So you have the plans, the reports, the meeting minutes etc but how do you share this information? If it’s internal staff it’s not usually a problem as a shared area, sharepoint or some other methods are normally available. But what if you need to share with external contractors and stakeholders?

This is a problem i’ve encountered many a time. If you’re working on a large project then emailing constantly changing documents to numerous people is a confusing excercise as
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 people are unsure if they have the latest version. It’s also sometimes difficult to get external contractors login accounts due to company policies. If you yourself need access it’s not always easy if you’re not using your own laptop pre-configured to connect to the office.
The solution I came up with when i needed to share a constantly changing spreadsheet and other project information was google apps . It offers calendars, word processing, spreadsheets, email and more but this most important thing is it’s FREE! Just create an account (you may need to purchase a domain name)and you can create multiple users, upload all of your word and excel files and view them from anywhere. Once uploaded anyone who you have created an account for can view and amend the latest copies from anywhere in the world. You don’t even have to have office on the PC you are viewing it from. It makes it simple if you’re on a client site and need access to your files. There are some downsides in the fact that you may lose some formatting in complicated documents and you are unable to upload certain types of files such as project files for example but you can always keep an overview plan in a spreadsheet in the Google area.
I am currently working on alot of Google friendly project templates. Will keep you posted when they’re available.