Ready to turbocharge Microsoft Teams productivity?

Microsoft Teams is now one of the most popular UCaaS and collaboration apps around. Designed to synchronize employees in the age of flexible work, improve interactions, and boost workplace efficiency, Teams can easily make any business more productive.

Moreover, as the platform continues to evolve, its benefits are constantly improving. However, for companies to truly make the most of this incredible platform, they need to leverage the right features.

Microsoft Teams is brimming with capabilities and tools that can serve a range of use cases. Some are designed to enhance customer service; others boost employee engagement. Today, we’re looking at the best features you can use to increase Microsoft Teams’ productivity.

The Top 10 Features for Microsoft Teams Productivity

Virtually every feature on Microsoft Teams can impact the productivity level of staff. Even simple solutions for employee engagement, like virtual backgrounds, help empower teams. However, some tools have a bigger impact on productivity than others.

Here are our top 10 Microsoft Teams productivity features as of 2023:

1. Microsoft Teams Copilot

At the time of writing, Copilot for Microsoft Teams isn’t generally available to all users. However, there’s little doubt this feature will have a phenomenal impact on team productivity. Copilot, the generative AI productivity tool built with Open AI, is set to revolutionize Teams.

When it’s fully available, Copilot will enhance both phone calls and messaging interactions in Teams. On Teams Phone, the solution will provide real-time summarizations and insights on calls. It can also draft notes during conversations, highlight key points, and more with natural language commands.

In Teams Chat, Copilot can synthesize essential information from chat threads, help users get caught up on team conversations, and organize key discussion points. The solution can also rapidly summarize information relevant to your specific needs without interrupting the flow of work.

2. Microsoft Teams Integrations

Many of the best Microsoft Teams productivity features are native to the platform. However, the solution’s ability to integrate seamlessly with other tools can improve productivity too. Microsoft designed Teams to sync seamlessly with your existing Microsoft 365 apps.

This means employees can access Outlook, SharePoint Online, Calendar tools, and Office apps, all while using the Teams platform. Additionally, the Microsoft AppSource store provides access to other integrations for leading tools. There are even apps specifically designed for productivity.

With integrations, business leaders can unify all the tools employees need to do their best work into a single pane of glass. Less time spent jumping between different apps and screens means employees can enjoy a more focused, straightforward workflow.

3. Automation with Power Automate

Workflow automation has become one of the most potent productivity drivers in recent years. Through automation, employees and business leaders can minimize repetitive tasks. This means every employee gets more time to focus on the work that matters.

Teams’ integration with Microsoft Power Automate makes automating workflows simple. Users can create flows that automate specific alerts, notifications, and more. They can trigger scheduled flows with bots and even streamline approval processes.

Microsoft even offers templates to get users started. For instance, there are templates for creating a task in Planner from Microsoft Forms, then posting a message about the job straight to Teams.

4. Microsoft Teams Channels

Channels are one of the core features of Teams, and they’re fantastic for boosting employee productivity. With media, companies can organize groups of employees into specific segments for focused discussions. This helps minimize notification overwhelm by ensuring employees can focus on the information that matters most to them.

Users can show the channels they want to see and mute or hide the ones they don’t, using the “More Options” sections in Teams. Plus, with Teams, it’s possible to add guests to channels for cross-company collaboration and set up recurring meetings.

With recurring meetings, companies can ensure team members communicate regularly without worrying about creating regular meeting sessions.

5. Viva on Teams

Microsoft Viva, the employee engagement platform from Microsoft, integrates directly with Teams. It offers a range of features that can help boost productivity. For instance, Viva Engage brings people together to create more active communities. Viva Topics uses AI to organize content and provide valuable resources to employees automatically.

One of Viva’s best Microsoft Teams productivity features is “Viva Insights.” This tool uses AI and data to deliver powerful insights and recommendations to employees. It can help streamline workflows and eliminate roadblocks in the workplace.

Another great solution is Viva Goals. This solution helps business leaders align teams and employees around the same targets and priorities.

6. Microsoft Notifications

Another core feature on Microsoft Teams with exceptional potential for boosting productivity is notifications. Microsoft automatically sends users messages about the activity in their Teams channels to keep them up-to-date on the workflow.

However, the best thing about Microsoft Teams notifications is they can be customized. Each Team user can customize when and how they want to receive notifications. You can ask for updates to be sent straight to an Outlook email address as often as you like.

There’s also the option to choose between in-app notifications, desktop notifications, and more. Users can even ask to see notifications when a particular person’s status changes.

7. Microsoft Loop in Teams

Microsoft Loop is a handy solution designed to help teams plan, think, and create together. Thanks to its integration with Teams, it’s one of the best Microsoft Teams productivity features for flexible work. With Loop components in Teams chat, employees can create shared pages and workspaces, share pieces of content rapidly across platforms, and more.

Microsoft is even embedding the Copilot solution into the Loop app to provide companies with AI-powered suggestions for enhanced collaboration.

Loop in Teams helps employees to get things done faster, whether they’re crowdsourcing an agenda for a meeting, taking notes collectively, or tracking actions.

8. Microsoft Teams Bots

Similar to apps on Microsoft Teams, bots are handy tools that help streamline the workflow flow. These simple AI-powered solutions have a conversational interface, making them easy to use. Employees and business leaders can create bots on Microsoft Teams for various purposes.

For instance, bots can scan through FAQs and knowledgebase articles to help users surface information quickly. There are even templates from Microsoft for creating bots that remind users about their daily tasks and deadlines.

Bots can even complete specific tasks on behalf of users. For instance, they can arrange meetings with other employees, provide insights into travel information, and more.

9. Microsoft Teams Tabs

Tabs are one of the best ways for users on Teams to customize their collaborative experience. Essentially, they’re Teams-aware webpages embedded into the Teams instance. Tabs are handy for bringing various forms of content into the Teams environment.

For instance, users could set up a “static tab,” which allows them to make notes as they work and keep track of important information. Alternatively, business leaders can set up “configurable” tabs that become a core part of the Teams channel, providing access to valuable resources.

Like Teams apps and integrations, Tabs help bring more of the tools users need into a single environment for productivity. They can also be customized for each user.

10. Meeting Whiteboards

Productivity and creativity often go hand in hand. Sometimes employees need visual context and guidance to enhance their workflow. Fortunately, that’s where Microsoft Teams whiteboards come in. This handy tool lets participants sketch and share ideas on an infinite screen.

Whiteboards are great for Microsoft Teams’ productivity, allowing people to share ideas and work consistently in real-time. It’s even possible to save whiteboards and information from shared sessions so employees can return to them later.

The Microsoft Whiteboard technology can also enhance meetings by offering access to collaborative annotation features during screen-sharing sessions.

Bonus Tip for Microsoft Teams Productivity

The 10 Microsoft Teams productivity features above will help companies to empower their employees in today’s collaborative world. However, there’s another way businesses might be able to upgrade the experiences of their employees on Teams.

Updating to Microsoft Teams 2.0, when it becomes generally available, could significantly enhance team efficiency and productivity. Not only will the new solution come with more access to tools like Copilot, but it also works on a new architecture.

According to Microsoft, Teams 2.0 will be faster, more efficient, and less demanding on computer resources. This could mean employees face fewer performance issues with their app. It also has an improved user interface and the option to sign into Teams with multiple accounts.

You can learn how to enable and start experimenting with Teams 2.0 here.



from UC Today https://ift.tt/BfHMz2k