5 lesser-known features of Microsoft Teams

In today’s technology-driven business world, Microsoft Teams has become the platform of choice for communication and collaboration. While many of us are familiar with the core features of Teams, such as video calls, chats and file sharing, here are some lesser-known features in this blog that can improve productivity and teamwork in surprising ways.

1. Together Mode

One of the most notable features of Microsoft Teams is Collaboration Mode. This mode uses AI to place participants in a shared virtual environment, making it seem like everyone is in the same room.

How to activate Together Mode:

To start Collaboration Mode, the organizer must start a Teams meeting via View -> Collaboration Mode. Then a location must be chosen and the organizer can invite participants who all appear within the chosen location.

2. Breakout Rooms

For teams working remotely or in larger organizations, using Working Groups can be a big change. This feature allows meeting organizers to split participants into smaller groups for focused discussions or brainstorming sessions.

How to activate Breakout Rooms:

Only meeting organizers on the desktop versions of Teams can create and manage Breakout Rooms. Click here to view Microsoft’s instructions on how to create and manage these convenient individual virtual rooms.

3. Live Subtitles

To truly be a modern digital communication platform, accessibility should be prioritized as much as possible. Microsoft is showing their commitment to this idea with the Live Subtitles feature in Microsoft Teams.

How to Activate Live Subtitles:

Activating Live Subtitles is relatively simple: go to the meeting controls at the top of the screen and select More > Language and Speech > Turn on Live Subtitles. Repeat the process to turn them off again.

4. Meeting polls

Joint decision making is very important for effective teamwork, and the Meeting Polls feature in Teams streamlines this process.

How to activate Meeting Polls:

Simply mention @Forms in your Teams channel, chat, or meeting chat to create an instant poll.

5. Shifts (Service schedule).

In addition to virtual meetings and conversations, Teams can also help you manage your employees’ schedules.

How to Activate Service Schedules:

You can find Service Schedules on the left side of Teams with the other apps. Just click on it to start working on your schedule.

Winning Teams

We encourage you to check out these five features of Teams that you may not have known about. Who knows, maybe your next meetings will be more interesting and productive.