4 Tips to Get the Most Out of Microsoft Teams

teams

Collaboration platforms are so helpful for businesses looking to streamline their communication processes. Microsoft teams is one of the more notable options out there and, like any collaboration software, is most effective when used properly. Here are some tips and best practices to get the most productivity out of Microsoft Teams & Microsoft Office.

If you don’t use teams, you can apply most of these tips to other collaboration platforms like slack and discord. All of these platforms give you the ability to streamline communication and productivity through video chat, instant messaging, and more. Learning about teams can help you in other software as well, so don’t click away!

4 Tips for Using Microsoft Teams

#1 Pin Important Messages

If there is a particularly important message with the information you’d like the entire team to see, you can pin that message to the top of the conversation. Once you select the pin icon, the message will appear first in the string of other messages so team members will see it before anything else.

This is a great tool to use for announcements, updates, or FAQs for the team so you can cut down on repetitive questions. Just click the three-dot icon and then the pin symbol, and you’re good to go!

#2 Tag Coworkers in Conversations

If you want someone’s input or need to make sure a specific coworker sees a message, Microsoft allows you to tag them using the @ symbol. This sends a notification to the user that they’ve been tagged, and they are more likely to see the message and respond in a timely manner.

#3 Organize Teams into…well Teams.

Microsoft Office allows you to split up your employees into separate groups called “teams”. This allows a dedicated space for each group to communicate. You should set up your teams so each department has its own workspace for collaboration. 

They can also be split up further into “channels” to fit your needs. based on who is working on a current project, for example.  

#4 Connect Teams to other Microsoft 365 Applications

Similar to all Microsoft 365 applications, Teams boasts impressive integration with other Microsoft office tools. It can connect and sync with OneDrive and OneNote, making file sharing a breeze. This, and other integrations, area. A wonderful way to boost productivity and collaboration. Your team should have access to all of the resources and tools they need to effectively complete their jobs.

What are some ways that you use Microsoft Teams to collaborate? Or do you prefer a different business collaboration platform? Share your thoughts in the comments! And visit us again for more tips on all things business and technology.

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Microsoft Collaboration Tools for the Remote Office

microsoft collaboration tools

In the past decade the corporate world experienced a steady trend toward remote work, however even a year ago, no one could have predicted this alternative method of working would experience such immense growth in such a short period of time. As it turned out, remote working options were a key component of not only keeping many companies and even nonprofits afloat, indeed, it allowed many organizations to notably flourish during a very challenging time.

As internet service continues to improve, both in terms of speed and available access, it’s likely that remote work is here to stay for many industries. 

A Changing Landscape

Many organizations managed within a matter of months, to successfully shift almost their entire workforce to a new working environment. The fact that so many organizations were able to pull off such a massive undertaking with minimal disruption to their customer base, is a testimony to the ability of their employees to quickly deliver agile and creative solutions to solve complex issues.

It’s impossible to predict when the pandemic will fade into history, but given the success of the rapid transition to remote working, it’s probably safe to say that even as COVID-19 fades, the option of remote working will continue to see very strong growth for the foreseeable future. 

A New Kind of Work Environment

If employers view remote work as a loss of control over their employees, today’s sophisticated collaboration tools, along with other useful software tools and apps will prove over time that employers are still very much connected to their workforce. In fact, very large companies that traditionally housed thousands of employees within a massive skyscraper may actually see a significant improvement in communication and collaboration levels within their workforce.

Whereas formerly, an employee had to get on an elevator and walk through multiple cubicle areas to speak with someone in person, now these same employees have chat apps or video conferencing software right at their fingertips for conversations with management and other co-workers.

Of course, some organizations will require training for staff that formerly worked in a more traditional office setting. It’s important for these companies to invest in adequate staff training as much as they invest in the collaboration tools themselves, in order to take full advantage of all the rich features of today’s remote work software tools.

As companies become more comfortable with the shifting work environment, they will likely rely much less on face-to-face communication. Organizations may find that renting a conference room for weekly face-to-face meetings is more than sufficient for their needs. 

Microsoft Teams 

If there is any communication and collaboration tool that is ready to fully support an entire workforce, it’s Microsoft Teams. From the beginning, Microsoft understood that all forms of online communication are only truly successful if they reside on a safe and secure foundation. Regardless of an organization’s size, if they decide to use Microsoft Teams, they will have access to Enterprise level threat protection that meets more than 90 regulatory and industry standards. 

Residing on the Teams secure foundation are a wide range of helpful tools designed to offer both management and staff a variety of ways in which to communicate and collaborate, not just within their own company, but with members outside their organization.

Employees have a multitude of tools to help them communicate in a group setting, or as a simple one-on-one conversation. Along with traditional voice communication, Microsoft Teams also offers video conferencing, a chat feature, and file-sharing that works intuitively with Microsoft’s other productivity apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Microsoft Teams also provide useful bots to automate tasks within an organization, as well as private hubs for individual departments that can be specially designed to meet their unique needs.

We Can Help

If you would like to know more about the Microsoft tools that can make remote working a success for your organization, please contact us.

What’s New for Microsoft Teams in 2019

what new for microsoft teams in 2019

As part of their efforts to empower staff members across a broad spectrum of industries, as well as a wide variety of functions and roles, Microsoft has recently added increased capabilities to their Microsoft Teams application. By increasing the features and capabilities within the app, Microsoft hopes to create a seamless, easy to use environment where team members can communicate and interact with other project members. By increasing communication between staff members, companies can expect higher levels of productivity and efficiency within their group projects. 

Organizing Staff

Of course, in order to ensure projects are managed as efficiently as possible, it’s important to keep track of the individuals participating in the project itself. With Microsoft Teams, team member schedules are easily created, monitored and adjusted as the need arises, so everyone involved stays informed of the status of their team co-members, as well as keeping track of their own schedule. 

In addition, the Microsoft Teams software also provides a mechanism in which administrators can oversee and monitor the projects to ensure both the team members and the tools within the projects are operating as effectively and efficiently as possible.

Staying in Touch

Microsoft Teams offers several mechanisms which project members can use to communicate with each other including: text, image capturing and uploading, video conferencing, file sharing, and voice interaction. Project members can decide which communication mechanism best suits their needs at the time. For example — enjoying the flexibility of having a private chat about an Excel spreadsheet with one team member, followed later by uploading a photo of a warehouse issue and sending it to a supervisor for review. Whether team members are down the hall or across the city in a different building, Microsoft’s Teams application allows staff to immediately address issues rather than waiting until they get back to their desk or their employer’s physical location.

Organizing Meetings 

Microsoft also decided to rebrand their Skype room systems into Microsoft Team Rooms. With Team Rooms, project coordinators can create, schedule and invite team members for group meetings, no matter where they are throughout the globe. Regardless of physical location, individual staff members can all meet together in a Team Room, and collaborate and share with each other through both video and voice.

If you would like to know more about additional communication and collaboration features offered through Microsoft Teams, please contact us!