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First there was Google search. Then came Gmail. Then came Google Apps. And then GSuite.
Finally, Google introduced a centralized dashboard to control the business version of all of their professional services and apps.
Google Workspace is like a campus where every department has its space.
You have the mail department (Gmail), the communication department (Chat), the production department (Docs), the meeting room (Google Meet), the receptionist area (Calendar) and the archives department (Drive).
By housing them together in Google Workspace, you can quickly access what you need to run your business.
In this condensed (and hopefully, simplified) guide, we take a look at the variety of apps available to communicate, collaborate, and be productive.
Let’s get started.
What is Google Workspace for Business?
Google Workspace is the evolution of what was known as G-Suite and Google apps. This versatile and effective business collaboration solution is designed to work with the way work tasks are changing.
Google Workspace for Business is Google’s set of collaboration and productivity apps housed all in one place. It has the tools we’re all familiar with that work on any device, from virtually anywhere.
For example, Gmail is the most popular email client for both personal and business. Workspace not only gives you an ad-free version of Gmail but allows your employees to have their own Gmail accounts with your business domain name.
Google Workspace is a totally cohesive system designed to:
- Enhance communication and collaboration between teams and aid customer experiences.
- Save time. No more opening multiple tabs to view various pages. Now, a simple hover of the mouse over a link lets you preview the information.
- Allow members to create collaborative documents in real time in Chat. Everybody in the chat can edit a Document at the same time.
- Gives you a view of your colleague’s face (if you’re into that sort of thing), while you work on a document together or slideshow together.
Some of the other features found in Google Workspace include:
@mentions
Archiving & Retention
Audio Calls
Backup and Recovery
Calendar Management
Calendar Sync
Content Library
Content Management
Customizable Branding
Document Templates
Drag & Drop
Electronic Signature
Email Management
Endpoint Management
File Sharing
File Transfer
Forms Creation & Design
Full Text Search Integrations Management
Live Chat
Live Video Interview
Meeting Management
Mobile Access
Offline Access
Presentation Tools
Real-time Updates
Reporting/Analytics
Scheduling
Screen Sharing
Secure Data Storage
Skill Assessment & Scoring
Software Management
Task Management
Templates
Two Way Audio & Video
Video Conferencing
We know every business is different and works in its own way. Google has taken that into account (also, they’re competing against Microsoft 365 and that’s not easy to do!) by offering affordable and flexible subscription plans, catering to small, medium, and large businesses at different price points.
Each plan comes with your basics:
Gmail, Meet, Drive, Calendar, Sheets, Docs, Chat, Slides, Keep, Sites, Forms and Currents.
Haven’t heard of some of these? We’ll go into detail later in the guide on each of them.
The only difference in each plan is how much support and storage they offer.
Monthly Plan Prices:
- Business Starter at $7.20 per user/ per month.
- Business Standard at $14.40 per user/ per month.
- Business Plus at $21.60 per user/ per month.
Annual Plan Prices:
- Business Starter at $6 per user/ per month.
- Business Standard at $12 per user/ per month.
- Business Plus at $18 per user/ per month.
Of course, Google does offer an Enterprise plan that’s by quote only.
The Apps You'll Likely Use The Most
Email Workspace Apps
By far the most popular app that’s included in Google Workspace is Gmail. Not surprising considering the fact that Gmail is the most app on the plant and used by over 2 billion people!
Most likely you already know about Gmail and statistically, you probably use Gmail.
The version of Gmail that’s included in Google Workspace is what you’re already used to, with a few enhancements. Basically, they upgraded Gmail for business use.
One of the upgrades is a custom business email address at your domain, like micha@yourcompany.com or support@yourcompany.com.
You can add up to 30 email aliases per user.
Gmail can be integrated with other applications to collaborate with coworkers using Google Meet or Google Chat. It can send invitations through Calendar or add actions to your task list. Gmail can also connect to third-party applications using the Add-ons.
Another feature of Gmail is the suggested actions feature. This includes things like Smart Reply, Smart Compose, grammar suggestions and nudges. These help you take care of simple tasks more efficiently.
You can easily migrate your existing email to Google Workspace. Import from your old desktop clients like Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail to sync emails, events, and contacts to and from Google Workspace.
But, you’re not limited to apps solely within the Googleverse! You can use the third-party plugin, Zapier, to route Gmail messages into thousands of apps for various reasons (CRM, sales, marketing, lead management, etc.).
You can also use one of hundreds of third-party add-on apps to enhance the experience and capabilities of Gmail.
Todoist, for example, helps you get your email messages organized and can even prioritize your email tasks with reminders to increase your productivity.
You can use the Gmail app through Google Workspace to help you manage and organize your incoming and outgoing emails, provide personalized email addresses with your own custom domain name, connect with your calendar, and quickly compose emails using suggested actions features to better manage your time.
