As our form of communication in the workplace has shifted to online platforms, Microsoft Teams has been an application many companies have turned to. This collaboration tool is the definition of “Team” by providing members a place to work together to achieve their collective goal. Microsoft Teams is a one stop shop which offers your “team” everything they need to stay connected. It is unique because it provides video conference, voice calling, integrated third party apps, all in one platform. Co-workers can connect in a private chat or specific channel with each other on topics that may be related or unrelated to work. As most people are now working from home, those water cooler conversations in the break room are no longer happening. Microsoft Teams is a great solution to this! Chats can hold items like discussing the craziness of the Netflix series “Tiger King” or a picture of what local cuisine they ordered from Skip the Dishes for dinner the night before. Microsoft Teams is the perfect balance of business in the front, party in the back.
Are you still emailing and cc’ing ten others on a specific topic?
Try using Conversation Channels in Microsoft Teams. This feature gives you the option to dedicate chat channels to certain topics which makes it much easier and more likely to keep messaging on a topic and resolve problems faster without distraction. Rather than sending an email and waiting for a long reply, the chat channel provides your team a place to engage promptly. Files sent in the channel are stored for all members in the chat to view and edit.
Working on a document with your team and still sending it as an attachment or a link through email?
Microsoft Teams makes it easy to share files and work on them together. Each team channel has its own file folder where you can share files for that specific channel. In the library, you can upload existing files or create new ones. When you upload a file, it creates a copy in Teams. This allows people to collaborate and work on one document without having to save copies of the document to their desktop.
- Editing in Teams? When you choose to edit the shared document in Teams, you not only have the ability to make changes to your doc and save it- if you select the “Start a Conversation” tab at the top of the page, it will open a chat column that will allow you to have a conversation with everyone who has access to the document.
- Collaborating with someone outside of your team? You can allow access and editing rights to specific people outside of your organization!
Are you finding it difficult to cross-train remotely?
Have no fear, screen sharing is here! This tool is as close as it gets to being in the same room with someone. Sometimes it is difficult to explain specific details without showing the information to the other person with them beside you. Screen sharing comes in handy when you need to share information with another person when email or phone just don’t cut it. You can choose to share your entire desktop or just a certain window.
Do you ever have a moment where you cannot recall who you instant messaged about an important topic in teams?
Who Bot to the rescue! The Who Bot is a feature that helps you access internal information quickly. This application in Microsoft Teams has four tabs: Conversations, Your Org, Upcoming Meetings and About. You can ask the Who Bot questions about reporting structures or get employee details within your company and it will provide you with the answers. As an example, can’t remember who you messaged about that important project deadline? Ask the Who Bot in the Conversation tab and it will pull up the person you messaged.
Looking to spice up your messages?
GIFs and Emojis are a fun way to turn an average conversation into an entertaining interaction! Microsoft Teams allows members to send GIFs, stickers and emojis in a group chat or in one-to-one messages. Users are also able to share custom stickers in chats.
Concerned about security?
Microsoft Teams is committed to protecting user’s privacy. The platform offers a variety of privacy and security controls such as giving you control of who can join your meetings and notifying participants when recording a meeting.
To learn more about how Microsoft Teams is secure, check out Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, article on the commitment to privacy and security in Microsoft Teams.
Stay up to date on what’s new with Microsoft Teams by visiting the Microsoft Teams Blog
