, a camera and an internet connection. Therefore perfect for “shortening the distance” between colleagues and better managing meetings.
Chat
Chat is Google’s instant messaging service dedicated to teams, just as the name suggests. This will have a dedicated website but can also be used directly from Gmail, Sheets, Documents, Presentations and others to make single or group conversations even faster. It perfectly supports text, images, attachments, links and much more.
Calendar
Nothing can better organize the phases of a project, or at least all the hours worked, than a personal or shared calendar. In particular, Google Calendar has tons of advanced and useful features and includes reminders, to-do lists and deep integration with appointments received through Gmail and scheduled meetings on Meet.
Papers
Documents are the perfect tool for drafting and formatting texts. It can be considered the “Word” of Google. Still, its peculiarity is that it can be used in all its functions without downloading any program since it appears to be accessible only from the official website or directly from Drive. Of course, it’s also seamlessly integrated into Gmail, Sheets, and Slides.
Sheets
For the management of spreadsheets, there are instead Sheets or the counterpart of “Excel” developed by Google. The exciting thing is that it will support any file exported to “.XLSX”, so there is no need to worry about support and compatibility. Also, just like Documents and Presentations, any Sheets file can be shared among multiple users so that you can work on it as a team.
Presentations
After writing spreadsheets and documents, you can only create a perfect and well-developed presentation. With Presentazioni, it will be possible to do this, just as Microsoft users use “PowerPoint”. Even in this case, however, everything will be available directly online, in perfect integration with all other Google services and with the possibility of collaboration with other users.
Forms
With Modules, you will be able to manage all surveys and tests better, mainly thanks to the possibility of setting customized questions, open or multiple choice answers, or even limited time for completion for each user.
Keep
Before starting the drafting of a document, creating a survey, making calculations with Sheets or starting a group conference, you need to take notes on what to do and do it. The most straightforward and most immediate tool to use is Keep. It is, in fact, a service capable of quickly generating notes or lists, also offering the possibility to include links and images and categorize all elements by tags. All messages will then be available in the sidebar of Gmail, Sheets, Documents, Slides and all other Google services.
Sites
Web presence is essential for any business. For this reason, it is necessary to have an informative website in which the jobs, objectives and all the most important contacts are illustrated. Thanks to Sites, included in Google Workspace, it will be possible to create a simple website quickly and without too much difficulty (obviously, it will depend on the complexity of the site to be built). All the elements will be made available in a column that will also include ready-made themes and links to the various Social Networks and Google services.
Jamboard
All the best ideas sometimes arise in front of a whiteboard, and Jamboard is a collaborative digital whiteboard. Inside will be included markers, erasers, colors, pencils and so on, perfect for use with a digital pen but not only. Each whiteboard can be shared with multiple users to work together on a project.
Currents
Finally, we close with Currents, a sort of Social Network solely dedicated to the business sector. It is a way to save Google+, a wholly failed experiment by the Mountain View company. It is only accessible by Google Workspace users and can be used to publish posts, images, files and comments within your corporate network to create an online debate on what to do.
How To Use Google Workspace?
As mentioned above, Google Workspace is a set of platforms available. Therefore, all you need to do is access the service that at that moment is the most suitable. Before doing so, however, you will need to request a Workspace profile by choosing one of the available plans. Using all the tools we have previously talked about will be sufficient to have any computer with a web browser and an internet connection. Furthermore, if you want to work from a smartphone or tablet, there will also be dedicated applications for iOS and Android.
What Does Google Workspace Do?
In light of all that we have previously said, we could summarize by saying that Google Workspace manages to transform any place into a workplace, offering all the office tools on any computer. In addition, it amplifies the functionality present in every Google platform and, more importantly, it simplifies collaboration between users and colleagues.
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