Have you ever had to collaborate on a project and needed feedback from your team? You prepared the needed documents sent them out and crickets. No feedback. No nothing. Wouldn't it be nice to know if the documents were even viewed and who has viewed it? Google Docs now allows you to do just that using the new Activity Dashboard feature.
This feature shows you who has opened the document from the people you have shared it with. You can also see a time stamp of when they last accessed the doc, giving you the information you need to follow back up with people as need.
HOW TO LOCATE THE ACTIVITY DASHBOARD
- Open up a document that you shared.
- Go to the top of the screen and click tools
- A drop-down menu will appear
- Click activity dashboard at the bottom of the menu
- You will see a running list of people who have viewed your file
The one limitation of this feature is that people have the ability to opt out of their view history being tracked. If this is the case you will not be able to see if someone viewed your file or not. Keep this in mind when using this powerful feature to manage your collaboration.
TIPS TO INCREASE COLLABORATION
To help increase your response rate when you share content in Google the following practices are helpful:
- Use Notifications: Use the notification feature when sharing a Google Doc. This will send an email to those you are sharing the file with. You can customize the message people receive.
- Be Specific: Be specific in your request. In the notification let people know exactly what action you want them to take on the file and by when. Ambiguity is the biggest culprit when it comes not receiving the desired feedback.
- Address Individuals: Follow up with individuals if needed and when feasible. Address follow up emails to specific people. This helps to personalize the message and drive the likelihood of action. The anonymity of mass emails often allows people to hide inaction.
