
So the big news for this week is Google’s re-branding of G Suite as Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals but I won’t be dwelling on that at all in this newsletter since we’re all about the small business owner here, not the educator!
Cybersecurity
A little while ago, Google put out a Security checklist for small businesses (1-100 users) specifically designed for the non-IT administrators amongst us. I highly recommend taking a look at the list, it’s short (13 items) and covers important things like administrator access and 2-step verification. (Not sure what that means? I wrote about it on my website). If you’ve got any questions about any of the security checklist items don’t hesitate to hit ‘reply’ and ask me – always happy to help, particularly when it comes to cybersecurity for small business owners!
Google’s announced the ability for some Google Workspace admins to set target audiences so that users can only share with pre-approved organisations thus improving security and reducing potential confidentiality issues. It’s not available for Business Starter users though (not sure what package you’re on? This article explains how to find out what Google Workspace plan you have).
Email signature blocks
Do you want all your employees or contractors to include certain text in their email signature block (for example, acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which you work or including special information about your business? You could ask them nicely, or you could just add it at the administrator level (You know which option I’m going for!). This article from TechRepublic goes through how to configure this – it’s really simple and straightforward. I swear, it will take you 5 minutes maximum to get it done and dusted.
On a related topic – maybe you don’t want to have text included, but you do want to use different signature blocks for different emails? For example, a formal signature block when first writing to someone, but then a more informal one when you’re replying to them (since they already ‘know’ your details). Watch this YouTube video from the official Google Workspace channel to see how to do this. You don’t need to have sound on by the way – the graphics will explain the process clearly enough.
Google Meet and Microsoft Teams
Even though it looks like we’re rounding the corner with COVIDl19 (yay!) virtual meetings aren’t likely to go away any time soon. Which means delays or connection issues are likely to continue to be an issue. This 90 sec YouTube video from the official Google Workspace channel shows you how to change your Google Meet resolution settings to help resolve that problem. Again, audio isn’t required – the closed captioning works well or you can just watch it with the sound turned off.
Do you use an alternative video provider perhaps? (My question would be why, but I get that sometimes clients or external contractors might require you to use a non-Google product!). If you’re required to use Microsoft Teams for example you can now schedule and join a Teams meeting directly from your Google Workspace calendar with the new Teams add-on. You’ll obviously need a Teams account to use this add-on.
And that’s it for this week. Subscribe below if you’d like to get these newsletters the day they’re released (that’s Tuesday, Australian time) rather than waiting an extra day!