In the never-ending quest for workplace efficiency, it’s easy to get lost in the various productivity apps that promise simpler workflows and better business outcomes. But trying to consolidate your meeting notes, team documents and emails across all those different apps? It feels like trying to herd cats.
Enter Microsoft Teams: your centralized hub for team collaboration in Office 365. Not only is Microsoft Teams an effective tool for facilitating better teamwork, but it also works wonders for individual productivity. Here are three good reasons why you should be using Microsoft Teams, whether you’re working in-office or remotely:
1. Microsoft Teams makes instant video calling easy.
Scoot over, Zoom. Thanks to Microsoft Teams’ video call capabilities, the days of opening external apps or digging through emails to find a meeting link are behind you. Just click the video call button on the top right corner of the chat room, and boom: instant, face-to-face communication is underway.
While this feature is especially handy for remote workers, it’s also useful for those still in the office. Sure, you can poke your head into a colleague’s office if they’re right across the hall. But leaving your desk to chat — even just for a few minutes — eats up precious time that could be used for more mission-critical tasks. Microsoft Teams makes it easy to quickly connect with colleagues without derailing your workflow.
2. Its chat function streamlines communication.
It’s no secret: email isn’t always efficient. In fact, the average office worker spends 2.5 hours a day reading and responding to around 200 emails, based on research conducted by Forbes. Of those 200 emails, approximately 144 aren’t even relevant to their job. That equates to roughly 10 years of your life wasted on useless emails. This certainly puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?
Luckily, Microsoft Teams’ instant messaging features eliminate the need to wade through endless email chains. Teams makes it easy for colleagues to ping you with a quick question via individual chats. And if you need input from more team members, you can create selective, categorized group chats that keep conversations both organized and relevant for everyone involved.
The best part about the group chat feature is that it allows people to tag you directly in messages. Once a colleague tags you, you’re notified right away — and you can instantly find the message by clicking on the notification. It’s a faster, more streamlined alternative to digging through hundreds of emails. It’ll save you both time and a lot of frustration!
3. Teams seamlessly integrates with other Office 365 apps.
Microsoft Teams is included on every version of Microsoft Office 365. That means if you already have a Microsoft license, you can start using Teams today. You don’t even need to create new credentials — just login with the email address and password you’ve been using already.
Teams integrates seamlessly with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft applications you most likely already use on a daily basis. This makes it extremely easy to send and share documents with colleagues right inside of the Teams chat function. Additionally, if you’re using Microsoft SharePoint, Teams enables you to work collaboratively and make changes to the same document in real-time.
Another great Teams feature? It integrates with your calendar, too, allowing you to create meetings and invite colleagues directly within the Teams app. Because it’s integrated with Outlook, you won’t have to search for your colleagues’ availability, and your meeting will immediately sync to your colleagues’ calendars once it’s scheduled. Talk about efficiency!
Before We Sign Off….
Microsoft Teams not only effectively organizes your collaboration, it also improves your personal workspace. From eliminating emails to making meetings a breeze, Microsoft Teams is one of the most efficient and streamlined solutions on the market. We’ve found that Teams has become an integral part of how we get work done at Tech Guru, and it’s been one of the best additions we’ve made to our workdays in a long time.
Want a closer look into Teams before jumping on board? Book an intro call with us and we’ll walk you through all the features Microsoft Teams has to offer.