Many of our customers use Google Apps alongside a WordPress intranet, and we’ve heard from a lot of them recently about the benefits of using both these systems together. Below is an example explaining how some customers are using Google Forms in their intranets to standardize their processes and make things quicker and easier for their staff.

Let’s say your staff often need to send out standardized letters to clients. You could set up templates as word documents in Drive, expecting employees to duplicate them (not overwrite your master template!), change the text where needed, then print and send out.

This can work, but employees need to know where to look for the template in Drive, and you can end up with inconsistent results if there are more complex rules – perhaps certain paragraphs need to be omitted in some circumstances but not others.

Some of our customers have built workflows starting from a Google Form embedded on an intranet page that staff can find easily – surrounded by instructions describing how it all works. Staff members enter the basic data into the Form which is then added automatically by Google to a Spreadsheet.

Using tools such as autoCrat and formMule, or writing their own simple scripts using Google Apps Script, this information can automatically produce a PDF version of the letter – following all the complex rules – emailed straight to the staff member ready for them to print out and post.

There’s quite a bit to learn to stitch this process together, but once it’s in place it can save time for everyone, and ensure consistent and predictable results throughout your business!