Collaborate with decision makers

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.

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. Open Chat.
2. On the left, click Find people, rooms, bots.
3. Enter a name or email address or select a contact from the suggestions.
4. Enter your direct message and click Send .

Send a direct message to a group:

1. On the left, click Find people, rooms, botsGroup Message.
2. Enter names or email addresses or select contacts from the suggestions.
3. After you add your contacts, click Message.
4. Enter your DM and click Send  .
5. (Optional) To hide a group DM, on the left, point to the direct message and click More Hide conversation .

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  CreateMore options.
2. Next to Event details, click Find a time. You’ll see the local time for guests in other time zones just below their name.
3. Scroll up or down the time slots, or click the arrows at the top to view different days and weeks.
4. Click a time slot and then click Save.

Note: You can also get a suggested meeting time after you add guests. Under the list of guests, click Suggested Times and choose a time.

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

	Choose a time zone.
	Set up a recurring event.
	Find a time—Find a time when your co-workers are free for the meeting.
	Add event details—Add the meeting location, send event notifications, and more.
	Add video conferencing—Add a video meeting to your event. Or, select a third-party conferencing add-on.
	Add an event description—Add details, such as contact information, instructions, or links for your event. Format your description by adding bold, italic, or underline, or add lists and links.
	Add attachments—Attach files, such as documents or presentations to your events.

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

1. In Calendar, click the event you want to join.
2. Click Join Hangouts Meet and in the window that opens, click Join Meeting.

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

Share a file or folder with specific people:

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

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

2. Under People, enter the email address of the person or group you want to share with.

   Note: If you can't add people outside of your company or organization, contact your G Suite administrator.

3. Click Edit and choose the access level:

   • Can edit—Collaborators can add and edit content as well as add comments.
   • Can comment (Select files only)—Collaborators can add comments, but can't edit content.
   • Can view—People can view the file, but not edit or add comments.

   Everyone you share with receives an email with a link to the file or folder.

4. (Optional) To add a note to the email, enter your note. To skip sending an email, uncheck the Notify people box.
5. Click 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 .

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

2. At the top right, click Get shareable link.
3. Click Anyone at your organization with the link can view and choose an access level:

   • Can edit—Collaborators can add and edit content as well as add comments.
   • Can comment (Select files only)—Collaborators can add comments, but can't edit content.
   • Can view—People can view the file, but not edit or add comments.

4. Click Copy link.
5. Click Done.
6. Paste the link in an email or any place you want to share it.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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

	In Calendar, click an empty time slot in the calendar grid and click Event. You can also click  Create.
	Add an event title, date, and time.
	(Optional) To create an event using another calendar, next to your name, click the Down arrow  and select the calendar.
	Click More options or Save.

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 Can edit access.
   4. Click Send.

3. Open Hangouts Meet and join the meeting.
4. Click Present now and choose what to share:

   • Your entire screen
   • A window

5. Click Share.

Now people can follow along as you present. To stop sharing your screen at any time, at the bottom of your screen, click Stop sharing.