Google’s annual I / O Developers Conference will begin on Wednesday, and we’re sure you’ll see all sorts of exciting new things across the entire suite of Google services.
There’s a little secret here, though: you don’t There is Wait until you find something new and useful. Google’s game-changing additions to its apps and products roll out almost constantly, year-round. Most goodies look amazingly pompous and end up being random.
That’s why today, as we sit patiently and twist our toes together before Google’s big ‘Hankin’ announcement, I would like to draw your attention to the remarkable addition to the multifaceted dusty Google Docs domain. These new features have quietly entered the software over the last few weeks, but most people just won’t have a clue.
And my goodness, I tell you: if you work with other people and / or Platip, these options will send a serious dose of extra efficiency into your workflow. They will turn your general-standard document editor into an intelligent canvas for collaboration. And they are already in your existing Docs setup and are just waiting to be discovered
Ready to upgrade your productivity?
(A quick note: all of these items can currently be launched only through the Docs desktop website – but once you set up ‘these’ and add ‘these’ to any document, they will be visible and functional from the Docs app on Android or any other platform .)
1. Docs-Calendar collaboration connection
If you rely on Google Workspace for your workplace thinking, you probably know the joy of meeting on your calendar with isolated notes and checklists. Does the phrase “Hang on, let me find my notes on this” ring a bell?
Okay, notice, you’re a pretty little animal: at some point in the distant past, Google Docs got a clever new tool that could organize your calendar-linked meetings more than ever. It’s a built-in meeting note system that’s in Docs and is associated with a specific event in your Google Calendar so it’s always in a logical place and very easy to access.
To try it for yourself, just fire up a new Google Docs document and type 7 A Symbols anywhere on the body of the document. This will bring up Docs’ helpful new shortcut system, and you’ll probably see the “Meeting Notes” option as one of the top suggestions under the “Building Block” section. If you don’t, just start typing words CommentsAnd it’ll pop up anytime.
JR Next, Docs will ask you to select an event from your calendar to attach your fancy new notes. It will show you upcoming events as one-click suggestions, or you can search through your agenda right there and then to find the event you want.
JR Once you’ve selected your event, you’ll be ready to insert and fill a chic small preformatted note template into your document:
JR You can hover your mouse over any gray-highlighted text in the template to see more information about the date, event, or contact in question. And don’t forget to look for the prompt on the right side of the screen that suggests attaching your notes to the event itself. This will link your current document to an actual event in Google Calendar and create it so that anyone invited (and those with whom the document is shared) can click and view notes from the calendar entry.
Not bad, is it? And as an added bonus, keep in mind that you can now start Google Meet Meetings from Docs on the desktop: just click the new camera-shaped icon in the upper-right corner of the document editing screen – the share button directly to the left of the blue. Your call will then start with a sleek new Docs sidebar so you can view your notes and optionally collaborate with other people even on the call.
2. Docs-Gmail email drafting system
Gmail sure doesn’t make it easy to work with a peer in an email, does it?
I’ve got good news for you though: Google may not be adding a simple collaboration system to Gmail yet, but it There is Has given us an easy way to hammer messages with other people’s input It’s up to you to figure it out.
And the answer, as you might guess, is right inside Google Docs – where it is now possible to create a shared email draft, work with other people in your organization, and / or sea creatures, and then beam it. In your inbox for instant sending.
The trick, once again, is tapping into that new Docs @ menu. Write A In any document in Docs on your desktop, and this time, select “Draft Email” from the menu that appears.
It will bring an interactive Gmail composing tool to your document so it can work on emails that look like your suspiciously smelling fingerprints. And if you want someone else to keep an eye on it and work on it, all you have to do is share the document with them – just like you usually do (screen with that big blue share button at the top-right).
JR When your email is ready to roll, all you have to do is click the blue Gmail icon in the corner of the area to send the email to Gmail as a draft – where you can see it one more time and then send it with one more click. .
And you don’t have to stop there …
3. Docs Status Tracker
If you Really Want to be wild with the crafting of your Google Docs collaboration, the recently added instant table option is the perfect finishing touches to your productivity pie.
This allows you to insert interactive status tracking toggles into any document – making it easy for you, Pie Ways to keep tabs on progress with Gmail drafts in your meeting note items or documents. (Anyone else suddenly upset for flaky pastry?)
To add it to any document you cook, just hit that easy A Give one more command from anywhere in the document – and this time, type Dropdown And then select “New Dropdown” and then select “Project Status” or “Review Status”.
This will give you a nifty little status tracking indicator that you can place anywhere meaningful – on top of a specific item on your meeting agenda, for example, or on top of that brilliant Gmail draft you dream of in Docs. Anyone with access to edit documents will then be able to toggle clicks to change its status and allow everyone else to keep up with their progress.
JR If you want to get things right from there, Docs has a more advanced tracking template available in the same @-menu – with a multiperson “review tracker” that allows you Multiple Colleagues look at certain types of content and keep an eye on the status of their review.
JR You may still want to rely on ideas and other advanced note-taking apps for more complex organization, but with a combination of these new ‘n’ Jesti features, Docs will become a more contemporary and integrated part of your productivity toolkit – and if you use the Google Workspace suite as closely as I can. Relying on O’s services, it can do one The world The difference in your ability to get things done.
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