...to ask the Lord’s blessing. Thanksgiving is a wonderful, Norman Rockwell time of year when spirits run high over pumpkin pie and spiced lattes as we spend time with friends and family.
Thankfully, this collaborative spirit tends to spill over into our professional lives as well. While spending quality time at home is refreshing and enjoyed by many, working alongside our colleagues and within our professional teams is worth equal attention. Working alongside like-minded individuals to produce high-quality work or a top-notch project is something that is both rewarding and helps to facilitate a company culture that encourages collaboration and teamwork.
Since teamwork is a table stake in producing high quality work in most offices and work environments, we wanted to talk about Microsoft’s new tool, aptly named: Microsoft Teams. Teams aims to help your project collaborations run smoother, improve organization, and help you focus on your work. Here are our favorite features about Microsoft Teams and why they stand to be a major benefit for your organization and company’s workflow.
Communication, Conferencing, and No More Lost Email Threads with Microsoft Teams
The workday can be hectic depending on what happens to be on our plate, and we often need the input of several team members to do our jobs well. Teams has a built in instant message (IM) tool especially for this purpose. A quick instant message to a colleague asking for their input on a task can save time and effort, reduce unnecessary meetings, and cut down the amount of organizational overhead needed to solve problems quickly.
When an instant message isn’t enough, Teams also offers the ability to schedule and participate in conferences. Sometimes cramming into the same room just isn’t possible, so having a solution that circumvents physical boundaries and still facilitates teamwork can be a major boon to your employee’s communication toolkit.
It doesn’t stop there, though; Teams offers a way to improve your email communication as well. Over the course of most projects, lengthy email chains pop up and subsequently get lost. It’s like running a pair of socks through the wash. While the socks certainly began the cleaning cycle as a complete set, by the time they’ve been dried and folded, somehow one always seems to go missing and unfortunately, having one mismatched sock just doesn’t hold the value of a complete set. Teams’ solution to this is to employ a handy feature known as “Channels.”
Channels are special communication areas for specific projects or company departments where important details for a given project may be stored, much like a forum. These threads or posts are then archived and remain completely searchable, while keeping them separate from other email chains and unrelated work items or tasks, effectively reducing clutter. They can even be favorited and pinned for even easier access. It will even allow you to work with external personnel who may only be onboard for a specific project.
Teams aims to be a highly customizable, turnkey solution for your office’s communication for both physical and remote workers—especially if you already have Office 365, which includes Microsoft Teams.
Have questions or want to improve your office’s project management and communication? Let us know, and we’ll be happy to talk through some of the benefits Microsoft Teams has to offer.
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First published in our November 2018 IT Radix Resource newsletter
