Make collaboration in Microsoft Teams a breeze in 2020

Advances in technology continue to enable new and exciting ways for workforce collaboration. The goal of Microsoft Teams is to allow users to centralise their work in one location to increase collaboration, efficiency and productivity. This year, there are a number of new improvements that have been made to the platform, to make it even easier for your staff to work together.

Here are 5 quick tips that will make collaboration in Microsoft Teams a breeze in 2020.

1. Pin your most used channels and drag and drop

In Microsoft Teams, each channel is built around a certain topic, like a department name, or project name. Each organisation's channel structure will look different, with users often required to work across multiple channels. The new pinned channels feature allows you to pin your most used channels to the top of your screen for quick access. To pin a channel, click on more options (•••) next to the channel you would like to pin. It's that easy!

2. Get familiar with your organisation

Did you know that Teams has an organisation tab which shows the org chart of your business? This is not only a fantastic onboarding tool for new employees but also allows all staff to view reporting lines and departmental information. Once your organisation has input the data to generate your organisation view, users will be able to identify where an individual sits within the business and any associated reports.

3. Take the shortcut

Do you use a keyboard instead of a mouse? Or do you just like saving time? Well, the good news is, Teams has a shortcut for you. In the Teams app, press ALT + / to display a list of available keyboard shortcuts.

4. Customise your notification preferences

Did you know you can change notifications options for each channel separately? Users find it helpful to turn off notifications for channels that they are currently not participating in, and turn on notifications for a channel that contains important project information.

To customise, click on more options (•••) next to the channel you would like to change notifications for. Click channel notifications and a settings menu will appear.

5. Get noticed

Tags notify your teammates in their activity feed about a conversation. This is helpful when you want to draw attention to a part of a conversation to a teammate or have an action item for specific teammates. Users will also see tagged messages in their activity feed and can keep track of important action items there.

To tag someone in a message, type @ followed by their name. A menu will appear with your teammates name, make sure to click on your teammates name. The name will appear purple in your message after you correctly inserted the @Mention.

Our team can help with your Microsoft Teams

Whether your goal is to run a simple installation of Teams or a fully-integrated version connected to your CRM and unified communication system with custom dashboards, our Technology Consulting team is available to make your Microsoft Teams implementation and staff training program a success.