Google Spaces: How to use Google Chat’s hybrid workspace platform
Google Spaces has been through several iterations since its inception in 2016. It began as a desktop and mobile app to compete with Slack and provide a space for teams (or friend groups) to collaborate, chat, and share videos and other content. Like other Google social experiments, it was discontinued the following year, in April 2017. That wasn’t the end of Spaces. When Google+ (and its enterprise-focused follow-up, Currents) was sunsetted, theSpaces brand was revivedto scoop up functionality Google wanted to keep in its portfolio.
Spaces replaces Google’s old Rooms concept from Chat, allowing you to add users to a group and share content, manage a workflow, and collaborate. It’s platform agnostic (Spaces can run anywhere Google Chat is available) and is great for businesses that provide employees withhigh-end Chromebooksor rely on a work-from-home or hybrid work model. Let’s dive in and see how the new Spaces works.
What is Google Spaces?
Spaces is a lightweight group collaboration and project management platform in Google Workspace. It was announced as part of a redesign for Gmail in 2022. The revamp integrates its Chat, Files, Tasks, and other Google apps and services within Gmail. The redesign integrated into Workspace to create a new space for different topics and discussions, share files, and compose Google Meet group calls without leaving the Gmail tab.
Spaces lets you invite and chat with team members, collaborate on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, compose a quick Meet call, and improve group productivity.
Google Workspace is essential for WFH and hybrid work
How to create a new space
Google Spaces are easiest to access through Chat. Here’s how:
Your new space is ready to use in Gmail. When your invited members join the space, check the list from theSpace name>Managemembersmenu. you may check the space manager and pending invitations from the same menu.
From the management menu, click+ Addto invite new members to your Space.
Set Google Spaces guidelines
After creating a new Google Space and inviting members, write the space guidelines to set expectations around how members get the most out of this chat.
How to manage Google Spaces notifications
Frequent notifications throughout the day might interrupt your workflow when you have dozens of team members in a space. You can tweak notification settings for a specific space.
you may also selectNotifications offand turn off all alerts from the space or mute individual conversations to prevent them from bubbling up to the top of your unreads. If you set your status toDo not disturbfrom the top menu, Google Spaces mutes all notifications.
How to use Google Spaces chat features
Google Spaces has useful features to stay in touch with team members. ClickAin the chat menu to display rich text editor options like bold, italic, colors to highlight details, bullet points, and strikethrough. Google also integrated emojis and GIF menus to add fun to boring conversations.
Click the+icon beside the chat menu to share a Google Docs, Slides, or Sheets file from your Drive account. Select theSharemenu to send a local file from your Windows or Mac computer to the group conversation. You can also host a group video meeting from the same menu.
Spaces also allows you to share emoji reactions to a message and a forward option to save messages to your Gmail inbox.
Create a calendar invite in Google Spaces
You can create a calendar invite from Google Spaces. You don’t need to open Google Calendar in another tab to manage events.
How to manage Google Spaces message history
you could auto-delete team chat history after 24 hours. The option allows you to remove unnecessary messages from the conversation.
How to pin important spaces
Unlike Slack or Microsoft Teams, you’re able to’t create different channels under the same organization. You must create a new space for a different conversation or topic and invite members again. You may have dozens of spaces to manage in Gmail if you deal with multiple teams. Pin important spaces at the top to never miss a message.
How to assign tasks in Spaces
There are two ways to assign a task to a team member in a space. it’s possible to assign a to-do from the Chat menu or move to the Tasks tab.
Your assigned tasks appear under My Tasks in the Google Tasks app on the web and mobile.
How to activate and use Google Spaces on your phone
If you want to use Google Spaces on your smartphone, turn on Chat in Gmail on mobile to use the Chat and Spaces tab. This works on the Google Chat app for Android and the iOS app in the App Store for iPhone users. Here’s what you’ll do:
You can download a separate Google Chat app from the Play Store to check your conversations and spaces.
Leave Google Spaces
After creating a space, you can leave it. After all, you won’t want to end up with several irrelevant spaces in Gmail.
Use a web browser to leave Google Spaces
Use the mobile app to leave Google Spaces
Carve out space for optimal productivity
Spaces is a powerful integration of workflow software with chat and collaboration tools. Unlike similar platforms, it’s intuitive and approachable due to Google’s knack for simple, heavily researched, and constantly refined interfaces. Also, given the ubiquity of Gmail, many people have a Spaces-ready account, removing a step from the onboarding process.
For more ways to make the most of your Gmail account, look at our list of thebest Gmail tips and tricks.
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