What are the collaboration trends?

You can follow the percentage of Docs, Sheets, and Slides used for collaboration among Google Workspace users over time.

View the data

1. From the Work Insights dashboard, on the left, click Collaboration.
2. Find the chart titled “What are the collaboration trends?”
3. In team filter at the upper-right corner of the page, select a team. For details, see Filter Work Insights data by team.
4. (Optional) In the time filter at upper-right corner of the page, select a different time range.
5. (Optional) To view usage on a particular day, move your pointer over the chart to pinpoint a date and its associated activity.
6. To view data for specific activities in apps, check or uncheck the activity boxes in the chart's legend.

Tip: For more information on navigating charts, see Navigate Work Insights.

What the chart means

The chart shows the number of Docs, Sheets, and Slides viewed or edited by more than one user, or the number of Docs, Sheets, and Slides that contain comments. 

Depending on the time range you’ve set, the chart can reveal trends that show whether Google Workspace users are only viewing files or actively collaborating with them. 

How the data is calculated

When users perform any activity with Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the files are considered "active.”

• Active files are considered edited when more than one user edits the file.
• Active files are considered viewed when more than one user opens a file.
• Active files are considered commented when any user provides comments in the file.

Use the data

Assessment	Action
Use the team filter to help identify specific teams that might not be collaborating with Docs, Sheets, and Slides over time.	Encourage those teams to learn how to collaborate with shared documents.
Assess whether the percentage of users working with Docs, Sheets, and Slides has fluctuated over time to help you gauge an increase or decrease in collaboration.	See How are users collaborating on Docs, Sheets, and Slides? to view the percentage of users working with Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Determine the level of sharing and collaboration between teams.	Investigate whether user comments in files have increased proportionately with files viewed and edited.
Determine if low engagement with Docs, Sheets, and Slides has continued over time.	Consider providing training courses to demonstrate the advantages of using Google Workspace over on-premise or legacy apps.
Determine whether Google Workspace users are actively working with Docs, Sheets, and Slides for work collaboration.	Consider sending a survey to users to help you understand low or high usage for work collaboration.