Content and Creativity Workspace Apps
We covered email, now let’s get into how Google Workspace can help you with both content and creativity (yes, even creativity!).
Google Workspace was designed to help you and your team be more productive.
Here are the top content and creativity Workspace apps you’ll want to take a look at.
Docs is a word processing app perfect for teams.
Create and edit text documents right in your browser by yourself or with multiple people at the same time. You can edit, comment and chat while working together. And your changes are saved automatically.
Docs works with MS Word and PDF files and others. You can export your files into nearly any format you need including .docx, .pdf, .odt, .rtf, .txt or even .html.
There are many add-on apps that enhance Google Docs, from creating specific types of design or forms, to checking grammar or adding a bibliography.
For instance, to create diagrams in docs or even an organizational chart from Google Sheets, use one of the add-on apps like Lucidchart Diagrams (pictured above).
Slides is a presentation creation software that allows you to create and edit beautiful, polished presentations straight from your browser.
Think along the lines of PowerPoint, but entirely online and slightly less powerful.
Multiple people can work on it at the same time.
Google Workspace Slides’ offers hundreds of professional-quality templates to get you started, and you can easily add videos, images, drawings, and transitions to enhance your presentations.
Convert your slides into videos using one of Google Workspace’s add-on apps like AddOnForge or Creator Studio from Digital Inspiration.
Sheets was designed from the ground up by Google to compete against Microsoft Excel and they did a great job.
Perfect for keeping track of your sales, analytics and other backend needs, Sheets can easily store, compile, and organize your data.
It’s powered by Google AI, meaning it was developed to empower you by letting you use your data to tap into the right insights for making business decisions.
Much like Excel, Google Sheets has an integrated formula acceleration to save time and mistakes.
Also, like Excel, you can click on the Explore button to see trends or customize a variety of helpful data-backed visualizations.
Of course, you can also type a question into Explore for Google AI to get the answers you need!
Sheets works seamlessly with Microsoft files, including Excel. And the same keyboard shortcuts work on both.
Currently, Google Sheets supports more than 400 spreadsheet functions to create formulas for manipulating data, calculate numbers or generate strings. Or create your own custom functions using any number of handy add-ons.
Need to create a mind map or two? You can use the SmartDraw Diagrams add-on app for Google Workplace!
Forms lets you manage event registrations, create custom surveys, questionnaires, and quizzes. Select from multiple question types, drag and drop to rearrange questions, add an email sign up box. Customize your form with images, videos, and custom logic.
Analyze responses as they automatically appear and summarize in real time.
Remember, you can also load your data from Forms into Google Workspace Sheets to analyze it for you!
Time Management & Productivity Workspace Apps
Good time management is necessary for business success, you already know that! And with Google Workspace, you’ll have access to a variety of time management and productivity apps.
Look for apps that help you and your team work collaboratively and independently. Choose the ones that will work best for your needs without a huge learning curve or frustration level when first starting out.
Here are some of the most popular, and helpful, apps to choose from:
- Google Calendar is designed for teams and individual use.
- Set up a calendar to track your personal schedule.
- Create a separate one to share your schedule, plan & schedule meetings and to keep track of important events.
- Easily create multiple calendars for you and your team to use separately, or together.
- Google Keep is a task management extension designed to keep track of your to-dos on any device, anywhere.
- Create and edit notes and lists with Google Keep.
- Organize those lists and notes, then share them with your team.
- Gmail can be great for organizing and managing your emails.
- Create labels to organize your emails.
- Set rules to filter incoming messages.
- Create a custom signature.
- Schedule a message to be sent at a specific time, and more.
- Sync other tools such as Google Keep, Tasks, or Calendar with Gmail.
- Google Tasks helps you keep track of your daily tasks, organize multiple lists, and stay on track with important deadlines.
- Google Workspace Drive gives you the ability to share files with team members. The Business Workspace Drive has twice the amount of storage as the personal version.
These are just a few of the hundreds of Google Workspace apps designed to help with your time management and productivity.
Customer Management Workspace Apps
Customer management is important in business, and Google Workspace knows this. When choosing a CRM app, it should work with your email program (Gmail), have a way to connect with customers from a variety of platforms and be able to provide reports and reminders.
Google Workspace has created several apps for managing customers, as well as a variety of apps available that work with Google Workspace.
- Gmail can be used to organize incoming mail into categories and labels. Set up a Gmail address specifically for customer support.
- Google Keep can be used for making customer service to-do lists and to store feedback.
- Google Calendars, like we mentioned before, can be used to set up meetings with customers.
- Google Meet can be used for webinars and support training.
- Google Drive can be used to save your customer service documents and materials.
- OneUp is a Google Workspace compatible app that automates accounting, inventory and customer relationships.
