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The way we use Google Docs collaboration is wrong
The power of Google Docs, and the other products in the Google Suite, is its collaboration capability. Multiple authors can be working together on the same document, concurrently, or even asynchronously. You don’t need to send a marked-up version of a Word document around, nor merge various versions. There is a single version of the document. Google Docs has built-in version control. It makes previous versions of the document easily available, and you can find out who made which change when. You can comment on specific sections of the document, or assign action items in the margin.
Therein lies the rub. The commenting feature makes use lazy. It invites us to make drive-by comments and creates more work for the original author of the document. We love to add our two cents or wordsmith. In many case, these comments are rarely improving the document substantially. The commenting feature doesn’t really lend itself to elaborate, as comments are squished into the margin. Resolving the many many little comments becomes a job in itself. All this slows us down. I call it Execution Drag.
Instead, before we add our first comment, ask ourselves, is this comment making the proposal substantially better and am I using the right Google Docs’ feature to convey that feedback?
For example, if you really wanted to rewrite a sentence or paragraph, wouldn’t the “Suggesting mode — Edits become suggestions”, be a better option? You can either make inline changes, or add your suggested paragraph below so one can easily contrast both options.
Sometimes, real substantial feedback is buried in the side comments. I believe it is more effective to add that feedback inline and elaborate on it in prose, rather than in bullet form. Describe the problem in the original document you are trying to address and propose a solution. Use either the Suggesting mode, or a different text color.
Does this mean you should never use the side comments? Not at all. There are valid reasons to add a small comment. For example, you can point out an aspect that the original proposal didn’t cover (and you want the owner to address). Or you may want to alert somebody else to review the section by assigning an action item to them. Or even better, use it add praise “Loved this section.”
Avoid the off the cuff comments, and limit debates in the side comments. They are very difficult to follow and unwind. It is better to state your concern or disagreement and capture them in the main body of the document.
Save us from having to resolve the many comments and let’s fight execution drag.
