June 9th 2023
Get the most out of Microsoft Teams with these lesser-known tricks and features
Microsoft Teams and video calling technology came to our aid in 2020 as businesses and education systems scrambled to keep the world moving from the safety of their sofas. Since embracing the new approach to working from home, businesses have realised that virtual meetings and remote working reduce their travel time, increase employee happiness and wellbeing, and open them up to a wider talent pool, making video calls more important than ever.
Whether you’ve used Microsoft Teams or not, it’s become well-known across the globe for its ability to keep colleagues connected from wherever they may be. However, the platform offers a whole lot more than just messaging and video call tools. Microsoft is constantly updating and improving the platform to aid communication, organisation and collaboration across businesses. In this blog, we’ll highlight the lesser-known features of the platform that can help companies work more effectively.
A handful of tools to improve collaboration
Businesses struggle with collaboration in an office space – never mind when colleagues are located in multiple locations, including their own homes. However, thanks to Microsoft Teams, colleagues can share live docs within chats or on a call. With collaborative access, everybody can make edits to a document at the same time, offering greater collaboration, discussions and instant feedback.
In addition, Microsoft Teams can be useful for brainstorming sessions , as there’s a whiteboard feature within calls that lets employees brain dump with post its and illustrations. The best part? The session can be recorded, so everyone can go back and listen to the discussion at any time.
Delegate and approve work seamlessly
Microsoft Teams comes with a bunch of organisational tools to help employees plan out their day. One of our favourites is the Loop Task List that can be found in the messenger toolbar. With this, project owners can create a full sprint, assigning a due date and team member to each task. So, everyone will have a clear view of their responsibilities within a project.
Another great organisational feature is the approval tool. Keeping on top of what and when we need to approve work can be a task within itself. Thanks to the integration of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel, the Approvals app lets employees send and request a manager’s approval, while manager’s can sign off work directly in the platform. Gone are the days of flicking back and forth between apps to offer feedback or give a virtual thumbs up.
Note: The Approvals app will need to be installed from the ‘Apps’ tab and can be pinned to the left-hand toolbar for quick access.
Schedule focus time
Whether working at home or in the office, our daily lives are filled with distractions that keep us from being productive. It’s natural, but it doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to prevent them.
Microsoft Teams introduced Viva Insights in November 2021 with tools to improve wellbeing, teamwork and productivity. As part of the focus feature, the app can automatically block out up to 4 hours of daily focus time in an employee’s calendars. Whilst in this focus window, Teams will also set their status to ‘busy’, hopefully preventing the number of messages they receive at that time. Plus, the Viva Insights app includes headspace sounds and exercises to improve employee focus throughout the day.
Bookmark messages for easy viewing
There’s nothing worse than frantically scrolling through group chats to locate an important message from the past. That’s why Microsoft Teams has a ‘saved’ option’. By simply flagging an important message, it will show in a ‘saved’ folder under an employee’s profile, so they can refer back to it at any time.
Improve direct communication with Teams and Channels
Email groups are great, but they aren’t the most accurate and effective way to send out project communications. With ‘Teams and Channels’, Microsoft Teams allows employees to invite internal and external members of a project to a team and channel. This offers one central location for the project group to share comms, collaborate via messenger or video call, as well as share and edit files.
Add emails into Teams
Although internal communications might happen via Teams, Microsoft understands that businesses may converse with clients or other external stakeholders using email. That’s why Teams lets you share emails easily within a chat, allowing all participants to discuss and reference any actions in one place.
Make decisions as a team with Forms
From the next office outing to a quick project retro, Microsoft Forms is a great way to get instant feedback from the whole team. By selecting the ‘Forms’ option in the messenger taskbar, employees can create a team poll in seconds.
Want to know more about Microsoft Teams?
Get in touch with our expert team for more advice on Microsoft Teams and how we can support you to implement the software into your business effectively.
Phone: 0343 507 1111
Email: info@lilycomms.co.uk