G Suite, the rebranded version of Google Apps For Work, has been steadily improving since the shift. More polish and new features have been finding their way to G Suite users’ devices, upping their productivity in new ways, and today’s updates should prove quite helpful to a large number of people. With the newly announced updates to G Suite, Google has addressed a large number of situations like workflow management, multitasking, and delegation, and has even managed to throw in voice commands. The G Suite update is pretty comprehensive, and is starting to roll out as of today.
First up on the list, we have some tweaks to Docs centered around a new feature called Action Items. Using natural language processing, typing a task into a document will automatically generate an Action Item calling for that particular person to do what was typed. This can be done manually as well, of course. The next time they log into G Suite, they’ll see the Action Items on their plate. An easy list of current Action Items and their status is also available, letting collaborators see who’s holding up a project and managers see who may need some help with their workload or what tasks may need to be reassigned.
An update to Google Forms is also on board, adding in a smart function that can help to figure out possible responses to include in a given Form based on what type of question is being asked. According to Google, this new service should be helpful in at least 25% of new Forms being written up. A new question type is also in the update, allowing respondents to upload a file. In Drive, users will find that they can not only type with their voice, but do things like apply formatting, share, and add in links. Deleting words is also an option, making the function useful outside of typical use cases, such as for novelists dictating long stories, or journalists transcribing or covering live events. Rounding out the update, we have integration with Slack that allows a quick press of a + sign in Slack to create a new Doc, Sheet, or Slide, or even bring a Drive file into the conversation directly. The update should be live as of this writing for all users on mobile and desktop.
