Part of Pipeline Digitals ‘Mission 2 Zero’, on zeroing internal email.
Free Lunch in the Canteen! Grab Yours Now Before it’s Gone!
Ha, gotcha! But seriously, how often have you missed an email like that or read it too late so that by the time you rush to get your free lunch there’s none left? It’s the worst right?
In a recent blog post about Google Workspace, we discussed the latest Space Manager Capabilities introduced into Google Chat, which aim to improve team communication. But wait, there’s more! In addition to those nifty features, Google Chat is now providing Space Managers with the ability to set up spaces for sharing organisational communication with ‘announcements’, making it a one-way communication tool that reduces the need for multiple emails (in line with Pipelines mission to zero internal emails). Instead of sending company-wide emails, important updates can now be shared on essentially a virtual bulletin board. This not only reduces the number of emails (to Zero….come on you can do it) but also minimises the chance of missing an important message. So, it’s time to say goodbye to the cluttered inbox and hello to a streamlined way of sharing organisational communication. Never miss out on that free lunch again!
What’s that now, Announcements in Google Chat?
With this latest announcement-only set-up, certain actions such as message posting and other capabilities are limited to designated Space Managers. They now have the ability to:
- Create a space with a restricted post setting
- Post
- Reply in thread
- Modify the space settings
- Designate another member as a Space Manager
- Add files
When setting up a space, it must be made as an announcement-only space by selecting “only Space Managers can post”. But, if needed, an existing Space Manager can give the same posting abilities to another member by making them a Space Manager too. This allows them to post messages and do other things in the space.
Why should we pay attention to enabling organisational communication with announcements in Google Chat?
This directly affects anyone who uses Google Chats (the end-user). Also, enabling organizational communication with announcements in Google Chat is great for situations where a Space Manager wants to share information, but not necessarily start a conversation. As mentioned above, it acts like a bulletin board for information to be passed around quickly.
Ok, I’m convinced, let’s get started!
These features and announcements do not have admin control so the setup is more for the end users.
When creating a space:
- Go to the Advanced settings
- Select the “Only Space managers can post” option.
- Keep in mind that you can’t change the settings to restrict posting to Space
- Managers after creating the Google Space.
- If you’re not a Space Manager, you’ll see a message in the Chat text bar saying, “Posting is limited to Space Managers.”
One feature is moving
This is a good one to note, Google Chat is changing the location of the option to “Allow people outside of your organisation to join” to the Advanced section of the space creation settings.
When’s this Happening?
For those on rapid release, you can expect this new feature to appear around the 17th of April 2023 and for the standard scheduled release we are looking at the 5th of May 2023. On mobile, end users can expect this feature to roll out gradually for both rapid and standard releases starting on May 1, 2023. All of these releases can take up to 15 days.
All Google Workspace and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers will be able to access the new feature, but it won’t be available for users with personal Google Accounts.
So there you go! Hot lunches and important announcements for all! Enabling organisational communication with announcements in Google Chat might just be the best thing yet!
For more nifty Google Updates, click here