Community of the Week: Google Workspace
The Google Cloud Community* launched a few months ago (Congrats!), and an important part of that is that Google Workspace Community. As a user of the Google Workspace product, I was very intrigued by what this space could offer me. As a community strategist, I’m always intrigued by what makes a digital gathering space unique. Let’s check it out:
What I love:
My Stats. The Workspace community’s home page has a section called My Stats. It’s a component that tells me how many posts, solutions, likes given, likes received, and latest notifications I have. It’s also strategically placed near the top of the page. The benefit of having this here is that it’s a constant reminder to me, every time I’m on this page of what I’ve contributed or earned. (I’m not going to post a screenshot since my numbers are so low, but seeing them so low is actually making me feel like I want to contribute more.) Also, it’s helpful that I don’t have to click on my profile to see this info, though it’s there as well, and that it’s presented to me right away. Smart use of and placement of this component!
The navigation. I commend the way-finding here as it’s very clear and concise in understanding the different sections of the community AND in finding what I need. Also, since Workspace is part of the larger Google Cloud Community, I appreciate the option to switch into another one of those sub-communities if I needed to.
Use of visual recognition/indicators. Many communities utilize some sort of image next to an avatar in order to distinguish a person’s role or rank. Employees of Google get a “G” icon added adjacent to their profile image. I love that it’s not only on-brand, and an excellent use of such icons for recognition, but they also educate their users on this.
My wish list:
Link to the Community more prominently from the Workspace product home page. Each of Google’s products has a home page. For the Workspace one, there’s no mention of the community until you get into the footer (😞), and even there it’s confusing. In the footer, there are two links that peak my interest:
“Forums for Admins.” You would assume this would take me into the forums of the Workspace community, but it does not. Instead, it takes me into another Support area where I can post questions. It even says “Welcome to the Google Workspace Community.” Upon further review though, this is not the same community. Confusing? Absolutely.
“Join the community of IT Admins.” This link DOES take me into the new Workspace community! Bravo! I would recommend renaming this link though as I would imagine that the Workspace community is more broad than just IT Admins. Like me, for example.
*Full disclosure: I have previously worked with the Google Cloud community team.
What do YOU think of the Google Workspace or Cloud communities?
Check out Community Folks!
If you’re a community professional in India, then you’ll most definitely want to join Community Folks. This Friday, 10/22, they’re starting a new live event series called Chronicles of Community Builders, and guess who the first guest is… 😊
