In the past few years, Google Docs — part of the Google G Suite — has become a popular tool for SMBs and other business users. It celebrated in 2020 that it had reached more than 2 billion monthly active users of these services — a number that has likely only increased in the two years since.
G Suite includes Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Sheets, Drive, Hangouts, and Meet. These tools are particularly popular with small and medium business (SMB) owners, as it allows for a cost-effective way for entire teams to leverage critical creation tools and collaborate on-going across these documents and services. Google charges $6 per month per user for G Suite Basic and $12 per month per user for G Suite Business.
Google Docs, in particular, is a popular tool, allowing for word document creation and sharing across teams and partner organizations. As with any tool, there are ways that SMBs and their teams can make the most of their time in Google Docs with some helpful tips and tricks. Here are some to try out.
Quickly create new documents. Want to create a new document without even opening your Google Drive? Type “docs.new” into your browser (any browser), and it will automatically produce a new Google Doc to begin working in. This can help save time or make it easy to create a new document no matter where you are surfing the web.
Try out dictation. Hate typing? Try leveraging the dictation feature within Google Docs to speed up the process. To try it out, click the Tools menu and choose Voice. A microphone image will appear on the screen that, when clicked, will allow you to speak into the computer’s microphone and translate that into written text.
Easy translation. Working across multiple geographies or cultures? Google Docs has integrated translation functionalities that can make this a breeze. To access, select Tools and then Translate document. The translated document will open in a new document in your chosen language.
Going off the grid. While WiFi is nearly ubiquitous in today’s world, there are times that you might have to access your Google Docs offline. Thankfully, this can be enabled inside Google Docs by choosing File and Make Available Offline.
Search on Google. It only makes sense that Google would incorporate its flagship search engine into Google Docs. The Explore tool, available via a button on the bottom right corner of the screen, allows you to search directly within whatever document you are working on.
These are just a few tips to help SMBs work smarter, not harder, with their G Suite tools. In doing so, you can help improve collaboration and efficiency across the organization cost-effectively. SMB business or IT leaders should ensure that their employees are educated on the latest tips and tricks that may help them perform their jobs better or faster — and potentially have a little fun by learning something new.
