What Is Smart Canvas?
Smart canvas is a new product experience that delivers improvements to Google Workspace. Over the next few months, Smart Canvas will deliver new features that address problems associated with time management and productivity.
Google’s Smart Canvas is an effort to address the challenges posed by a hybrid work environment.
1. Manage Tasks Better With a Dynamic Timeline in Google Sheets – To be rolled out
Soon, Google Sheets users will be able to toggle between new views to better manage and interact with their data. The first launch will be a timeline view that makes it easier for you to streamline task management.By allowing you to organise your data by owner, category, campaign, or any other pertinent attribute, the timeline’s flexibility allows you to manage things like marketing campaigns, project milestones, schedules, and cross-team collaborations.
2. Speed Up Data Analysis With Formula Corrections in Google Sheets – Already accessible
Google is adding more assisted analysis capabilities to Sheets, so even non-analysts can derive insights from their data in the future. Sheets intelligence helps you build and troubleshoot formulas in your spreadsheets. This helps you find errors more quickly and prevents them from occurring.
3. Drive Projects Forward With Smart Chips in Google Docs – Already accessible
A smart chip integrated into a document shows you additional information when you @ mention a person, including the person’s location, job title, and contact information.Google has already introduced new smart chips for recommended meetings and files. To insert them, you can type @. You can also preview Google Maps in Docs directly, thanks to smart chips. This feature will soon be introduced to Sheets.
4. Collaborate Better With Checklists in Google Docs
Already available, Google has made it easier for you to collaborate on projects by streamlining common workflows. You can access both checklists and task assignments in Google Docs on the web and on mobile devices. Soon, you’ll be able to assign tasks to other people.
These action items will appear in Google Tasks, making it easier for everyone on a team to manage a project’s To-Do list.
5. Track Projects Faster With Table Templates in Google Docs
Google is also introducing topic-voting tables in Docs that will let you easily gather team feedback. You’ll be able to capture milestones and track projects with table templates.
Moreover, a new document template for capturing meeting notes will import relevant information from a Calendar meeting invite.
6. Work Smarter With Assisted Writing Features in Google Docs – Already accessible
To help everyone produce more effective documents, Google has introduced new editing features in Google Docs. These include warnings about offensive words and language, and stylistic suggestions that can speed up editing while improving a document’s impact.
7. Prioritise Where to Focus With Built-In Summaries in Google Docs – To be rolled out
Google is launching a new feature in Docs that automatically generates summaries in documents. Summaries are brief outlines of key points, so you can quickly ascertain the gist of an article or document and prioritise where to put your time.
8. Enjoy Pageless Viewing in Docs and Sheets – Already accessible
Google is all set to introduce pageless viewing in Docs in the next coming month. That update allows you to remove the boundaries of a page to create a surface that expands to whatever device or screen you’re using, making it easier to work with wide tables, large images, or detailed feedback in comments. You can easily switch back to a paginated view if you want to print or convert the doc to PDF.
9. Access Google Meet From Docs, Sheets, or Slides—or Present Directly – To be rolled out
Google Meet has been integrated into Docs, Sheets, and Slides on the web, allowing people to collaborate and see each other in real-time. Moreover, you can present your work to a Google Meet from the Slide, Docs, or Sheet you’re working on without jumping between screens.
10. Connect Better in Google Meet With Live Captions and Translations – Already accessible
Live captions and translations in Google Meet will play a key role in facilitating collaboration among distributed teams. Google currently supports live captions for five languages, with more to come.
Google Meet also supports live translations of captions now into Spanish, Portuguese, French, or German, with many more languages to follow.
Google Workspace Is Changing for the Better
By integrating such useful features with other Google apps, Workspace is attempting to build a unified communications platform that helps employees be more productive. These new features demonstrate Google’s commitment to innovation and the evolution of Workspace.
For all the teams using Google Workspace, Smart canvas features can be a powerful tool that is easy to integrate in the existing workflows and boosts productivity. And if you’re not already using Workspace, now may be the time to start.
