What is a Google Workspace dashboard?
A Google Workspace dashboard is the home for key company news and information within the Google Workspace environment. It’s the landing page for employees as soon as they log into their company Workspace account. It launches and puts key data and documents at the user’s fingertips like KPIs, sales reports, HR, IT and operations announcements.
A Google Workspace launcher doesn’t need to be complex, in fact the simplicity of it is a major advantage to teams. It should be concise, engaging and easy to manage. Therefore, Google Sites is the first app that companies should consider to deploy. It’s free to implement for Google Workspace enterprise users and allows for a plethora of other Google services to be integrated.
For example, a Google Workspace dashboard could be a Google Sites property shared with all relevant organizational units and contact groups which hosts crucial department data. It’s a homepage, or a start page, that puts SOPs, forms and Google Drive documents collected into the same internal secure web portal.
Benefits of an Employee Dashboard within Google Workspace
A dashboard running within Google Workspace has many advantages to employees, teams, departments and even management.
Saves Time: A centralized dashboard of breaking decisions puts all employees in the know. The knowledge center saves precious time in the communications process. It’s a self-serve database for visitors and an easily updatable solution for internal communications to work with.
Saves Money: Google Sites is free site building software already included in Google Workspace licenses and enabled by default. Cheap templates are also available that make the process of designing the site a breeze. Once properly set up, a dashboard can run with little need for investment. Free automations can run to keep content fresh and information updated.
Security: Since a dashboard can run purely on Google services, there is no need to investigate security concerns when it comes to third-party software or marketplace apps.
Efficiency: Employees can make data-driven decisions from the data, strategies and documentation posted on the dashboard. 24/7 access provides up to date performance and reporting news. When considering project management, developments can be tracked and shared.
Transparency: It’s easy to create a dashboard which connects to finance, performance, culture, learning management and operations data. Google Drive, Cloud Search and Sites all work hand-in-hand. In addition, it can be a site for gathering data, suggestions, feedback and requests from among staff. Stakeholders can submit reports and start critical workflows all in one place the Google Workspace ecosystem.
Top features for a stunning dashboard
Here are the best integrations you can with your dashboard to take it to the next level. If you are running your dashboard on Google Sites, which we recommend at least for initial rollouts, there are many widgets which make it a more powerful tool overall.
Looker Studio: Data visualizations for geographical, statistical and performance data. Embedding Looker in your Google Site is a free way to increase adoption and satisfaction in your dashboard.
Google Cloud Search: This tool is available in the search engine of Google Sites in any Workspace tiers at or above business standard. It makes it some you can query information across all apps and documents users have permission to view or edit.
AppsSheet: Another impressive no-code app which can be a full embed.
Google Sheets: Of course there is a place for the humble, yet key spreadsheets in your organization. Sheets is great for project tracking, simple directories and charts. Bring data to the forefront.
There are also extensions like Awesome Table which can be used for event calendars, disseminating news across teams, resource libraries, people directories and so forth.
Best Google Sites dashboard template: LaunchSpace
If you have been put in charge of launching a dashboard for your organization, you’ll definitely want to shop around for templates for a quick start. Google Sites may seem plain at first, but there are wonderful templates made by Google Sites developers that will make you look like a genius. Our pick for the best dashboard is LaunchSpace. Check out these features of this new template:
Clean navigation: No frills, just a home page and simple dropdown menu for fast access to key sections of your dashboard.
App Launcher: List out all the favorite apps in your organization with logos, icons and direct access links. It’s a fully customizable log in page and a starting point for staff to begin their workday.
News Carousel: Embedded custom HTML slideshow for displaying top news items, including images, sidebar, title, description, button and hyperlinks. The slider makes great use of space while creating a beautifully impressive portal.
Quicklinks: Custom Google Sites buttons with icons for frequently used policies, procedures, forms and external links to other apps like Slack or Spaces.
Calendar: No hub would be complete without a master calendar managed by your communications team and detailing upcoming events.
Helpful Footer: Auxiliary navigation, social media, supplemental links and a search bar provide amazing utility at the bottom of each page. If you have multiple Google Sites to reference, this is the spot to connect programs and initiatives.
Easily Customizable: Every organization is different, so this template can be adapted to your needs. The theme is minimalist and the components used are open source. Change fonts, add color, duplicate sections or pare things down right in Google Sites.
Concise Design: All the essentials without needless design bloat. Launch apps and access the company dashboard. Grow your LaunchSpace to contain news and policies as needed. Manage and own your own launcher without third-party tools.
Google Cloud Search: Business standard editions and above will support Google Cloud Search. This is embedded on the homepages and footer of this template. Use Google Cloud Search to find the information you need at work—from anywhere, using your laptop, mobile phone, or tablet. It searches across your organization's content in Google Workspace services or third-party data sources. Learn more
Custom Slideshow: Shown on our homepages, this custom slideshow is embedded HTML, CSS and Javascript. We use an advanced version of a slideshow so that context can be added via the right panel and hyperlinks added. You can use AI to generate similar code or edit our existing code. Images can be added from Google Drive using this format: https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?export=view&id=**ID** . Change the ID to your Google File ID and ensure it is shared appropriate in Sharing Settings. A simple Image Carousel is available natively in Google Sites if you prefer.
Custom Buttons: We have embedded custom code as widgets for buttons. You can change the icons using SVG paths from other sources. We used some from free and open-source SVG icons. Feel free to change the button design parameters via HTML and CSS.
How to Build and Customize Your Google Workspace Dashboard
If you used a template to build your dashboard then most of the work is already done for you. You can just fill in the blanks and upload your images and docs. Next, we’ll explain how to customize additional components in the site:
Upload your logo and change theme brand colors
Update the People directory with your key contacts
Choose the type of homepage you want installed and set that to home
Assign content managers for internal news, newsletters and articles
Identify and link to important policies, documents, forms and handbooks in a central Shared Drive for the intranet
Write about company tools and how to use them in the tools page
Assign a custom URL that’s easy to remember and inform your Google Workspace administrator
Write a communications plan and keep everyone in the loops for progress
Why Use Google Sites for your Dashboard instead of other intranet software products?
The biggest factor is cost. Google Sites is the cheapest option, even if you employ an outside developer. Typical Google Sites development costs a fraction of even the first year commitment to bulky intranet systems. It’s lightweight and simple enough for most small teams to manage with little to no upkeep.
Google Sites Dashboard Examples
Conclusion: Get Started and Build Gradually
Don’t delay in starting your next dashboard. It doesn’t need to be perfect and you can always build on top of the framework. Often there is a phased approach to building intranets and a dashboard is no different. It will be a welcome addition to your communications tools and a single source location for company resources. The command center of a dashboard brings people together, even when they are spread around the globe. Build the hub gradually and take feedback to make improvements. We hope your next dashboard project is a success.
How much does a dashboard cost to build for Google Workspace?
It can be free if it’s built in-house with Google Sites. Or consider a template between $25-$100 as a shortcut. Full custom web development is usually based on an hourly rate or a proposal based on deliverables.
