Top 5 reasons to use Microsoft Teams

As part of the Society’s standardised approach to providing all colleagues with the latest tools, we have now introduced Microsoft Teams across the Society. In the last few months, the way we all work has drastically changed but this has enabled us to work more remotely without the need to be in the same room at the same time. 

Why use Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a collaborative workspace that facilitates a modern way of working, hosting a hub for workplace communication and collaboration. Whether you are working remotely or at a Midcounties site, Microsoft Teams can help facilitate easy collaboration by bringing everything together in one shared workspace. It can help boost team productivity, increase collaboration across departments, and complete tasks in a quick, efficient manner.

1. It’s more than just instant messages and calls...

You can use the chat window in Microsoft Teams to have quick conversations with your colleagues. But there’s so much more to it.

• Need to share a file? Just attach it in the chat, then simply call or video call your colleague to discuss the file all from within the same Teams window.

• Schedule a meeting without leaving the chat, chat’s integration with other Microsoft products like OneNote and Office means no more switching between apps throughout your conversation.

It’s all right there in the chat.

2. For Meetings

Getting everything ready for meetings can be a challenge, the agenda is in one email, agreed actions in another and where’s the thing you were supposed to review before the call?

Meetings in Teams make that experience so much easier as you have it all at your fingertips. As soon as you create the meeting, you can start chatting with the participants about the agenda, share the files that you need them to review, keep track of the meeting notes and assign actions to team members.

• With the Whiteboard function, you can host brainstorming sessions on a meeting where all participants can see the whiteboard and are able to contribute to the whiteboard at the same time.

• If you choose to record the meeting, the recording of the call is immediately available in the same tab. So, if you missed the meeting, you don’t need to hunt for the recording as it’s right there, with the meeting notes and agreed actions.

3. Fewer emails

Drowning in your emails or not being able to find an email becomes a thing of the past. Conversations are now held in a structural way in your teams, you no longer have stacks of email-upon-email response chains, or the need to reply to all. 

• The channel chat and file sharing features are available to all team members and you can even forward an email from Outlook to a channel, where it can be discussed in one place without the need to send multiple emails back and forth.

• It’s perfect if somebody needs to send you a file, or ask you a one-liner question? That’s what Chat’s for.

4. Improved collaboration

Because of Teams integration with Office 365, you don’t need to switch apps when you need to collaborate on a document. You can create the Word, Excel or PowerPoint document directly in Teams, immediately share it with your team members and then co-author straight away. You can add comments and actions, and chat with your team members to discuss the document right there.

5. Stay connected, anytime, anywhere

Working remotely is more important than ever, so we need to stay connected, be reachable and ensure we all have access to the resources in one place. Teams is a place where you can meet, chat, call, and collaborate all in one place no matter where you are.

• With the Teams phone app, you have immediate access to all your apps and documents on your company mobile. You can easily respond to chat and conversations, join meetings with one click and continue to collaborate. So even on the move, you are kept completely in the loop.

For more tips, guidance and FAQs for Microsoft Teams, take a look at our dedicated Teams page on Colleague Connect here.

New support material will be added to the page so remember to pop back to look for future updates!