Google Chat: Collaboration is Now Limitless

The Google Hangouts' chat feature was a key aspect of GMail in the early 2000s, making it unique among new chatting platforms using the internet. Unfortunately, however, Hangouts did not appeal to booming internet users.

Later, the search engine behemoth gradually dismantled it and replaced it with Hangouts, a separate program. But, was it the right time to do so?

The internet era was bursting at the seams with communication apps such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Wechat, LINE, you name it, and it's accessible the following day!

Now, almost 2 decades later, Google has culled the Hangouts app. They have taken down the application from both the Play Store & App Store.

Now that the Hangouts app is going into the history books, many people wonder why Google, despite being a tech-giant, has failed to bring products both in the hardware market (Pixel phones) and software market that appeals to consumers. Another instance is Google Stadia. It was launched in 2019 and was touted to give a stiff challenge to the established players such as Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation platforms, but the company has lost focus in continuing it.

Effective team communication is, without a doubt, the most difficult problem that businesses face. If there is too much communication, nothing gets done, and if there is too little communication, the incorrect job/service is provided. To be honest, we're all guilty of poor, unreliable communication. 

Google Chat for Gmail, which was just announced, is Google's contribution to the collaboration sphere in this era of working remotely. Google Chat is a full revamp of the former Google Hangouts, considerably superior to its own predecessor.

Here's a brief guide with some of the finest hacks we've discovered to help your team be more productive:

1. The User's Interface (in Gmail)
2. Communication: Chat for 1:1 conversations
3. Collaboration: Spaces for Teams
4. Mobile App for Managing Tasks 
5. Gmail Add-ons & Bots for Universal Search
6. Weaknesses & Winning Features

1. THE USER’S INTERFACE

The interface, like that of other Google products, is contemporary, clean, and straightforward, with few complications (bells and whistles). However, unlike in the past, Chat's default location is within Gmail, but you can alternatively download and install the standalone Google Chat app if you like.

Individual and group talks are the emphasis of Google Chat. You can build rooms devoted to specific projects, subjects: for students, or themes. In group conversations within rooms, threads are used to communicate.

When you share a Google Doc in Chat, Chat's sharing settings are updated to ensure that everyone on your team (who are present in the space) can read/or comment/or modify it.

2. CHAT FOR 1:1 CONVERSATIONS

Individuals in the team can have one-on-one private conversations in the Chat area. You have the option of chatting with people within your team or from outside your organization(provided they have a Gmail account). It also has read receipts and intelligent responses, a plethora of emojis to express oneself, which is a welcome new feature.

3. COLLABORATION: SPACES FOR TEAMS

Rooms are an excellent hub to keep track of processes and ensure that everyone is on the same page. Rooms are similar to Whatsapp groups in which you’re allowed to have group conversations around comparable themes. Threaded chats, shared files, and tasks are all available here to keep everyone on the same page. External users are also welcome, and each space may hold up to 8,000 people.

@mentions are the most effective and neglected aspect of rooms. In Google Chat, @mentions are a feasible approach to notify individuals of anything that requires their attention.

And, courtesy to our Chrome Web Store, you can add numerous Google chat extensions such as thread links, quoted texts, and more.

4. MOBILE APP FOR MANAGING TASKS

All of the Chat capabilities are available when you download the Gmail app. The software is compatible with both Android and iOS devices.

5. GMAIL ADD-ONS & BOTS FOR UNIVERSAL SEARCH

Gmail and Google Chat both include a massive variety of Add-ons and Bots to assist in boosting teamwork.

You can use Bots to engage with some of your favorite applications directly from within Chat (in Gmail). You can add bots to a room or directly talk with them. At present, there are just a few bots, but some of them can add Giphys, assign tasks, access files, facilitate meetings, and receive external notifications inside rooms.

You can completely personalize your team's Gmail experience by utilizing Gmail Add-ons and Chrome Extensions to manage team email and customer service (using applications like Sortd), and send mail merges (using apps like Mergo).

6. WEAKNESS & WINNING FEATURES

Winnings:

• One of our favorite aspects of Google Chat is that it facilitates not only intra-company but also cross-company engagements. Gmail has 1.8 billion users, thus if you or your team collaborate with external partners, Google Chat comes equipped. This is a true game-changer, and products like Slack can't compete with it.
• The nicest thing is that the external party does not need to download additional software (Slack, Messenger, Telegram, Zoom, or Whatsapp) just to have a brief discussion.

Weakness:

• Google Tasks and Google Chat task features are extremely basic, and your team will most likely want to use a more robust Gmail-based solution to manage teamwork, such as one that supports project management, allows you to chat on a specific task, add notes, assign emails to team members, and runs shared inboxes (like projects@, sales@, and support@ mailboxes). Sortd, Trello, Monday, and Asana all provide task-oriented conversation capabilities. This inhibits task-oriented cooperation, thus one of these technologies should be used in addition to Gmail.
• Rooms lack a read receipts feature, which we hope will be included in future updates

FINAL VERDICT

In today's remote working globe, it's difficult not to consider Google Chat, especially because it's designed to address many of the issues that most teams face on a daily basis.

One invisible technology that simplifies collaboration, communication, and client fulfillment without getting in the way is the holy grail of team productivity. Google Workspace and Google Chat have succeeded in this direction, and are designed for teams who are serious about teamwork and communication.

To take things a step further, there are plenty of reasons to consider switching from even a sophisticated solution like Slack (yeah, that summed it up!).