It’s actually a lot easier than you might think.

You’ll Rely on Two Tools: Google Forms and Google Sheets

Let’s walk through the process.

First, Start with Google Forms In Google Drive, select New in the top-left corner and then Google Forms. This will open the start of a brand new form.

Change the document name to whatever you need to keep it organized, and update your form title to the name you want your participants to see. The name you’ve given the document will automatically populate here, but chances are you will want to name it something else.

Let’s assume this is meant to be a client satisfaction survey, so we’ll update the document name to “Satisfaction Survey” and call the form “How Are We Doing?”

You’ll also see the option to create a form description—your opportunity to sell your form and provide any pertinent information or instructions you want to communicate to the person filling it out. You can also add more instances of this module throughout your form to differentiate between different sections. We’ll touch on this a little more shortly.

From there, we can move on to the questions we want our form to include. Fortunately, Google gives us plenty of options to customize our form’s formatting and the fields we want our audience to fill out.

How to Populate Your Form

On the right side of the module, you’ll see a variety of buttons.

Each of these buttons offers a different utility:

• Add question - This allows you to add another question module to your form
• Import questions - This allows you to import questions you’ve already populated in another form
• Add title and description - This allows you (as we mentioned before) to add an additional form title and form description to help differentiate between different sections.
• Add image - This allows you to insert an image from various sources into your form.
• Add video - This allows you to insert a YouTube video by searching for it or identifying the appropriate URL.
• Add section - This allows you to split your form into sections (or different steps) so your participants can navigate through or submit it.

Returning to the add questions button, you can choose from various question types depending on your needs and the intention of your form. You can also establish if the form will be accepted without each question being filled out. These question types are followed by examples of how they look in Google Forms:

Short Answer
This module allows you to prompt an audience member to provide a brief, one- or two-sentence response to a question.

Paragraph
This module allows you to prompt an audience member to write a short paragraph responding to your question.

Multiple Choice Question
This module allows you to create a multiple-choice question for your audience member to answer, including an “Other” field where they can insert their own response.

Checkboxes
This module allows you to create a list of checkbox options for your audience member to select from, including an “Other” field where they can insert their own response.

Dropdown
This module allows you to create a dropdown box with options for your audience member to select from.

File upload
This module allows you to enable your audience member to upload documents from Google Drive, with you establishing limits to what can be uploaded.

Linear Scale
This module allows you to give your audience members a numbered range within which they can provide a value in response to your question.

Multiple Choice Grid
This module allows you to create a group of multiple choice questions formatted as a grid, which makes asking numerous questions that would be answered the same way much easier.

Checkbox Grid
This module allows you to create a group of multiple choice questions formatted as a grid, with the option to select multiple answers for each question. This makes asking numerous questions that would be answered the same way much easier.

Date
This module enables you to give your audience the capability to select a date, whatever reason a date needs to be specified. 

Time
This module enables you to give your audience the capability to select a time, whatever reason a time needs to be specified.

Reviewing Your Responses in Google Sheets

You may have noticed that three options follow you as you scroll down the page: Questions, Responses, and Settings.

The Questions tab opens by default in Google Forms, so we’ve been operating in it thus far. As the name suggests, it is where you configure the questions that your form asks. The Responses allow you to review what your audience has submitted, visualizing the data in a few different formats and allowing you to look at this data in a few different ways, while Settings is effectively what you’d expect, giving you options to make your form an interactive quiz—giving you an entirely new use case—and determining how you collect your responses.

However, it is back in the Responses tab that we can find the element that is pertinent to our processes today: creating a Google Sheet

Moving Your Form Responses to Google Sheets

This part is laughably simple. Under Responses, you’ll also find a button to Link to Sheets.

That’s it. It’s as simple as that. Clicking that button will pull up a window asking you whether to add the results to an existing spreadsheet or create a new one to display your outcomes. The three-dot menu next to the button allows you to set up email notifications for new responses, adjust where your responses populate, and enable you to unlink your form, download a CSV of your responses, print all your responses, or delete all of them entirely. It will even keep it up to date as more responses come in.

Hopefully, This Walkthrough Helps Make the Process Clear

This is just one small sample of what your technology can do in the right hands. We can help ensure that its support and maintenance are in the right hands, too. Reach out to us to learn more about our managed services.

Understanding Opportunity Cost

To calculate the opportunity cost of technology, you first need to consider its features and benefits. Opportunity cost is how much your organization loses as a result of not leveraging these features and benefits. For example, let’s consider the opportunity cost of not having a productivity suite for your business with all of its modern-day amenities. You lose a lot without access to these apps, cloud access, integrated communications solutions, and secure file sharing—so much that it could be to your business’ detriment.

The Value

There is one glaring problem with calculating opportunity costs for your business: you need to understand the technology before you can make an accurate estimate for it. You’ll have to consider how other organizations have used it to solve similar problems and how other technology solutions can address the same challenge. You would then compare these solutions side-by-side to determine which one of them would provide a better return on your investment.

Making Tough Decisions

While statistics make deciding things easier, they are not always the be-all and end-all. You also must consider your organization’s specific needs and how these solutions are actually going to address them. If your organization does not lose anything regarding opportunity cost by working with cheaper software, then perhaps that is the best way to get the highest ROI.

On a similar note, though, if there is a significant opportunity cost to a potential solution—perhaps one that would help you drive more sales or open up your services to new clients or markets—then the feature-rich solution is worth the investment. Again, knowing your business inside and out will help you make the best decision possible with your IT solution acquisition.

Let Us Help Your Business

If you need assistance with your technology management, Patriot Tech Services Inc. has a plethora of knowledge you can leverage to benefit your business. We can help you identify the best return on your investment and ensure that you won’t be leaving any unaccounted-for opportunity costs on the table. Learn more by calling us today at 877-874-4629.

Focus on Data Protection

Most file sharing occurs during work hours, making robust data protection standards essential. Rather than relying on lax measures, prioritize data protection by integrating solutions that enable secure file exchange within email, thereby avoiding the need for third-party platforms.

Business-Class > Consumer-Grade

Consumer-grade file-sharing services often pose security vulnerabilities and compliance issues. Choose a solution that offers comprehensive security controls, such as access management, expiration settings, and e-discovery features, to ensure regulatory compliance and data protection.

Embrace Cloud-Hosted Platforms

Regardless of your organizational requirements, using a cloud-based file-sharing solution offers significant advantages, such as rapid deployment, high-performance and fully managed infrastructure, and, most of the time, comprehensive backups.

Consider Integrations

Instead of standalone file-sharing systems, choosing more integrated systems that incorporate essential functionalities like email security and other services is prudent. Streamlining your software ecosystem without compromising security will enhance efficiency and improve file security.

Provide Comprehensive Training

Effective file-sharing systems require thorough training to take full advantage of. Educate your staff on data handling best practices, the risks associated with improper data management, and the specific procedures your company chooses when you are using file-sharing platforms.

Balance Security and Usability

While maintaining robust data security is crucial, ensuring ease of use is equally important, especially for dispersed workforces. Choose business-class solutions that offer consumer-grade usability to minimize the risk of compromised data security due to user error.

We Can Help!

At Patriot Tech Services Inc., we specialize in optimizing data flow, enhancing file security, and facilitating efficient file sharing for organizations. Contact us today at 877-874-4629 to talk to one of our knowledgeable consultants about your organization's IT.