Tech & AIBeginnerPreview
Google Workspace Mastery
A hands-on course that turns everyday Google Workspace users into confident power users. You will master real collaboration features in Docs and Slides, run sharing and permissions without leaking files, host clean Meet calls, organize Drive and Shared drives, tame Calendar, and stitch the apps together with cross-app workflows. Every lesson ends with a concrete action and a worked example you can copy into your own account today.
For knowledge workers, team leads, freelancers, educators, and small-business owners who use Google Workspace daily but suspect they are using a fraction of what it can do.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns the course into changes you make inside your real Google Workspace account, not a sandbox. Work one section per module: drill the Docs and Slides collaboration features, audit and fix your Drive sharing so nothing leaks, set up Meet and a project Chat space, then take control of Calendar and wire the apps into one workflow. Do every exercise on live files and fill the worksheets as you go. By the end you will have a clean sharing setup, a project Space, a booking page, protected focus time, and a connected daily system, plus three reusable templates you can keep.
Real Collaboration in Docs and Slides
Practice the collaboration features most people miss: editing modes, comments with assignments, named versions, and smart chips, all on a real document.
Exercise: Run a Suggesting-Mode Review
Take a real Doc you own and invite one colleague (or use a second account) to review it. The goal is to feel the difference between editing over someone and suggesting to them, and to practice processing suggestions cleanly.
- Set yourself to Editing mode and confirm your reviewer is in Suggesting mode using the pencil dropdown
- Have the reviewer rewrite one paragraph so it appears as colored tracked suggestions with their name
- Accept two suggestions and reject one using the checkmark and X in the suggestion cards
- Open version history with Ctrl+Alt+Shift+H and confirm you can see and could restore the pre-review state
Exercise: Turn Comments Into Assigned Action Items
Using the same Doc, practice the comment-to-task flow so a review naturally produces a punch list of who owns what. Write every comment as a clear request with a name and a date.
- Highlight a sentence, press Ctrl+Alt+M, and leave a comment that @-mentions a specific person
- Tick Assign to inside the comment so it becomes a tracked action item with their name in the margin
- Reply to one of your own comments, add an emoji reaction, then resolve it with the checkmark
- Reopen the resolved comment from the Comment history button to prove nothing was lost
Worksheet: Smart Chips and Named Versions Inventory
Plan how you will use live chips and version names in one important document so it becomes a living surface instead of a static file. Fill each field for a real Doc.
- Document name and its purpose
- People chips to insert (names or emails of key collaborators)
- File chips to insert (linked Docs, Sheets, or PDFs this document references)
- Building block to add (meeting notes, email draft, or review tracker) and why
- Named version 1 label and the milestone it marks
- Named version 2 label and the milestone it marks
Checklist: Collaboration-Ready Document Checklist
- Default to Suggesting mode whenever you open a file you do not own
- Every comment names a person and states a clear request or question
- Action items are assigned, not just mentioned, so ownership is explicit
- Milestone versions are named (Draft 1, Sent to client, Final) for easy recovery
- Key people, files, and dates are inserted as live smart chips, not plain text
- A meeting-notes building block links recurring docs to their calendar event
Drive, Sharing, and Permissions Without Leaks
Audit and fix how your files are shared, decide what belongs in Shared drives, and build a find-anything search habit.
Exercise: Sharing Leak Audit
Find and fix files that are shared more widely than you intended. Use Drive search to surface them, then tighten each one. This is the single highest-value exercise in the course.
- In Drive search, open the filter and check Shared, then scan for files set to Anyone with the link
- For each file that should not be public, change General access to Restricted and confirm the named people are correct
- Open the Share gear and uncheck Editors can change permissions and share on any sensitive file
- List three files you found over-shared and what you changed each one to
Worksheet: My Drive vs Shared Drive Decision Sheet
Decide where your important files should actually live so nothing is orphaned when someone leaves. Fill one row per file or folder you are unsure about.
- File or folder name
- Who relies on it (just me, my team, the company)
- Current owner (a person or a Shared drive)
- Correct home (My Drive or which Shared drive)
- Action needed (leave, move to Shared drive, transfer ownership)
- Members and their roles if moving to a Shared drive
Exercise: Search Operator Speed Drill
Build muscle memory for Drive search operators so you stop browsing folders. Run each query below in your real Drive and note how fast it returns the file versus clicking through folders.
