Collaborate with decision makers

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At a glance

1. Get in touch with stakeholders		2. Meet with stakeholders		3. Resolve issues
1.1 Search for stakeholders 1.2 Communicate with stakeholders		2.1 See when people can meet 2.2 Schedule a meeting 2.3 Attach files to your meeting invite 2.4 Join the meeting 2.5 Share and present during a video meeting 2.6 Share files and other materials 2.7 Assign tasks 2.8 Send a follow-up email		3.1 Collaborate on potential solutions 3.2 Track updates and changes 3.3 Schedule a final meeting 3.4 Collaborate on an agenda during the meeting

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1  Get in touch with stakeholders

1.1 Search for stakeholders

If you’re working on an urgent issue or assignment and you need to get other people in your organization on board, you can search for them in Google Cloud Search.

Find and contact stakeholders:

1. Open Cloud Search and in the search box, enter the person’s name.

2. At the top of the person’s profile card, select Start a conversation  or Email .

3. Click Reports to to see the profile card of the person’s manager.

4. On mobile, tap the phone number to call them.

5. (Optional) You can also do a search using everyday words, such as jane’s phone number. You get an answer card with the phone number for your colleague named Jane. If more than one person has the name, under Looking for someone specific?, click a different name.

Note: You can see additional contact and manager information if your admin has added these profile details to user accounts.

1.2 Communicate with stakeholders

After you establish who you need to contact, compose an email or send a message to stakeholders.

	Open Gmail.
	On the left, click  Compose.
	(Optional) To change your window size, in the upper corner, click Maximize  or Exit full screen .
	Add recipients and a subject.
	Enter your message. Email you start writing but don't send are automatically saved in Drafts on the left.
	(Optional) Add attachments, such as Drive files  or photos .
	Click Send.

Tip: To cancel sending an email, at the bottom of the window, click Undo. This option appears briefly, but you can change how long it lasts. See Undo sending your mail.

Send a direct message to someone:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. If the name isn’t under Chat, click Find people, rooms, bots or click Start a chat .
3. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you type.
   To send a direct message to someone outside of your organization, enter their full email address.
4. Select the person you want to message.
5. Enter a message click Send .
   Suggestions include everyone in your organization, even if they don't have Chat.

Start a group conversation:

1. Go to Google Chat or your Gmail Account.
2. Under "Chat," click a group name, enter a message, click Send .
3. If the group name isn’t under "Chat":
   • In Chat, click Find people, rooms, bots  Start group conversation.
   • In Gmail, under Chat, click Start a chat  Start group conversation.
4. Enter a name or email address. Suggestions appear as you type. 
5. Click Message or Done .
6. Enter a message click Send .
   Suggestions include everyone in your organization, even if they don't have Chat.

 

2  Meet with stakeholders

2.1 See when people can meet

It can be difficult to coordinate schedules with large groups of people in different time zones. Before you schedule a meeting, you can check everyone’s availability in Google Calendar.

1. Open Calendar and click  CreateEvent.
2. Go to the Add guests section and enter the person's email address.  
3. Click Suggested times and select a suggested meeting time. 
4. Click a time slot.
5. (Optional) If you can't find a suggested meeting time, click Find a time and select a time slot. 
6. Click Save.

 

2.2 Schedule a meeting

1. In Calendar, choose an option:
   • Click an empty time slot in the calendar grid.
   • Click Create.
2. Add an event title, date, and time.
3. (Optional) To create the event on another calendar you have edit access to, at the bottom click your calendar name and select another calendar. 

2.3 Attach files to your meeting invite

Attach documents or any other resources you want to discuss. Guests can review relevant files before the meeting and come prepared.

1. Click the Add description or attachments field.
2. Add details, such as contact information, instructions, or links for your event.
3. (Optional) Format your description by bolding, italicizing, underlining, or adding lists and links.

2.4 Join the meeting

See your scheduled meeting in Calendar and quickly join a video meeting. Use this Google Meet cheat sheet.

1. In Google Calendar, click the event you want to join.
2. Click Join with Google Meet.
3. In the window that opens, click Join Now. 

2.5 Share and present during a video meeting

1. In Google Drive, open the Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides file you want to share or present.
2. (Optional) To edit a document, spreadsheet, or presentation simultaneously with your guests:
   1. In the upper-right corner, click Share.
   2. Add a title to your document and click Save.
   3. Add your meeting guests and give everyone Editor access.
   4. Click Send.
3. Open Google Meet and join the meeting.
4. Click Present now and choose what to share:
   • Your entire screen
   • A window
5. Click Share.
6. (Optional) To stop sharing your screen at any time, at the bottom of your screen, click Stop sharing.

Tip: If you're not using Chrome Browser (which automatically hides any pop-up notifications), mute or turn off notifications so they don’t appear when you’re presenting.

2.6 Share files and other materials

Prepare everyone working on the assignment by sharing any relevant files or folders.

