Collaborate in Google Docs: How to delegate tasks

Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides make it easy to collaborate on files in real time. While collaborating, it’s possible to assign certain team members tasks and make comments without bothering the whole team. This is how you assign tasks and collaborate in Google Docs!

add a comment

We’ll show how assigning tasks works in Google Docs, but it works the same in Sheets and Slides. Of course, you can only assign tasks to someone else if you share files with each other.

You will find the button To share in the top right corner of the window in Google Docs. Click that button and type the email addresses of the people you want to share the file with. Google will also provide suggestions from people with whom you have previously shared files.

After you’ve shared the document, you’ll see the icons of the people working on this document at the top. Suppose you want to ask a colleague to shorten the introduction, then you select the word or text to which the task applies (in this case the introduction) and you right-click on the selected text, after which you choose add a comment†

Formulate task

Adding a comment will bring up a popup. Type in a plus sign or at sign and select the name of the person(s) for whom the task is intended. Then you formulate the request. Then put a check in the box Assign to and click the button again Assign to† This person will then receive an email stating that you have assigned them a task. He will then see the pop-up with your request in the document.

It is also useful that you can use the colors in the document to see which piece of text someone else is working on at that moment. The color corresponds to this colleague’s icon.

Reply and Approve

You can see live in the document what your colleague changes to the document. If you are satisfied with his work, you approve the work by clicking the check mark in the pop-up. Your colleague will then receive a notification that you have approved his task.

Only the person with whom you exchange tasks and comments in this way will receive these messages. Other colleagues you share this document with will not see these comments.