How to Organize Digital Files to Optimize Teamwork on Google Drive

Digital clutter… Honestly, not that different from physical clutter.

Here are my steps to simplify your Google Drive and start improving teamwork.

1. Drag and drop to trash!

   Just like our real closet, we must go through and ask ourselves all the questions like:

   “Is this shirt really in style?” > “Does this document match my branding style?”

   “Should I keep these pants that no longer fit?” > “I used this from day 1, but now it’s a little cumbersome to use as my business has grown.”

   “I love the color, but I never wear this!” > “I like this document, but our business is going a different direction now.”

   The first thing you can do to simplify your Google Drive is to delete all the extra documents taking up space and cluttering your folders. Go through your Google Drive with these questions in mind:

   • Do I have any unnamed or non-descriptive title documents? More often that not, these documents will not life-changing notes. Sometimes, they might even be blank!

   • Do I have any freebies or templates from other companies? A common habit of new business owners is to collect as many free documents and helpful resources as they can. When you are staring with zero, it is great to review example invoices, HR documents, or other potential documents. After you have created your own templates, you can delete these references. They have served their purpose and are no longer needed.

   • Any duplicates? Easy to delete, you don’t need the same document in multiple folders.

   • Do I have documents with different names but similar functions? For example, you may have monthly metrics you want to review. On a previous project, I consolidated 8 monthly sheets into 1 sheet with different tabs for each metric. Not only did this reduce clutter, but was easier for the owner to review all monthly information at one time. Another example, I had a client that created a new document each time they had an idea for social media. This created multiple documents titled “Social Media Idea” each with about one sentence. These documents were deleted and all notes were transferred into on document. Take a quick scan and make sure your documents are working FOR you, not AGAINST you.

   • Do I have any documents that are 5+ years old that haven’t been opened within the last year? This may mean you’ve outgrown that resource and can delete.

   Once you have removed any outdated, underused, or unhelpful documents, it’s time to move into how to organize what’s left.
   

2. Create an “Archive” folder.

   For items you cannot delete but don’t need to see every day, I recommend to place them all into an archive folder.

   • Leftover notes? These notes could be from comparing programs for your business. Once you have selected your program you don’t need these notes front and center, but you may keep should you need for future reference.

   • Finished an event or project? You don’t need to review this information anymore, but you might want to keep as a reference in case a similar project or the same client wants to work with you again.

   • Prior years data and tracking? This might be good to keep for milestone references and to check your business growth, but as your business grows 5, 10, 15, 20+ years, that’s a lot of data and documents interfering with your day-to-day operations.

   After completing this step, you now only have actively in use documents to organize your Google Drive.
   

3. Ask yourself “Who is doing what?”

   When you start out your small business, you might have been a solo entrepreneur so access to folders may not be something you need to consider. However, as your team grows, your systems will have to evolve. There are many ways to share files within Google Drive each with unique perks.

   My Google Drive versus a Shared Drive

   When you enter your Google Drive, you will notice on the left side it says “My Drive” and “Shared Drives.” Generally we create items in “My Drive” and then share documents after the fact with newly hired staff. This can result in some potential future problems. First, whichever person creates the file in their Google Drive, the file is theirs. Meaning if they leave the company, that file will be deleted. Too many times I have seen businesses start over on documents and files because it was accidentally deleted.

   You might be thinking, “Yeah, but I’m the owner. I can create and manage all the files.” True, that could be an option so you don’t lose any important documents, however, if you individually share each file with a staff member and they leave, then you have to remove their access from each document as well. Also, this makes it even easier to transfer ownership if you ever decide to sell your business.

   This is why I recommend to use a “Shared Drive” instead of your “My Drive” for majority of your business documents. Any personal documents or ones that are truly for your eyes only can be saved in My Drive, but pretty much everything else will be put in a Shared Drive. The reason I recommend Shared Drive for your business is because it simplifies so much for you. You still have complete control over who can view or edit documents and can add/remove access without worrying about who owns the document. You no longer have to create a document and then remember to share it with your team. You no longer have to wait for a team member to grant access for you to view their document. Utilizing Shared Drives helps your team to run efficiently.

   When to use a “Shared Drive”

   Create a Shared Drive for each team or purpose.

   • View by everyone, but no edits allowed - these could be training manuals, mandated state/federal posters, policy handbooks, time off requests, staff contact lists, etc. I normally label this “Employee Documents” so all staff know if they have a question, this is where they can find their answer.

   • Team Documents - these could be tracking sheets, anything requiring team collaboration, etc. Depending on your industry, you may have one folder that includes all of the team documents or maybe several folders for each team. Regardless of how many team folders,

   • Sorted by team or purpose - I recommend saving all templates and marketing materials in a separate Shared Drive. This allows staff to have easy access to promote and reflect your business. If your business must follow HIPAA requirements, I recommend putting all HIPAA documents in a Shared Drive. Then all HIPAA officers can access and pull up information.

Once your Google Drive set up for business success, there’s no limits to their creativity!