Gmail, the nerve centre of business productivity

Google is making Gmail the heart of professional work tools. In fact, little by little, the standard inbox is getting additional features. As a result, it becomes a real toolkit for businesses, making Gmail and G suite a benchmark for smart management. Working for many years to provide companies with the tools to perform through digital technology, Google is adding communication and project management tools to other business-specific features, such as Google My Business. It creates an ecosystem of flexible tools that are suitable for a large number of companies. Having at heart to always respond to the expectations of its users, it is in reality a real work on sociology at work that the firm delivers to us in its evolutions of Gmail.

Well-being at work, a question of profitability for companies

The subject comes up regularly in the media, the barometers of trade unions or insurance companies. Well-being at work makes a lot of ink and unleashes passions. In reality, however, it does not pit companies and their employees against each other. Indeed, it seems clear that the quality of life at work has a direct impact on the performance of companies. It is then necessary to take all the measure to adapt the process and rules of life in business, in the service of a better generalized.

In this context, the 7th edition of the observatory “Enterprise and Health” published by Harmonie Mutuelle highlights telling figures. For example, while more than half of employees rate their well-being at work as satisfactory, 52% still note that it has deteriorated in recent years. 36% of employees say they do not feel good about their work. (1)

However, such a finding does not allow us to determine what factors influence this assessment. In addition, Malakoff Médéric Humanis was interested in the expectations of the teams. The applications that are found in many studies in this area are evident. Thus, more flexible hours for a better work/life balance; Telework implementation: improved working tools; or sports activities to maintain one’s health and combat stress, are among the recurring demands, increasing year after year. (2)

Requests perceived as becoming more and more legitimate, including by the hierarchy; dissatisfaction at work has been shown to affect performance and productivity, as well as brand image. (3) It is therefore on these expressed needs that Google is based for the evolutions of Gmail in particular.

Complete Google ecosystem built into Gmail for optimizing working time in business
Gmail now tends to group Gsuite applications into one interface to optimize working time and reduce team mental burden.

Gmail and G suite, simplification in the service of individual needs

Among the changes demanded by employees, the improvement of work tools and processes occupies a prominent place. And for good reason, 42% of employees say they have difficulty dealing effectively with customer problems (4). At issue are uns synchronized systems and databases, aging software and non-communicating tools. The evolutions of Gmail take this problem seriously. They integrate almost all of the G suite’s features directly into the messaging.

In addition, Gmail changes were drastically accelerated during the Covid period. The aim is to quickly adapt the tools to telecommuting to offer efficient solutions to employees. For example, Google made its Meet video conferencing tool free in May 2020. In addition, this tool is now integrated with Gmail for quick and convenient access from mobile (5).

More broadly, the new version of Gmail addresses the question of the mental burden felt by a majority of employees. With digital, the pace of work has intensified. Tools exist to simplify management and save valuable time. However, many professionals feel overwhelmed by the information, tasks and interfaces to use. At the heart of the problem, therefore, is the lack of integration of tools between them. More appropriate technologies allow for smoother management and optimal concentration. The new Gmail therefore undertakes to group all the tools on the same screen, so as not to have to leave its mailbox.

It also reduces untimely solicitations by offering a “Do Not Disturb” and “Absent from the Office” mode. Gmail therefore also answers questions about the right to disconnect. Remember that 53% of employees admit to checking their emails or answering a call outside of working hours. (1)

Integrating Google Meet to Gmail to save business time and performance
Since June 2020, Google has made its Meet app free for all professionals to facilitate Covid-imposed telecommuting.

Integrating tools into Gmail, a quest for performance

Beyond the features of the G suite, Gmail’s evolutions have been incorporating third-party tools for several years now. The approach is simple: make it easier to communicate with companies’ favourite applications. It includes extensions to connect the mailbox to interfaces such as DocuSign, Salesforce, Copper and Trello. In practical terms, a whole overhaul of Gmail’s interface is underway. In addition to the reorganization of the topics to facilitate the use of the mailbox, it integrates directly within it, the diary, the drive, the chat, the video, the management of tasks … (6)

New features are also out. Thus, you can now unload your inbox by putting emails on hold until a later date. In a world where e-mail boxes are being stormed, such features provide better visibility of emails to be processed immediately and those who can wait. The same applies to the automatic mail return feature if the caller has not responded within a given time frame, or sending programming. Gmail therefore provides for particularly comprehensive automation features for time saving and mental energy savings.

Google’s messaging developments even sharper features. It will allow documents to be edited, collaboratively, directly in Gmail. This same tool also integrates the Google chat, to exchange with other team members at the same time as we work on the document.

New gmail applications for video conferencing, chat and internal communication in business
Google is developing new applications built directly into Gmail for centralized management.

Centralization via Gmail, increased CRM

In light of this information, it is very clear that the evolutions of Gmail are absolutely planned for professionals. Google is developing an integrated, secure, synchronized environment.

This centralization pushes companies to do without other project management tools and collaborative tools, such as Slack or Trello. With tools like Tasks, Room or Chat, third-party applications become obsolete. They are also completely complementary to CRM. If these are not yet replaceable by the G suite and Gmail tools, this remains a very likely evolution.

Especially since the integration within Gmail of a Google CRM seems the logical next step for the quest for performance. Indeed, at a time when 81% of users access CRM from many devices (laptop, fixed, mobile and tablet), it is urgent that all are properly designed for the different media and integrate better with the rest of the tools used. It should also be noted that salespeople who use their CRM on smartphones benefit from a 15% increase in productivity. (7)

In addition, the CRM market seems to be a pleasant opportunity for Google. And for good reason, CRM software represents the most important revenue in the enterprise software market. That’s $48.2 billion in revenue in 2018. A successful position therefore for a firm that has no trouble reconciling internal and external growth, as evidenced by the replacement of Google Music by Youtube, bought by Google almost 15 years ago.

Sources:

(1) Mutual Harmony, Reconciliation of Life Times, The Future of Work,” October 1, 2019

(2) Malakoff médéric Humanis, “Results of the 11th edition of its Health and Quality of Life at Work Barometer,” November 28, 2019

(3) Havard Business Review, 96% of U.S. professionals say they need flexibility, but only 47% have flexibility,” June 5, 2018

(4) Nomalys, “28 surprising statistics on CRM: adoption, functionality, benefits and mobility”, 7 April 2020

(5) Google, “Stay connected more easily with Meet in Gmail on mobile”, June 16, 2020

(6) Google Cloud, “Introducing Your New Home for Work in G Suite”, July 15, 2020

(7) Corporama” 45 profits to convince you to use a CRM”, March 30, 2018

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