The modern workplace has arrived, and with it, the adoption of new tools and methods to keep us all connected and productive.
Teams is a key component of Microsoft’s “modern workplace” concept, which aims to create a new system that is both agile and scalable by leveraging cloud-based tools and services. This system also provides a better experience for remote teams, allowing them to stay connected and productive.
Microsoft Teams has earned its reputation as the gold standard of collaboration tools in the midst of the accelerating digitization of services.
This article will begin with a discussion of what Microsoft Teams is, how it fits into Microsoft’s concept of the modern workplace, and some business scenarios where it might be useful. Let’s get started!
What is Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams is a communication and collaboration platform that combines persistent chat, video conferencing, file storage, and integration with a variety of Microsoft 365 apps.
In short, Teams combines the best features of Microsoft 365 into a single tool. You can:
- Share your thoughts and expertise in private, chat-based discussions.
- Create Office Online documents directly from your browser.
- Use different tabs to integrate internal or external content and tools.
- Use bots to help you with your daily activities and tasks.
Having a great team space is essential for making creative decisions and communicating with one another. Shared workspace software makes this much easier to achieve, especially if a team is based in a large company, has many remote employees, or has numerous team members.
Why start using Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams has become the fastest growing app in Microsoft’s history, with over 330,000 companies worldwide using it since its launch.
If you work for one of these companies, you’re probably constantly coming up with new ways to use the app. But if you aren’t, here are 5 reasons why you should start using Teams right away.
1. Much more than a chat
In Teams, you can use the chat window to have quick conversations with your colleagues. But there’s a lot more to it than that.
Do you need to share a file? Simply paste it into the chat. Then, directly from the window, call or video call your colleague to discuss the file. Alternatively, you can schedule a meeting without leaving the chat. Because the chat is integrated with other Microsoft products such as OneNote and Office, you won’t have to switch between apps during your conversation. Everything is right there in chat.
2. Simplify your meetings experience
It can be difficult to get everything ready for meetings. The agenda is in one email, and the agreed-upon actions are in another. And where is the document you were supposed to go over before the call?
Team meetings make that experience so much easier. You can start chatting with the participants about the agenda as soon as you create the meeting, share the files you need them to review, and keep track of meeting notes and to-dos. You can even find out who the unknown people who have been invited are.
The recording of the call is then immediately available in the same tab, so if you missed the meeting, you don’t have to look for it. It’s right there, alongside the meeting minutes and agreed-upon actions.
3. No more countless emails
Drowning in emails is no longer an option. Because conversations are now structured in your Teams, you no longer have the email-upon-email response, which is often sent as a Reply All.
And what if someone needs to send you a file or ask you a quick question? That’s why there’s Chat!
4. Improved collaboration and communication
You don’t need to switch apps to collaborate on a document because of the tight integration with Office 365. In Teams, you can create a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document, immediately share it with your colleagues, and then co-author it in the blink of an eye.
There will be no more sending out different versions via email and the resulting version confusion. You can add comments and to-dos, as well as chat with your coworkers, right there in the document.
5. Stay connected
We need to stay connected, reachable, and have access to all of your resources while on the move. You have instant access to all of your apps and documents with the Teams phone app.
You can easily respond to chat and conversations, join meetings with a single click, and collaborate indefinitely. So you’re always up to date, even when you’re on the go.
Conclusion
Teams personifies Microsoft’s modern workplace by presenting a unified interface that enables users to collaborate seamlessly across Microsoft 365 apps that are integrated on the backend. Teams, Microsoft’s “hub for teamwork,” combines chat, calls, meetings, file sharing, and third-party tools in a single location.
In that sense, Teams is the solution people have been looking for since transitioning to remote work and looking for ways to address the challenges of Teams governance and security.
Microsoft has added new Teams features to address the needs of remote workers as they evolve in real time. Teams continues to evolve and adapt to changing circumstances, keeping us connected, communicating, and productive, with features ranging from streamlined file sharing to shareable calendars.
This all sounds wonderful, but where do you start if you want to acquire Microsoft Teams and want to learn how to use it to get the most out of it?
Don’t worry, we got your back! Contact EmpowerIT and don’t get left behind when it comes to modern workspace.
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