You may have heard someone mention Google Docs in the past, but what IS Google Docs, exactly?

More often than not, when referring to the group web-based applications that Google offers for collaboration, people will simply use the name ‘Google Docs.’

Google has created a variety of free web applications that allow users to create documents, spreadsheets, slideshows, and more. These applications work very much like the ones you already know how to use; Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.

The main difference, and selling point with these applications is the ability to work with other users across different devices. Imagine that you have created a Word document that outlines your work group’s plans for a big upcoming project. There are 5 people on your team, and you all need to contribute to this outline.

With Microsoft Word, you would need someone to create a rough draft and then send it to the other members of the team for review. If anyone has any suggestions or edits, they have two options.

First, they can tell the creator of the rough draft, who can then make the changes on the original document. Or, they can make the changes themselves on the copy they recieved, and then share it with the group.

As you can imagine, the second option quickly creates multiple copies of the same document with only minor differences. Lisa might create the rough draft, and then send it to Mary, Tina, and Lucy. Mary and Tina then notice some things that need to be changed, and go ahead and update the document on their computer.

They then both send their copies to the rest of the team. There are now three versions of the original document. Who is now responsible for combining the three into one, final draft?

Google Docs takes this dilemma away completely.

If Lisa, Mary, Tina, and Lucy use Google Docs, there will only ever be one copy of the document they are working on. Google Docs allows users to work together, even if they are not physically together, to make changes to one master document.

If more than one user is viewing a document on Google Docs at one time, and one person begins to make changes to the document, the other users will see thd document updated in real time on their screen. There will even be an icon that shows which user is making the changes.

If your computer is cluttered with multiple versions of the same document, or you frequently work with groups on a single document, take some time this week to look into Google Docs. Read the info at https://www.google.com/docs/about/ and watch some Youtube videos of people demonstrating how it works.

In my next post I will detail more about setting up a document with Google Docs and sharing/collaborating with others. But in the meantime, do a little research to see what all Google Docs/Sheets/Slides has to offer.

Let me know if you have ever dealt with this problem while working with groups. Have you ever wasted time going over a document only to realize it was an old version?