Tips and Tricks for Using Microsoft TEAMs

Ever returned from time off only to find hundreds of emails waiting, forcing you to sift through them, jumping from one topic to another? Or encountered a complicated email thread, with the expectation to be instantly up to speed? Or simply needed to clarify something quickly with a colleague? If so, you’ve encountered the limitations of email.

Enter Teams…..

We're not suggesting email is obsolete or without its merits, but if the scenarios above resonate with you, the benefits of shifting to a more collaborative platform like Teams is worth exploring.

Here are five (5) reasons why Teams could be a better solution:

Focused Communication

All conversations are centralized, removing the need to switch platforms. Chats unfold in a single thread, offering a unified stream of discussion, organized by topic for straightforward review. This method sidesteps the chronological and topic-scattered nature of email chains. Outlook tries to group conversations by subject line, but adding people to the thread or reusing subject titles frequently results in disarray and confusion.

Files Are Located in One Place

Files are easy to find and can be seen and edited by anyone in the Team, who has permission. Email attachments are so last decade. There are no more sending files back and forth or struggling to edit a document to incorporate various people’s comments. All files can be shared and linked in Teams and edited while in a meeting or collaborating.

Simply upload the files into the channels Files tab so all team members can collaborate and co-author on one single version. You can also attach a file to a post, from your PC, OneDrive or other SharePoint location and it’s automatically copied into the Teams Files tab.

It’s collaboration at its best and promotes a sense of trust and co-creation between team members. And what’s even better is that there is no need to worry about version control, as you’re always working on the most updated version of the document.

No More ‘Read the Email Trail’

New to a project and need to get ‘up to speed’? How often have you received a long, confusing email chain and been expected to understand exactly what’s going on?

Gone are the days of having to go through a long email thread and try to make some actual sense of what’s been happening. Add a new person to a Team and they can see all the previous conversations and documents. They can even access call recordings and all-important project documentation and decision points in the Teams channel.

Targeted Conversations

Actions and instructions can easily be missed in emails. In Teams, if you want to direct a comment/question to a particular person, you simply @ mention them. This will automatically drop in as Activity and will flag as a red @ in the chat so you know you’ve been mentioned. Other members of the Team can see this and can add to, like or contribute as well.

Efficient Working

The inefficiency of sifting through emails in chronological order and constantly switching between topics can significantly affect your productivity and increase stress levels. Teams won’t reduce your workload but does reduce the need to go in and out of different applications. By staying within the platform, you reduce the chance of distractions.

Focusing on a single topic with chat, files, tasks, and meetings all in one place allows you to catch up efficiently. With add-on task management apps like Planner, you can organize not only your tasks but also those of your team. Planner gives team members a visual and collaborative space to manage their tasks (but we’ll talk more about that in upcoming Tips & Tricks).

Now email isn’t going to go away any time soon, however, I believe Teams can open up a whole new collaborative way of working. One that reduces time spent ploughing through endless emails, reducing inefficiencies and even stress. It’ll require a bit of a mental shift if email is ingrained in the way you are working, but it is worth a try, you won’t be disappointed.

If you want to learn more about how Teams works, reach out to the IT team. They are more than happy to assist you with any questions you have or help you get started.