ECIA GOOGLE WORKSPACE HELP
We are proud to offer Google Workspace to our committees and committee members to ease and encourage collaborative work in the pursuit of community improvement. As you climb the learning curve, we hope these links will be of service to you.
BEGINNERS
INTRODUCTION
Your best introduction to Google Workspace is here, in the Learning Center:
https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9389764?hl=en&ref_topic=9296556
We HIGHLY RECOMMEND you work through these various help sections to get the most out of Google Workspace.
Some will learn faster via video. Here is Google’s own Google Workspace Youtube Channel. Search and discover fast methods to climb the learning curve:
SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS
MOVING FILES THAT EXIST IN OTHER SYSTEMS
At this time, Google does not have an automated data migration for Dropbox, OneDrive, or other file sharing systems. The simplest solution is to download all the documents you wish to move, and then upload them to the Shared Drive that has been assigned to you or your group. As you get more familiar with Google Docs, Sheets and other apps, your work will naturally fit into the Google Workspace ecosystem. Google Apps can open and save in most Microsoft file types.
ARE MICROSOFT DOCUMENTS COMPATIBLE?
In most cases, you can copy/paste files directly into Google Docs, Sheets, etc. and have them function similarly to Microsoft (and other open-source) products. There are subtle differences, however. Google’s apps are gradually being brought into congruence with Microsoft’s offerings. We would warn that if you are using highly technical features, such as in Microsoft Excel, that you experiment with using Google’s equivalent app (in this case, Sheets). If unsuccessful, continue to work with Microsoft products and just use Google Drive as your file storage area, as you are doing now with OneDrive. You will still be able to share and set permissions for those MS documents [copy into Google Drive, right-click the file, ‘Share with Google Drive’].
WORKING WITH PEOPLE NOT IN GOOGLE WORKSPACE
Specific recommendations for handling non-Gmail or non-Google Workspace participants:
https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9283194?visit_id=637859873983312109-2872853408&hl=en&rd=1
MANAGE MULTIPLE GMAIL ACCOUNTS
You can manage and access multiple Google accounts via your browser and GMail apps on your smartphone:
https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9308664?hl=en
[A note: To add multiple accounts via smartphone, open the GMail app and tap your image at the very top right – you will get an interface that allows you to “Add account”. Some help documents have not kept up with the pandemic-accelerated changes in these apps.]
ADMINISTERING SHARED GOOGLE DRIVES
You can find more information on how fine-grained the administration levels are for Shared Drives here:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/7337554?hl=en
ECIA/HOAMCO staff will be happy to assist you in setting appropriate permissions for your Committee members.