How to get the most out of Microsoft Teams.

If you’re like most people, use your office chat applications only for simple, everyday use – to ask someone a question or contact colleagues. But wouldn’t it be great if you could do more things at once in these apps, like completing tasks and chatting with colleagues all in one window? You may have heard of the robust features of Microsoft Teams to achieve this, but how do you get the most out of the program?

The convenience of chat apps allowed employees to spend less time chatting with colleagues and more time performing their tasks. In addition, work-related software is becoming increasingly mobile and user-friendly, with apps like Microsoft Teams bringing different platforms together. Here’s how to use that to your advantage:

Use SharePoint to save and share files

You may already be using SharePoint to save files and collaborate with your teammates. But did you know that in any Teams channel, you can click the Files tab to share files from SharePoint with team members? You can also access SharePoint files already shared in the channel and use Office Online or Office Desktop to work on those files together.

Send emails to a channel

You will receive numerous emails every day, many of which may be in your inbox. Fortunately, Microsoft makes it easy to send every Outlook email message to a Teams channel so they appear on both platforms.

Click the impediment sign (…) next to a channel name and select Get Email Address. This generates an email address for the channel, which you can copy and use to forward files, documents, and messages.

Stick to a few groups

While you can create as many groups as you want within your organization, going overboard can result in a messy messaging interface that overwhelms team members. Instead, you can create groups based on the number of projects and committed team members , if necessary, you can always add more.

Set up audio conferences

Teams lets you host voice meetings with groups or with only one team member. This is especially useful when you’re communicating with external employees or customers, in which case you can give them guest access to your Teams channel. Guest access allows them to communicate with someone, but can’t see private information.

Test communication strategies

The fact that some features in Teams overlap with other Microsoft platforms, such as Yammer and Skype for Business, doesn’t mean they’re all redundant. Think of it as an opportunity to test different communication strategies to find out what works best for you. For example, if most of your customers have a Skype ID, you can use Skype for customer calls.

Share conversations with new team members

Teams make it easy to hire new employees. Instead of forwarding countless emails and documents to new employees, you can use Teams to share previous conversations and projects with them. This way, everyone can catch up without cumbersome documents.

Microsoft Teams and other Office solutions are equipped with a host of useful features that take some time to master. But by using these tools, you can save time and maximize efficiency without spending a penny.

Source: itech solutions