Summary
With the other Google Workspace products, Google Currents facilitates employee-to-employee communication by providing a central hub for sharing and discussing relevant ideas, topics, and news in the workplace.
Google Currents also have benefits and drawbacks, but this doesn’t make the software less of its worth. If you want to make your organization experience an innovative way of collaborating and communicating, give Google Currents a shot.
The goal of any organization’s administrators should be to facilitate broad connections among information, ideas, and personnel. That’s why you must find software to help establish a culture of creativity within the company by boosting communication and cooperation across departments and eliminating data silos.
So if you want to bring the same benefits to your company, you’re in the right place because I wrote this blog for you. I’ll explain the overview, alternatives, and features of Google Currents.
Google Currents: An In-Depth Understanding
Google Currents is a built-in feature of Google Workspace that facilitates internal communication and collaboration within businesses. This software is a pared-down version of Google’s former focused social network, Google+, which is now gone.
The fact that it looks and acts substantially the same as Google+ may be an advantage to its adoption within your company. And when it comes to internal organization communication, Google Currents has to compete with the likes of Slack.
Although Currents is already a part of Workspace, Google Currents’ capabilities, such as engagement analytics, may convince you to give Google Currents a try.
The Importance of Google Currents
Google Currents is significant to an organization since it serves as a virtual discussion board that can facilitate communication and collaboration among coworkers in the same organization.
Working together, Google Currents allows people to poll their thoughts on various projects and ideas. Simply put, Google Currents allows employees to contribute to and monitor company-wide discussions.
Google Currents Alternatives
Google wasn’t the pioneer in company-focused social networking sites. Many other options can replace it. Simply put, Google isn’t the frontrunner in this field, and the search giant didn’t develop the idea of the company’s internal communication. Below are some of the Google Currents alternatives.
Facebook Workplace
It should be no surprise that Facebook Workplace is the primary and most evident alternative to Google Currents. While similar to Google Currents in functionality, Facebook Workplace also offers some additional capabilities.
You can use resources from places like their Knowledge Library or their connectivity with other platforms to determine your future return on investment. Workplace By Facebook appeals to me owing to its simple and user-friendly functionality.
Although Google Currents appears to be more complicated, no area of this service would prove too challenging for a beginner. Not to mention, they provide helpful chat support. Then, lastly, comes the cost.
For a limited time during the test period, you can enjoy the services of Facebook Workplace at no cost. Yet, the base price per person is only $4, and you may upgrade to unlimited use of the facility for a small fee.
Yammer
Microsoft produces the next alternative for Google Currents, and it is named Yammer. Yammer differs from the competition although it shares many characteristics with other applications.
Generally, Yammer is the most remarkable software because it is used by more than 85% of the Fortune 500 for business-related communication. Because of this, Yammer may be a good option and more useful than social media giants like Facebook and Google.
Like Google Currents can be accessed from within the Google Workspace, you can access Yammer from within Microsoft’s 360 platforms. As mentioned above, many well-known businesses use Microsoft Yammer.
For this reason, it is not shocking that it is effective, though quite pricey. To know information about their prices is available on their website.
Zoho Workplace
With Zoho Workplace, employees can access and work on their office suite from any device, allowing them to create and edit spreadsheets, presentations, and documents regardless of location. It is as easy as getting your documents examined quickly by your colleagues by sharing them with them.
Salesforce Chatter
Salesforce Chatter is a real-time social, collaborative platform that facilitates employees’ communication, knowledge sharing, and teamwork. Safely connecting with coworkers, exchanging files, and keeping everyone apprised of progress are all made possible with Chatter.
eXo Platform
Next is the eXo Platform. This software may also be a choice for Google Currents. The eXo Platform is an electronic platform for the office that facilitates communication, collaboration, decision-making, and recognition among employees.
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You can use it either locally or in the cloud. This platform software is a comprehensive program that improves efficiency and morale in the workplace by integrating social and collaboration tools.
The fact that they always have cutting-edge features and services available is what makes them so likeable. They have features such as:
- Anti-fraud system
- Security solution
- Personalized interface solution
- Adding your domain or connecting your company directly on their platform
The Functions of Google Currents
Set Up Profile
Amazingly, Google Currents has a feature that makes me feel that all employees should share something about themselves. Setting up and maintaining a profile on Google Currents includes details about an individual that helps others get to know them, such as their name, work title, interests, and posts.