Share a file or folder with specific people:

1. Select the file you want to share.
2. Click Share or Share .
3. Under Share with people and groups, enter the email address you want to share with.

   Note: If visitor sharing is on for your organization, you can invite someone who doesn't have a Google Account to collaborate on your Google Drive files and folders. See Share documents with visitors.

4. To change what people can do to your file, on the right, click the Down arrow Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
5. Choose to notify people:
   • If you want to notify people that you shared a file with them, check the Notify people box. If you notify people, each email address you enter will be included in the email.
   • If you don't want to notify people, uncheck the Notify people box.
6. Click Share or Send.

Share a link to a file or folder:

1. In Drive, right-click the file or folder you want to share and select Share .

   In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, at the top, click Share.

   Note: You can only share files that you own or have edit access to.

2. (Optional) To specify what people can do with your file when you share it, under your organization name, click Change:
   • To change the permission, at right, click the Down arrow  and select Viewer, Commenter, or Editor.
   • To allow sharing the link outside of your organization, next to your organization name, click the Down arrow Public.

     Note: If you don't see this option, contact your administrator.

3. Click Copy link.
4. Click Done.
5. Paste the link in an email, on a website, or wherever you need to share it.

2.7 Assign tasks

After you establish who needs to work on the assignment, you can assign tasks to stakeholders.

1. In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, select the text you'd like to comment on.
2. Click Add comment .
3. Enter your comment in the box.
4. (Optional) To direct your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will get an email with your comment and a link to the file.
5. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, check the Assign to box.
6. Click Comment or Assign.

Note: If a file reaches the maximum number of comments, you can make a copy of the file without copying over any comments.

2.8 Send a follow-up email

After the meeting, send a follow-up email to summarize the meeting notes and any additional tasks.

	Open Gmail.
	On the left, click  Compose.
	(Optional) To change your window size, in the upper corner, click Maximize  or Exit full screen .
	Add recipients and a subject.
	Enter your message. Email you start writing but don't send are automatically saved in Drafts on the left.
	(Optional) Add attachments, such as Drive files  or photos .
	Click Send.

Tip: To cancel sending an email, at the bottom of the window, click Undo. This option appears briefly, but you can change how long it lasts. See Undo sending your mail.

3  Resolve issues

3.1 Collaborate on potential solutions

Create a document that serves as a blank canvas for everyone’s ideas and solutions. Edit together in real time, chat within files, and get targeted feedback using comments and suggestions.

1. In Docs, Sheets, or Slides, select the text you'd like to comment on.
2. Click Add comment .
3. Enter your comment in the box.
4. (Optional) To direct your task or comment to a specific person, enter a plus sign (+) followed by their email address. You can add as many people as you want. Each person will get an email with your comment and a link to the file.
5. (Optional) To assign the comment to a specific person, check the Assign to box.
6. Click Comment or Assign.

Note: If a file reaches the maximum number of comments, you can make a copy of the file without copying over any comments.

3.2 Track updates and changes

See how your project tasks are progressing at a glance with conditional formatting rules. For example, add colors to make completed tasks stand out from tasks that haven’t been started or are in progress.

Set up progress trackers:

1. Open Sheets and select the column that you want to apply the formatting rules to.
2. Select FormatConditional formatting.
3. Set up the rules. In this example, you assign a different color to tasks that are Complete, Not started, or In progress:

	On the Single color tab, under Format cells if, select Text contains.
	In the box under Text contains, type Complete.
	Under Formatting style, click the list to choose if you want the background or text to be colored.
	To assign a custom text or background color, click Text color or Fill color . If needed, you can specify a color for the text and a color for the background.
	If you want to add more rules, click Add another rule and follow the same steps. For example, assign a red background to Not started tasks and an orange background to In progress tasks.
	Click Done.

3.3 Schedule a final meeting

Schedule a final meeting to ensure everyone has completed their assignments and discuss any questions.

1. In Calendar, choose an option:
   • Click an empty time slot in the calendar grid.
   • Click Create.
2. Add an event title, date, and time.
3. (Optional) To create the event on another calendar you have edit access to, at the bottom click your calendar name and select another calendar. 

3.4 Collaborate on an agenda during the meeting

During the meeting, share an agenda so everyone is in the loop.

1. In Google Drive, open the Google Docs, Google Sheets, or Google Slides file you want to share or present.
2. (Optional) To edit a document, spreadsheet, or presentation simultaneously with your guests:
   1. In the upper-right corner, click Share.
   2. Add a title to your document and click Save.
   3. Add your meeting guests and give everyone Editor access.
   4. Click Send.
3. Open Google Meet and join the meeting.
4. Click Present now and choose what to share:
   • Your entire screen
   • A window
5. Click Share.
6. (Optional) To stop sharing your screen at any time, at the bottom of your screen, click Stop sharing.

Tip: If you're not using Chrome Browser (which automatically hides any pop-up notifications), mute or turn off notifications so they don’t appear when you’re presenting.