- Find every spreadsheet you own with type:spreadsheet owner:me
- Find files shared with a specific colleague using to:their-email@company.com
- Find a file by an exact phrase you remember from its title using quotes, for example "Q3 budget"
- Star the handful of files you are touching this week and confirm they appear in the Starred view
Checklist: Safe Sharing Checklist
- Read the bottom line of the Share dialog before sending; confirm Restricted versus Anyone with the link is intentional
- Grant the lowest role that still lets the person do their job (Viewer, Commenter, or Editor)
- Disable Editors can change permissions and share on sensitive files
- Move durable team and project files into a Shared drive so they leave any one account
- Set guest access to expire for contractors and time-limited reviews where the plan allows
- Periodically review the Share list of important files and remove anyone who no longer needs access
Meet and Chat for Better Communication
Set up Meet so calls start clean and stay on track, and stand up a Chat space that absorbs your routine status updates.
Exercise: Host a Clean Meet Call
Schedule and host a short Meet call (even a test one with a second account) and deliberately use the host features so they become automatic. Focus on starting clean and ending fully.
- Create a Calendar event and add Google Meet video conferencing so a join link is generated
- Join through the green room and confirm camera, mic, and a blurred or replaced background
- Open Host controls and practice mute-all, restricting screen sharing, and assigning a co-host
- Present a single browser tab with Present now then A tab, then leave using End for all
Worksheet: Meeting Recording and Accessibility Plan
Decide in advance how a given recurring meeting will be captured and made accessible so you are not improvising live. Fill the fields for one real recurring meeting.
- Meeting name and cadence
- Will it be recorded (yes or no) and who hosts and therefore owns the recording
- Where the recording should be shared afterward (which Shared drive or people)
- Will live captions be on by default and in which language
- Will you use breakout rooms, and if so how many groups and how long
- Where decisions and action items will be captured (linked meeting-notes Doc)
Exercise: Stand Up a Project Space
Create a Google Chat Space for one real project and load it with enough context that it can replace a weekly status meeting. Treat it as the project's home, not a chat.
- Create a named Space, add the project members, and pin the project brief and current priorities
- Share one project file into the Space and confirm it appears in the Files tab
- Create a task in the Tasks tab, assign it with an @-mention, and give it a due date
- Post one async status update and decide which standing meeting this Space could replace
Calendar Mastery and Cross-App Workflows
Put Calendar in charge of your week with booking pages, focus time, and shared calendars, then connect every app into one daily flow.
Exercise: Build a Booking Page and Protect Your Week
Set up an appointment schedule so people can book you without email, then defend your time with working hours and focus time. Use real availability you would actually honor.
- Create an Appointment schedule with a slot length, your real available hours, and a buffer between bookings
- Set booking limits: max per day, minimum notice, and how far ahead people can book, then copy the link
- In settings, set your Working hours so out-of-hours scheduling triggers a warning
- Add a recurring Focus time block that auto-declines conflicting invitations
Worksheet: Calendar Sharing Visibility Plan
Decide who should see what on your calendar so you balance coordination against privacy. Fill one row per person or group you share with.
- Person or group
- What they need (to schedule around me, to see details, to edit, to manage)
- Visibility level (free or busy, all details, make changes, manage sharing)
- Reason for that level
- Calendar color or category they belong to (work, personal, team, project)
Exercise: Run the Connected Daily Workflow
Practice the email-to-event-to-doc-to-Meet-to-tasks flow end to end so nothing is ever retyped between apps. Use a real or test request to drive it.
- From a Gmail message, use the side panel to create a Calendar event and add a Meet link
- Use Find a time to pick a slot, then attach the relevant Drive file and write a short agenda
- Insert a meeting-notes building block in a Doc so attendees and time appear as smart chips
- Assign two follow-up action items with @-mentions and confirm they land in Tasks linked to the event
Checklist: Cross-App System Checklist
- The side panel (Calendar, Keep, Tasks, Contacts) is part of how you work in Gmail, Docs, and Drive
- Emails that imply a meeting become Calendar events without retyping the details
- Gmail attachments worth keeping are saved straight to Drive, not left in the inbox
- Every meeting has a Meet link, an attached doc, and an agenda before it starts
- Action items from calls are assigned via @-mentions so they flow into Tasks
- Recordings, notes, and tasks are all linked to one calendar event so the thread is recoverable later
Your Action Plan
- Audit your Drive for files set to Anyone with the link and tighten every one that should be Restricted
- Move durable team and project files into Shared drives so nothing is orphaned when someone leaves
- Adopt Suggesting mode as your default when editing files you do not own, and assign every action-item comment
- Name milestone versions of your most important documents so you can recover any state instantly
- Create an appointment schedule and put the booking link in your email signature to kill scheduling emails
- Set your working hours and add recurring focus-time blocks that auto-decline conflicts
- Stand up a Chat space for your main project and migrate routine status updates into it
- Standardize your meetings: add a Meet link, attach the doc, and write an agenda before every invite
- Practice the email-to-event-to-doc-to-tasks workflow until it is automatic and nothing gets retyped
- Review calendar and file sharing monthly, removing access no longer needed and confirming visibility levels
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