Start the Conversation with Typetec
Submit your email and a member of our team will be in touch with you.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Having a good workflow is essential to being productive in the workplace. After all, a workflow will allow you to be more efficient, and ensure that you can get everything that you need to do done in a rapid amount of time. Microsoft is at the forefront of this — they have the best productivity tools out there in the form of Microsoft 365.
One of the key tools in Microsoft 365 is Microsoft Teams, one of the most popular programs in the post-pandemic world. Businesses are using Microsoft Teams to unify communications and to bolster their productivity all around. But, this isn’t as simple as just using Teams — there’s more to it if you want to get the most out of it.
In this article, we’re going to go over the ins and outs of Microsoft Teams when it comes to workflow and productivity. We’ll help you figure out exactly how to streamline your workflow in Teams and give you lots of tips on how you can use Teams to its fullest potential.
Ensuring your business's Microsoft Teams is set up correctly is crucial for an efficient workspace. Your teams will become your company's central communication hub, With this, if you set up your teams and channels incorrectly, users may find it difficult to navigate channels, find information, and communicate effectively — making your workflow ultimately worse.
Creating a standardised naming convention for your business’s teams is a great way to keep things organized. Using conventions such as character limits and prefixes will keep your teams' names accessible and ensure that finding the correct channels for information is simple, while also maintaining a tidy presentation to help keep your employees’ mindsets productive and tidy in the process.
Setting clear descriptions for all channels within Teams lets users know exactly what the channel is for. By including conventions such as key topics or team members, users can search efficiently through your business’s Teams, and reduce the chance of misplaced information. Ultimately, this will mean that information is more readily accessible and will improve productivity all around.
Within a busy Teams setup, it’s key to use the ‘Pin’ feature to its full extent. By pinning channels, users may access important or commonly used channels with ease, and pinning messages ensures no crucial information is lost in a chat — keeping them safely stored to return to in a separate tab.
Whether you work inside, outside, or hybrid within the office, keeping track of your calendar and status on Teams is important. Microsoft Teams' built-in calendar lets you quickly create meetings fit for everyone’s schedule, and RSVP in advance, whilst your status informs users of your current availability, letting you chat when necessary, and then work in peace.
Sometimes, when working on a project, a specific person has the information you require. Instead of waiting for them to be available, you can mention them in a chat using ‘@username’. This will notify them of the exact team channel and message, ensuring your query isn’t lost or ignored while working.
When you need a message viewed immediately by your team, you can mark it as ‘Important’ or ‘Urgent’ using the delivery options feature. Important messages will appear with an ‘Important’ banner, while Urgent messages will notify users regularly until they see it — ensuring no crucial information is left unheard.
All of these features are built to work around productivity and to enable peoples’ working styles — instead of the archaic ‘email-and-wait’ system, the notifications, pings, and other ways to contact and communicate with people fully enable productivity and a modern way of working.
Microsoft Teams offers three methods of ‘calls’, all tailored to different circumstances. Audio and Video calls are better for one-on-one or small-group interactions, while Meetings are tailored to group discussions and collaboration, with features such as reactions, presenter mode, and a virtual whiteboard, to push communication further.
Back-to-back meetings are detrimental to your work day. With Teams, it is easy to avoid this stress. When creating meetings, Teams will suggest the most optimal times for users involved — a lot less work for a more effective meeting. Similarly, when submitting a meeting RSVP, check your calendar to ensure you have room for a break.
Sending video messages within Teams is also a feature that can be leveraged for productivity. With the ability to start, pause, and review your footage as you go, you can record up to a minute of video to send as a message anywhere within teams, letting you communicate effectively with your team, even through the screen.
When managing your business’s Teams, it’s vital to review your workspace periodically. Editing the names of teams and channels, curating channel descriptions, and removing unnecessary channels, teams, and pins will help keep your company's workspace organised and efficient.
The phrase ‘tidy space, tidy mind’ goes a long way here, as high levels of organisation and productivity will also encourage your employees to work in a more productive manner.
On top of this, gaining employee feedback on your organisation’s Teams is the easiest way to know whether it is efficient. You’ll gain a greater understanding of your employees' Teams usage, any positives or negatives they experience, and any changes they’d like to see — giving you the fuel to adapt and create a work environment that works for everyone.
For any business, productivity is key. Microsoft Teams is one of the best tools available to boost your productivity, and doing so will help you take your communications to a whole new level.
If you’re looking to get started with Microsoft Teams and need a helping hand, reach out to us today. We’re here to help and will make sure that you have everything you need to unlock your productivity to its full potential.
Get in touch with us now and see how we can help you.