What's for dinner?

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Planning a party? Wondering about food choices? Or perhaps, you want to arrange meals for an ill neighbor. Google Docs and Forms can help. Yes, Google can help you improve communications. Last week, I received an email with a link to a Google Spreadsheet. My friend and neighbor, Julie, is battling cancer, and her sister set up a spreadsheet for neighbors, friends, and family to sign-up for meals and times to take care of Julie. I thought Julie's sister a genius. We all know who is helping when, and what was brought for dinner the night before, and therefore, Julie's family won't be eating lasagna two nights in a row.

So, if you are in need of helping a neighbor, planning a party, or just want to send out a survey, it can easily be done. Google Forms allows one to seek answers from anyone who will fill out your survey. Are you curious about what pizza toppings people like? I was too. I sent a from with questions about food choices to my classmates, and ten responded. It was then possible to put these answers in a Google spreadsheet and create the following charts. After putting the information in a spreadsheet, highlight the information you would like in a chart, and then go to Insert and then Chart. Columns, pies, and lines are just some of the choices to create a chart. I picked a pie - you know, pizza pie. It just seemed fitting. You can also customize the font, colors, and headings.

And to add a chart to a blog, under File, click Save as a Web Page. Then just copy the embed code and place it under a new posting in the HTML tab.

Give it a try. It just might improve your communications. Once you get all of that down, you might just try some of these tricks from Lifehack.