Introducing Google Docs to the CEO

Last month, I was asked by the CEO of my company to co-author an article with him.  Over the next few weeks, I would write a very basic draft, print it out, then meet with him to get feedback, iteratively developing the article.  As expected, I had to do many revisions and edits, slowly getting the article to where both he and I wanted it to be.  However, there were certain points that we touched on where I felt like I was trying to guess what was in his brain.  I felt that there was a specific way that he wanted a sentence to sound, but wouldn't come right out and say it.

Enter Google Docs.  I already do all my work on Google Docs.  Here is an explanation of what Google Docs is.


I find that being able to log in anywhere and get to my work immediately is really helpful.  I broached the topic of using google docs for our article.  He was interested in giving it a try and immediatly, there was a ton of benefits.

1. He felt empowered to alter the article - I saw him add some very good parts to the article.  Before, it was just me with the power to edit, now he also has the power to edit.  With that power, he could immediately make some simple edits that made a huge difference.  We went from him being a Passive "Victim" of my writing to being an Active Agent in creating something great.
   
2. Being able to edit makes you think harder.  I found that he thought harder and more deeply about the article after being able to edit it.  It's one thing to "review" and article, and another to be reading it with a blinking cursor.  It makes you really think about how you can improve it.
3. Asyncronous Communication.  A CEO has very limited time. Trying to find time on his calendar for a face to face meeting (syncroneous communication) was difficult.  Now he can work on his own time, and edit the document when he has time.
   
4. Life is easier for me.  No more trying to read his mind.  He still tells me the big changes and ideas he wants, but for the smaller things, he can just do it instead of trying to explain it to someone else.

Recently, I was helping a coworker with a project (creating an RFP).  My sole job was to take comments from 5-10 different people and incorporate their comments into the "main document".  Each person would turn on track changes in Word, make their changes and then send them to me, and I would type them into the main document.  Many people had the same comments, and there was an incredible amount of duplication.  I billed around 20 hours of work for this.  At over $100 an hour, over $2,000 was spent on basically copying and pasting -- a pathetic waste of money.  Had the document lived on Google Docs, each person could just directly make comments into the document, saving a lot of wasted time and money, not to mention avoiding duplicating their own work.

20SomethingTakeAway:

1. As a Gen Y, we can easily add value by teaching others in the organization about new things.  Even if they are not used, you will be seen as an innovative leader that has creative ways of doing things.  I do not know if the CEO will start using GDocs for all of his collaborative things, but maybe I changed his life!  He will surely remember this moment -- it is not just another article co-authored with another employee, but a learning experience for him.
2. When bringing up a new "scary" technology, make sure you appeal to people's innate sense of wanting to learn.  Almost everyone likes to "try something new, once" be up to date on the new-fangled technology.