Introduction
I was recently approached by two departments on our campus hoping to use technology in order to improve processes. One was trying to enhance intradepartmental communication between faculty and professional staff. The other department was seeking to offer better customer service by making some changes to their procedures for potential students. In both cases, Google Docs Spreadsheets were used, and though their implementation was different, the result was the same: improved efficiency and customer service by making use of technology that already exists and costs nothing to the University. The remainder of this post is going to explain the power that lies in using Google Docs Spreadsheets through the two departmental examples outlined above, potential dangers and guidelines for their general use, and how to get started using them yourself.
Example One: Long-Term Use
Problem:
The first example involves the professional staff of an academic department wanting to streamline two specific communication processes with a large number of faculty: obtaining office hours and accurate textbook information for each semester. Before the Google Docs solution, both of these processes were mainly accomplished solely by email or paper forms and were not centralized. The lack of organization resulted in undue stress upon professional staff as they tried to reign in and keep track of a large amount of information manually. Not efficient at all and a communications nightmare.
Solution:
Initially the plan to fix this problem was to create web forms that are filled out, store the submitted information in a secure database, and setup an admin site for professional staff to log in to and administer the system as necessary. This type of solution is great for the long-term, but it also requires time spent programming and coding to make it happen, not to mention on-going maintenance after implementation, and training of staff on how to use it. We quickly realized there was a problem with the solution.
Problem with the Solution:
Between concept, creation, testing, and launching, in addition to the timing of the request, the new process would not have been in use until the Spring 2012 semester. Our web forms solution would have been a more efficient process than the existing lack of organization, but it required a lot of time and work upfront to get off the ground.
Solution to the Solution:
Form functionality is where the power lies with Google Docs Spreadsheets. Basically, you can create a web form using a wide variety of options (text fields, paragraph responses, multiple choice, etc.) and once the form is created, it can be emailed, embedded into a web page or otherwise distributed to its users. The real beauty of this functionality comes in data management. Whenever someone submits information using your Google Docs form, that data is automatically stored in a Google Docs Spreadsheet. No need for a database. The data is also time stamped so you know when each response was submitted. As the document owner you can also go back and edit the entered data if necessary. This department needed that ability and having it eliminated the need for an admin website. Everything is in the spreadsheet.
Final Outcome:
We created web forms that faculty could complete each semester, centrally located so they will know where to find them and their professional staff is empowered to manage the gathered information in an organized fashion. Intradepartmental communication was streamlined from paper forms and countless emails back and forth to all information being submitted to one location online for each of the two processes. Efficiency was improved for the long-term with very little upfront expenditure of resources. This is reflected in the Google Doc forms being completed in a day as opposed to the custom web forms not being ready for an entire semester due to timing and complexity.
Example Two: Temporary Use
Problem:
The second example involves a student-facing department seeking to improve customer service by making an administrative process normally conducted over the phone or in person made available entirely online. The department wanted a long term solution using certain form functionality that is not available using Google Docs, so that meant manually creating custom web forms, databases, and programming. That also meant the extended timeline to completion that comes with the territory. All of that being communicated, the department still wanted something they could use temporarily while the long-term solution was being created.
Solution & Final Outcome:
This department decided to use Google Docs in a temporary fashion until their custom web forms were ready. A Google Docs web form was created using much of the same content that they intend to use on the long term pages. Even while the Google spreadsheet lacks certain desired functionality, it still offers a step up in customer service, which will be fully realized with the completion of the custom form pages.
Benefits of Temporary Use:
One of the main benefits is that users get to try out the Google Docs form as a “test drive”. In this case, the old process was completed either over the phone or in person. The end users were not used to going online to complete the process, but this temporary solution at least begins the transition for them and allows administration to begin creating the habit of sending end users to the online form.
Additionally, any refinements that need to be made on the form can be discovered and made on the permanent solution before it rolls out, making it even better before anyone uses it. In this sense, the Google Docs “test drive” is like a rough draft of the final product. This process of refinement is aided by Google’s built-in analysis tools that can be useful in further refining the structure of the form itself.
Finally, choosing to use a Google Docs Spreadsheet as a transitional solution allows progress to be made and steps taken towards increased efficiency even if the permanent resolution is several months out. Essentially it allows you to move forward (a least a little bit) while waiting to move forward to the end product. Sometimes a step in the right direction can make a huge difference for the end user and/or in increasing efficiency.
Potential Dangers & Guidelines:
Google Docs can provide a great solution, temporary or long-term, but keep in mind that your information is still being stored on Google’s servers. Information can be leaked and while Google Docs requires you to sign in to a Gmail account to access the forms (and their data), email accounts can be hacked.
Things like that do happen.
For this reason, specific information about students like CWID (Campus-Wide ID), Social Security number, and any other piece of personal information protected by FERPA should never be asked for, stored, or used in any way on one of these Google Docs forms. Use caution and if you have questions or concerns, call my office at 903-468-8792. If your forms or surveys do require security sensitive FERPA information, they will need to be created in house by the University and Google Docs should not be used.
Getting Started:
The first step would be to get a Gmail account (Google’s email client) if you do not already have one. You cannot access Google Docs without a Gmail account. Get a Gmail Account
Also, before you attempt to create your survey or form, be sure to think out exactly what information you are hoping to gather from the end user. Knowing exactly what information you are looking to gain will inform you on how to build your form. Is there a logical sequence to the questions? How do you want users to respond to any given question? There are many options: multiple choice, short answer, paragraph/essay response, etc. Think through these things before hand and you will save time when creating the actual form.
Sign in to your Gmail account and go to the Documents tab at the top of the page. From here, the following video created by John R. Sowash will explain the rest: Creating a Form or Survey using Google Docs
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