Thanksgiving 2020 -- Remotely

 

We are approaching a Thanksgiving that will be like no other we have seen; you might be trying to find ways to connect with family, friends, and coworkers safely. This week I wanted to offer tips for doing just that -- remotely:

💎 Meeting application:

While the Google Meet available to free gmail.com can be tricky to use with non-Google accounts, the Meet in Google Workspace offers the option to invite any email address, and they will be able to join without any account signup.

Google Meet works with the current version of the browsers listed below:

Chrome Browser
Mozilla Firefox
Microsoft Edge
Apple Safari

(Meet has limited support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 11; Microsoft Edge provides a better Meet experience. If you want to use Internet Explorer for Meet, you need to install a plugin. Download and install the latest version of the Google Video Support plugin: https://www.google.com/tools/dlpage/hangoutplugin ) https://support.google.com/meet/answer/7317473#browsers 

💎 Devices:

While seeing everyone on a laptop or desktop screen is great, you can also access the meeting through your tablet or phone; you will need to download the Google Meet app.

💎 Inviting people:

• My favorite way to invite people is through a Google Calendar (https://calendar.google.com) invite. If turned on in the Admin Console, your meeting links will be automatically added to the invite when you drop in the invitees' email addresses. You can choose whether people can invite others or see each other's contact info.
• For a more impromptu gathering, you can also create a meeting right in Google Meet (https://meet.google.com) and invite people on the fly from within the meeting.

💎 Seeing everyone on the screen:

If you don't see everyone on your screen, click the 3 dots in the lower right corner and access Change layout. Pick the Tiled view.

💎 To share your screen:

• Bring your mouse down to the bottom of the Meet window, and click Present now to share your screen.
• To play a video for the participants, click Present now and then A tab.

💎 Call in by phone:

Google Meet in Google Workspace also offers a call-in option by phone.

I hope these tips are helpful! I truly hope you have a pleasant Thanksgiving despite this incredibly challenging year we are in. Stay well!

I appreciate you being here! Any questions, let me know in the Comments.

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact  

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link: https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter

KloudGem website: https://www.kloudgem.com

Chchchchanges Coming to Photos and Google Drive Storage in Google Workspace

Hm… This past week's change announcement in Google Workspace is not going to be popular:

As much as some of the recent improvements in Google Workspace have been very helpful, now come some less popular changes, albeit changes you need to be well aware of.

In Google Photos

Remember how you are able to upload photos to Google Photos in high quality, and that enables you to store unlimited photos without extra charge? Well, that's going away for photos you upload after June 1, 2021.

In Google's own words: "Starting June 1, 2021, any new photos or videos uploaded to Google Photos or Google Drive in High quality will count toward the storage limits for users in your domain. Currently, only photos and videos uploaded in Original quality count toward storage quotas. Please note that any photos or videos uploaded in High quality prior to June 1, 2021, will not be impacted by this change and will not count toward storage limits."

https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2020/11/changes-to-google-workspace-storage.html

In Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard

A similar change is coming to other Google products. One of the best reasons to keep your files in Google formats in Google Drive has been that you could create and store as many of them as you liked. Not after June 1, 2021.

"Starting June 1, 2021, any newly created Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drawings, Forms, and Jamboard files will also count toward the storage limits for users in your domain. Existing files within these products will not count toward storage, unless they’re modified on or after June 1, 2021."

https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2020/11/changes-to-google-workspace-storage.html

What is a bit unclear is how to plan for this change. Not make changes to old files? What size can we expect our files will be? Currently, because Google isn’t showing us the sizes of the items we’re allowed to store without limit, there is not much of a reference point. For enterprise customers who are already paying for large storage, this may not have such a large impact; hard to tell yet, but how about the smaller fish?

Is there a sliver of a silver lining?

Since all good things must come to an end, impact aside, let's take a look at a bit of the silver lining….

💎 KloudGem 1:

After the storage changes, we will likely change habits: instead of making a copy of a Google file and create duplicates, we may leverage the powerful linkability of content.

💎 KloudGem 2:

After the storage changes, we are more likely to take time for periodic cleanup of our content to evaluate what could be discarded. And there will be help with that from Google: Manage files in your Google Drive storage - Google Drive Help

❓ How do you foresee this storage change impacting your business? I know I may need to spend some quality time with my Google storage periodically…

📝 As a side-note, if you use gmail.com accounts, you might want to check out these posts as well:

An update to storage policies across your Google Account

Updating Google Photos' storage policy to build for the future

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact  

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link: https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter

KloudGem website: https://www.kloudgem.com

Reduce Your Video Conferencing Costs

Tips for end-users and small businesses:

As a business owner, I make a point of maximizing my usage of my Google Workspace (G Suite). Before considering a 3rd-party solution -- which usually means 

overhead -- I try to ensure I am using what I have and already pay for. This not only results in tools that are seamless with my current experience but also in cost savings. The prime example of such cost savings is my use of Google Meet.

Since the increase in work from home due to COVID-19 restrictions, Google Meet has been rolling out feature after feature after feature, making it a viable and user-friendly substitute for other video conferencing tools. 

One of the newest features, available to most Google Workspace customers is the ability to blur or change your background, making it easier to work from (almost) anywhere.

💎 KloudGem 1:

To learn how to make Google Workspace (G Suite) tools work for you as you work from home, subscribe to my newsletter and get my WFH Guide free.

❓ Do you leverage Google Meet or pay extra for another video conferencing tool? Let me know in the Comments.

Tips for mid-size companies and large enterprises:

Have you taught your users yet about all the new Google Meet features and how they interact with Google Drive?

💎 KloudGem 2:

To see all the recent changes to Google Meet, check out this Help article.

❓ Have you seen a change in Google Meet usage by your organization as a result of the new features? Comment below.

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact  

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link: https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter

KloudGem website: https://www.kloudgem.com

Shared Drives Just Got More Flexible

Let's face it, Google Drive's shared drives* have been a bit rigid in their structure -- until recently when folder-level sharing got rolled out. 

(*Shared drives are available in: Google Workspace Business Standard and Plus; Enterprise; Education and Enterprise for Education; Nonprofits; Essentials)

Tips for end-users and small businesses:

This new folder-level sharing feature rollout means that you can, for example, add a smaller set of people at the shared drive membership level (these people will be able to see everything within a shared drive) and then add extra people on the lower level folders (who will only be able to see content within and below those folders). 

Translating this into practical terms: collaboration across teams and -- if needed -- with non-domain accounts, will be smoother.

💎 KloudGem 1:

You want to however be aware that only people given Manager-level membership on a shared drive can share folders.

❓ How does your business's Shared drives use differ from its My Drive use?

Tips for mid-size companies and large enterprises:

Decide on the parameters you want to allow in your organization for sharing, create best practices -- for Google Drive in general, as well as specifically in Shared drives. Align these with the company's security ground rules. Then set your settings in the Admin Console and communicate to your users.

💎 KloudGem 2:

Get your users used to sharing with a small audience at the top folder or shared drive level and with a larger audience or external people at the lower folder or file levels. This is a best practice both for the My Drive and the Shared drives section of Google Drive.

❓ Does your organization use Shared Drives?

Need help taming your Google tools or training your users? Contact me for a free first consult: https://www.kloudgem.com/get-in-touch/contact

Do you know someone who could use these KloudGem tips? Feel free to send them this link: https://www.kloudgem.com/follow-resources/newsletter

KloudGem website: https://www.kloudgem.com