How to Use Google Groups for Business
Google Groups for Business allows you to:
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Create a distribution list
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Send email and calendar events to groups
- Share a calendar with a group
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Host group discussions
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Maintain a single location for group conversations
- Set permissions on Google applications such as Google Drive content
While groups are similar to a shared mailbox, they offer more robust work assignment features such as email assignment capabilities. Complete the steps below to get started with Google Groups!
Step 1: Request a Group
- Open the Google Groups Creation form.
- Complete the form.
- Click Submit. Note: You will receive an email with more information once the Google Group has been created.
Step 2: Decide how you'll use your group.
Google Groups provides group owners with many different options for use. This includes the following:
Collaborative Inbox
Think of a Collaborative Inbox as a more robust version of a Google Mail shared mailbox, but without the calendar.
Features
- Assign or unassign a conversation
- Mark a conversation as completed
- Assign who can moderate metadata
- Mark a conversation as duplicate
- Mark a conversation as no action is needed
- Apply labels for organization
- Have up to 1,000 members.
Example Use Case
Could be used as a customer support mailbox or to distribute work across teams.
SETTINGS
Distribution List
Use a Google Group as a distribution list, which works similarly to an Exchange Distribution List or Mailman, but with more options.
Features
- Email the group email address directly from any email client or from within the Google groups interface.
- Invite groups to Google Calendar events.
Example Use Case
Could be used to communicate with your entire department, inviting them to events or sharing important updates.
SETTINGS
Forum
Features
- Post questions
- Reply to the group
- Threaded discussions
- Add a moderator to control forum posts
Example Use Case
Set your group up as a forum and allow individuals to post questions for your team to answer. Make the Google Group available to the campus community and use the group for Q & A.
SETTINGS
Newsletter Sign-ups
Grant access to your group to everyone in the university and allow folks to join your group. Then send regular news updates to the members.
Features
- Email large groups all at once
- Invite large groups to events all at once
Example Use Case
Newsletter sign-ups for upcoming training sessions or professional updates.
SETTINGS
Permissions
You can also use a Google Group to set permissions to apps such as Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Features
- Email large groups all at once
- Invite large groups to events all at once
- Grant access to Google Drive all at once
- Grant access to Google Drive apps (e.g., Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings, Maps, Sites, Jamboard, etc.).
Example Use Case
Need to work with a cross-functional team? Create a Google Group and email, send invitations, share files, and more with a single click.
SETTINGS
Step 3: Set Up Your Group
- Visit Google Groups.
- Log in with your Andrew userID and password, then authenticate with DUO when prompted.
- Click My Groups, then click the name of the group you would like to change.
- Click Group Settings (left).
- Update the following sections as desired, then click Save changes to apply updates.
General
- Group name - this is the name that will display when you send mail from the group.
- Group description - use this field to add a description of the group, including its purpose and membership.
- Welcome message - include a welcome message that new members will receive when they are added to the group.
- Enable additional Google Groups features - enable a Collaborative Inbox and manage group mail with others.
- Shared labels - enable this feature to use Google Mail labels within Google Groups.
- Allow external members - this defaults to off, but you can enable this feature if you work with those outside the university.
- Permissions - set permission levels for the following:
- Who can view conversations
- Who can post
- Who can view members
Note: Select Group owners, Group managers, Group members, the Entire (CMU) organization, or Anyone on the web (Not Recommended). Select the lowest level that should be granted each permission.
Member privacy
- Identification required for new members - allows new members to select to display either the organization name or their name, just the organization name, or just their name.
- Who can contact group owners - identify the lowest permission level that can contact group owners. Select Group owners, Group managers, Group members, the Entire (CMU) organization, or Anyone on the web (Not Recommended).
- Who can view member email addresses - identify the lowest permission level that can contact group owners. Select Group owners, Group managers, Group members, or the Entire (CMU) organization.
Posting Policies
- Allow Email Posting - enable this if you would like members to be able to post to the group via email.
- Allow web posting - enable this if you would like members to be able to post to the group via their browser
- Conversation history - enable this to save all messages sent to the group and keep them available in the group inbox.
- Permissions -
- Who can reply privately to authors
- Who can attach files
- Who can moderate content
- Who can moderate metadata
- Who can post as group
- Note: Select Group owners, Group managers, Group members, the Entire (CMU) organization, or Anyone on the web (Not Recommended). Choose the lowest level that should be granted each permission.
- Default sender - select the default sender of messages and choose either the author’s address or the group address.
- Message moderation - choose not to moderate messages, moderate messages from non-members, or moderate messages from all members to control content posting to the group.
- New member restrictions - choose to allow new member posting, moderate new member posting, or restrict new members from posting to the group.
- Spam message handling - choose to reject all spam messages, moderate and notify moderators, moderate without notifying moderators, or post suspicious messages to the group to manage spam messages.
- Rejected message notification - choose to notify senders when posts are rejected. Note: Helpful when testing posting permissions.
- Include default rejected message response - click this checkbox and enter a default reply that will be sent to posters when their message is rejected.
Email Options
- Subject prefix - automatically add text before the subject, such as the group name.
- Email footer - include a standard Google Groups footer or enter your own custom footer.
- Group email language - select the preferred language for group email.
- Auto replies - set up auto-responses to posts from members inside the organization, non-members inside the organization, members outside the organization, and non-members outside the organization.
- Post replies to - send replies to group posts to group members, group managers, group owners, message author, a specific recipient, or a custom address.
- Conversation mode - choose to thread posts by subject.
Member moderation
- Permissions -
- Who can manage members
- Who can modify custom roles
- Custom roles - create and edit your custom permissions.