Why we use it

If you're not already familiar with Google Workspace hold on tight because this is going to be a fundamental change across the board. Google Workspace powers an enormous number of organizations and is really praised for it's emphasis on collaboration.

How we use it

Chrome

Google Chrome has a Profiles feature that helps you keep work and personal stuff separate. To add a new profile:

1. On your computer, open Chrome

2. In the top right, click on the Profile picture

3. Click Add

4. Sign in using a Google Account

5. Choose a name, photo and color scheme

6. Repeat for each Google Account you have (ie, once for your @soaringeaglenatureschool account, once for your @gmail account)

Now you can use that Profile button to switch profiles at any time.

Gmail

While it may seem unnatural at first, we should avoid sending emails internally. Gmail is commonly used for communication with partners, vendors, and individual families. For internal communication, use Twist and for multi-family communication, use MailChimp.

Calendar

Google Calendar lets us quickly and easily see each other’s calendars. And if we do our best to keep those calendars up-to-date, we don’t need to go back and forth with "how's this time...?".

1. On your computer, open Google Calendar

2. On the left, next to Other calendars, click + then Subscribe to calendar

3. In the Add calendar box,

   1. enter the person's email address and press enter; OR

   2. select one from the list

Meet

Google Meet is a great way to meet synchronously and remotely. It supports video, if you want to see everyone's faces. It also supports audio-only, if you want to walk & talk without staring at a screen.

Drive

Google Drive is our company-wide storage facility. If you ever find yourself looking for a file, just open https://drive.google.com and use the search function.

For search to work effectively, we should try to stick to similar naming conventions. One common option is yyyy-mm-dd File Name, which (as an example) translates to 2024-01-31 Something Really Cool

We have a Shared Drive titled SENS that houses all the recent files accessible to everyone.

We have another Shared Drive titled Ω Archive that houses all the files that where once owned by personal gmail accounts.

Docs

Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites (commonly known as Google Docs) gives us the ability to collaborate super effectively in different mediums. They act as suitable alternatives to Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Google Docs are stored in Google Drive and should be organized and titled as described above.