- Holly AI Assist Client Acquisition assistant is an add-on app that helps you attract and engage more clients across multiple channels. Holly helps by booking, rescheduling, recovering appointments.
Using the tools from Google Workspace allows you to provide top customer service while keeping track of customers’ needs.
Sales & Financial Workspace Apps
Know your financial and sales data is important to the success of your business. Google Workspace Apps are designed to help you keep track of your income and expenses.
- Google Sheets can be set up to keep track of your finances, sales data, and analytics. There are templates, trainings, and AI to help you create sheets specifically for your needs.
- Hippo Video, an add-on app, is used for creating video presentations. Create and edit videos, 1:1 sales videos and track insights.
- The Bkper app for Google Workspace is a collaborative double-entry bookkeeping platform that turns Google Sheets into an accounting tool. Easily create balance sheet and profit & loss statements.
Marketing and Analytics Workspace Apps
Taking control of your marketing and knowing your numbers are key to growth. When choosing apps for your marketing and analytics needs, look for ones that can be incorporated into your existing programs. Google Workspace works with many programs and software, as well as provides many apps that can be installed for specific purposes.
- Vault is an add-on app specifically for data retention. Keep track of your data with vault. Retain, search, and export your data into specific Google Workspace apps for your entire domain or for specific units. Keep track of user activity with audit reports that let you see searches, content views, exports, etc.
- io is a compatible app for exporting your data from Shopify, Hubspot, Trello, Quickbooks, Harvest, Excel to Google Sheets on a set schedule.
- Google Analytics Spreadsheet is an add-on app that brings the power of Google Analytics API. With this, you can query data from multiple profiles. Create custom calculations from your data, or schedule reports to run automatically.
- Zoho Marketing Hub is a marketing automation software add-on app. Use it to generate leads, convert visitors into leads with sign up forms on various platforms, use smart popups.
- Gmail is a part of your marketing for capturing and connecting with your leads.
- Survey Monkey is a popular compatible app that creates surveys. It features intuitive survey creation easy for everyone, includes survey templates and customization ability.
Having the right analytics and marketing tools can be the difference in how well your marketing plan works. When you use the right tools for the job, it will show in the positive results you see.
Collaboration and Meetings Workspace Apps
Collaborations and meetings are an integral part of any business. Whether it’s a meeting with your virtual assistant, collaborating on a project with other team members or meeting clients, having the best tools is mandatory for seamless meeting.
Choose apps that allow you to integrate with your calendar, scheduler, email, and other programs with ease.
Google Workspace has several apps specifically created for meetings and collaborating.
- Google Chat and Spaces is a dedicated group workspace for 1:1 messaging and group chats. You can see all your messages in one place, either in Gmail or as a standalone app. Keep track of all your work communications. Use Chat and Spaces to collaborate on content in Google Docs, Sheets and Slides. Find past conversations or files with the search, or let the bots and smart suggestions connect with meeting participants.
- Google Meet is a secure video meeting app for teams and businesses to stay connected. Meet is included in Google Workspace. Join meetings directly from a Calendar event, an email invite, or directly from your Gmail account. Meet has helpful features like live captions, low-light mode and noise cancellation for more productive meetings.
- Trello is a Google Workspace app. This visual collaboration tool helps teams see a shared perspective on any project. Trello boards create a space for teams to organize, collaborate and share information, create tasks and ideas, and lists. Integrated with Google Workspace, it can boost your team’s productivity and collaboration.
A Few More Helpful Workspace Apps
Google Workspace for business already has a wide range of apps that will make productivity, analytics, sales, and marketing. There are, however, many more add-on apps that can do different things.
- Google Sites lets you build public websites, internal project websites without having to learn code or have IT help.
- Jamboard Originally created for educators, this digital whiteboard app allows you to collaborate and engage. Pull in images from Google search and draw with a stylus.
- Currents is designed to connect your business around shared interests, helping you collaborate with team members and trade insights with communities. Use it to poll your organization, share posts and much more.
What Now? Download Our Free Quick Start Resources!
Google Workspace is a combination of tools perfect for growing and managing your business.
Designed to help teams and businesses collaborate, connect and be more productive, Google Workspace for Business can be a game changer in how you work.
Use Gmail for all your email needs, utilizing the built-in tools to organize your emails.
Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides works as your content and creativity center.
Stay connected through Google Calendar, Chat and Meet.
Take the time to explore and find the apps that work for you and your business.
To help you choose and get started we’ve included some templates and tools including an editable quick-start worksheet on setting up your Google Workspace, a checklist to make sure you didn’t miss anything, a tips sheet for using Google Workspace and a list of app resources.
Now that you have a better understanding of Google Workspace and the apps you can use, it’s time to get started.