Typically, employees are likely to have a profile made for them by an administrator. But, if the employee hasn’t done so, they can make their own. And if employees are having trouble getting into Google Currents, employees may always ask for assistance from the administrator.
It’s important to remember that if Google Currents isn’t accessible to employees, it’s likely because the administrator hasn’t authorized it within the organization.
Post And Share Contents
The backbone of Google Currents is the posts. Generally, the purpose of this function is to assist in how you and your coworkers exchange knowledge and work together.
Generating a post (which can include adding a link, poll, photo, or Google Drive file) is followed by selecting an audience. You may check your post’s total number of views, likes, shares, and comments.
It’s possible to repost something that someone else has made. And rather than adding a coworker as a “friend,” you can now simply “follow” them to keep up with their updates.
Create and Trade Insights With Communities
Next, Communities, supported by Google Currents, are hand-picked subsets of users who publish related content. A Google Currents Community can be created for any purpose, whether for use within a specific group, for a specific project, or to discuss a common interest.
In short, a community may have more than one moderator, and anyone permitted to join may make posts. Inviting people outside your company to join a private community is also an option. These communities can be geared toward achieving a specific business objective or might be based on a more personal passion, and they can help employees become closer and more knowledgeable.
Follow and Interact Through Streams
The Stream feature is one of the key functions of Google Currents. By using streams, you may quickly skim, investigate, and interact with information important to your team, department, or the entire organization.
In the Streams section, Admins can establish streams to gather all the management team’s updates, highlight posts about planned campaigns, or obtain information regarding annual performance evaluations. Using the Streams homepage’s navigation pane, you can access your streams and easily navigate between them.
Explore Tags
Tags play a significant role in Streams as well. Generally, tags facilitate easy searching and browsing for relevant posts by colleagues. Tagging and creating posts is a feature that administrators and regular users can use.
Users can make their posts more discoverable by labelling them with relevant tags, and the search bar supports queries based on these labels and other factors.
Benefits of Google Currents
Google Currents can do much more than act as a company’s internal social network. Some benefits are:
Connect With Colleagues
A company can’t function properly without some form of internal communication and working tool. In the present time and this age of remote work, email is too burdensome for daily use, and in-person solutions are outdated.
Generally, the ability to make posts and comments fosters collaboration and communication among workers. As a result, a service like Google Currents is vital for any corporation with a significant workforce.
Control and Quick Access to Information
An undeniable plus point of Google Currents is the ease with which employees can manage and gain access to their updates and other relevant information.
Due to the rapid pace of discourse in Slack, it’s easy for important details to be missed. But the design of Google Currents seems to promote the dissemination of more important announcements, with responses integrated into the comments section.
Drawbacks of Google Currents
Google Currents not only experiences its advantages to an organization. They also have drawbacks for employees. Below are some of the drawbacks of Google Currents:
Additional Software for Learning
It’s clear that Google Currents is the best choice for the Workspace ecosystem, but some may see it as additional software that employees will need to learn and familiarize themselves with. This isn’t great for the efficiency of an organization.
But when you look on the bright side, using Google Currents isn’t that complicated if your employees are familiar with Gmail and Google Drive. Knowing Gdrive and Gmail, your employees should be able to pick up Google Currents in no more than half an hour.
No Desktop or Laptop Application
While there are mobile apps for iOS and Android, there isn’t a desktop or laptop application for Google Currents. It can be a drawback because it is accessed similarly to the other Workspace apps—via a web browser.
Some employees may find this just fine, while others may find it very complicated, especially if they frequently have many open tabs and don’t know how to organize them.
Share And Collaborate Through Google Currents
Using Google Currents, it’s simple for executives and employees to communicate with one another throughout the company, share their ideas, and seek opinions and insight from others without overwhelming inboxes. Leaders may get a feel for the company’s pulse and learn what employees value most by using Google Currents to have a two-way conversation with their team.
It’s safe to say that Google Currents would be an asset to any business. So, don’t hesitate to implement Google Currents, as it is yet another wonderful resource at your convenience.
In the future, I hope Google will add more functionality. And you guys, what functionality or feature do you want Google to add? Comment down below your thoughts or feature suggestions for Google Currents.
What do you think of my post? Did you like it? If yes, and you’re interested in learning more about Google, you can do so by reading my other blogs below.
