CAREER PURSUIT 2021

EXPERT ADVICE - SELF-EMPLOYMENT 49 BEHIND THE SCENES: WHAT PROGRAMS/SYSTEMS TO USE WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS OOGLE/ GOOGLE WORKSPACE Here is the lowdown on some of Google’s key systems: KEEP is a great place to store links, notes, brain dumps, and more! It’s great that you can have the app on your mobile but also view it on your PC web browser. Like all the Google systems, this makes it very user-friendly and really easy to use across various devices. FORMS is hugely underutilised – you can use them for surveys, onboarding forms, feedback forms, and more! The ability to share the editing with someone else opens up a world of possibilities to work with writers, coaches, and more when creating these forms. Fillable on PCs and other devices, this is a great tool for business owners. DRIVE is a fabulous file-sharing or access point to open up communication between businesses and clients. The addition of being able to download it to use on your desktop (previously known as Google Drive File Stream) means that you can use it just like My Documents for all file types – including design files like Adobe Illustrator Artwork files, video, and much more. CHAT is a fun system to use when you have a team of employees − or even for group chats with clients. The benefits of having a simple-to-use chat facility when working with a team is of paramount importance in this digital age. Having something that you can control as a business owner is even more important. Unlike using WhatsApp on a personal mobile device, if you create ‘users’ for each member of your team, you have complete control of their account. So, should you need to remove them, you can do that, whereas not all chat software has that option. This is especially important if you’re discussing or sharing client information. MICROSOFT 365 (EXCEL, OUTLOOK) You may have already seen discussions on social media over which is better: Google or Microsoft? I’m torn. In fact, so torn that I use both! They both have very similar systems in terms of video calling, file sharing (Microsoft OneDrive/ Google Drive) documents (Microsoft Word/Google Docs and Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets). I’d say there are some areas where Microsoft presently tops Google, specifically with their functionality in Excel – the complex formula options (and much more) really do outrank Google Sheets. Laura Dolphin, director of DolphinOutsourcingLtdand Especially UK Business CIC, givesher insight intothemost useful programs/systems to benefit you and your business. Below you’ll find out her recommendations for some really affordable (or free!) systems. G By Laura Dolphin