Today’s modern business landscape demands collaboration from workers, the likes of which we’ve never experienced before. Fortunately, there are various platforms to help us collaborate, which utilize cloud technology to share the information needed to perform different business functions.
Microsoft Teams recently emerged as an impressive tool for collaboration in the workplace. Teams is essentially Microsoft’s rendition of Slack or Google Hangouts. It has already overtaken Slack with Microsoft revealing that 13 million users are using teams daily.
It should thrive in environments where team projects are of the essence, especially given the features it offers. Microsoft Teams is a great companion when team projects are on the horizon, for the following reasons:
It Fully Integrates with Office 365
Microsoft ensures its software packages are fully compatible with each other. What’s great about Teams is it integrates perfectly with Office 365 and Sharepoint, an added bonus if you’re already using this suite.
Applications like Word, Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, Outlook and others are fully integrated into teams. This makes it even easier to share information generated via one of these apps, which is quite commonplace in many business settings.
The Office 365 Groups admin experience has been heightened, incorporating functions like creating teams within a group, editing the group email alias, sensitivity labels and the ability to revive deleted groups. These improvements facilitate collaboration across various programs.
Reduced Email
What’s great about Microsoft Teams is it facilitates seamless communication via chat panels. This lessens the requirement for email messaging, where you can instead forge effortless interactions without needing to clutter inboxes unnecessarily.
What’s great about Teams chat is it allows issues to be resolved in a timely fashion, where quick questions can be answered promptly. Fortunately, when you need to send something a bit more detailed, you can send emails which can be viewed by multiple parties at once.
By emailing the team channel, the contents of your message will appear in the threaded conversation viewed by all team members.
Conversation Channels
The ability to group conversations around specific topics is a great way to organize common talking points. Participants can identify relevant conversations, via channels which are more likely to engage stakeholders and encourage them to resolve issues without getting distracted by others.
Problems are thus resolved without any distractions, via dedicated chat channels which are arranged according to relevant criteria. The conversations you’re a part of appear everywhere, creating an effortless ease of access which means you’re never out of the loop.
You can also use the @mention button to invite members to a conversation. This approach varies from chats because everyone in the channel can view and share a combination of files, text and more.
Direct Access to Other Microsoft Platforms
The ability to access any Office 365 application in a single location is a luxury. You can easily view a file and contact a relevant party with a click of a button. You can access files in SharePoint and OneDrive, before immediately making calls and video conferences as you see fit.
There is a layer of convenience which is conducive to more efficient processes. What’s great is all the information you’ll need to complete a specific task will be stored in a central location. Everything from messages and notes to documents and meetings are arranged in the same place, permitting direct, real-time access to teammates for effortless collaboration.
Live Collaborations
Media changes occur in real-time, a pleasant surprise for users previously frustrated by the slowness of presence updates in previous versions. You’re likely to notice similarities if you’re transitioning from Skype for Business Online, where you’ll experience smooth, seamless presence changes.
What’s great is you can complete work in real-time and experience updates as they’re happening. You can interact with colleagues and update files while communicating. This creates a collaborative environment which eradicates the need for multiple email updates and versions of everything.
Access Via Any Device
People can access Microsoft Teams from the comfort of any device which can access the internet. This enables remote access, creating a level of flexibility which translates to added value.
Collaborate on the go, answering questions from your mobile phone or tablet. Teams is available on iOS and Android, though with iOS it’s audio-only. Enjoy text, voice and video compatibility on a device of your choice, where conference calls can be executed at the click of a button.