In short, it goes without saying – No other tool offers so many benefits to power and drive your business forward than Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And here\u2019s how to use it effectively: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Get the Most of MS Teams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Below, you will find 12 tips & tricks that\u2019ll help you become the MS Teams user you seek to become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Avoid duplicate team names<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One of the first things you\u2019ll do when launching MS Teams is to create a team (or join an existing one). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s say you\u2019re joining a team. But if there are two teams with the same name, you\u2019ll get confused about which one is yours every time you open Teams, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You should keep that in mind if you\u2019re the one creating a team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, duplicate team names are confusing, obviously. But unfortunately, Microsoft allows using duplicate names in MS Teams, and it\u2019s up to you to ensure that there are none in your account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me illustrate the impact of having duplicate team names with an example. Let\u2019s say that your iOS team is creating an iOS app, and the Android team is creating an Android app. For project managers of both teams, it\u2019s the XYZ app team. Hence, both can create a team \u201cXYZ app discussion\u201d on MS Teams, leading to much confusion between teams. That\u2019s the situation you want to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The simplest way to do so is by asking the team leaders\/managers to check all group names before naming. Then, they can simply type the name in the MS Teams search bar to find whether it exists or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way to avoid duplicate names and make teams & channels navigation experience better is to have strict naming conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In practical scenarios, individuals are often in more than one team. A naming convention helps such users navigate faster. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, let me illustrate this with a simple example. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s pretend that you run a digital agency and one of your employees takes care of clients\u2019 social media. Now, there are several ways to create a team\/channel for the individual. For instance, you can create just a general social media team channel where you discuss everything regarding social media or have a team per each client and a specific \u201csocial media\u201d channel per each team \u2060\u2014 which one\u2019s better?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n A naming convention<\/a> such as \u201cName of The Project – Country – Project,\u201d \u201cName of The Project – Department – Project,\u201d \u201cCity – Country – Store,\u201d \u201cDepartment Name – Country – Department,\u201d etc., can make the MS Teams experience more efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In MS Teams, there\u2019s a Chat <\/em>option and a Teams <\/em>option. Both are for different things; put shortly, use chats for one-to-one messages and channels for collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This piece by AvePoint<\/a> explains the use cases for both excellently. Let me summarize the main points for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes, some discussions don\u2019t need the input of many channel members. In such cases, keeping the discussion going in the same channel can distract them from doing what they are supposed to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example – You don\u2019t need to keep the social media scheduler in the loop when discussing creatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, creating a private group where only the related members can discuss and view messages makes a lot of sense. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I discussed this a bit in the \u201cnaming conventions\u201d section. However, manyFor example, if times, some of the same people work on different projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, it\u2019s essential to set up teams for each project, wherein the discussions & files remain exclusive to the project team. This makes searching & navigating a lot easier for the team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MS Teams offers robust file-sharing capabilities. The thing is, however, that the system stores all the files & folders on Sharepoint. This includes every file and folder shared during the discussion or manually added via the \u201cFiles\u201d tab at the top of each channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s your responsibility to familiarize your team with this feature. Then, they can add, view, download, and reshare the same files & folders directly to\/from Sharepoint via MS Teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not all notifications are essential. For example, you don\u2019t necessarily need to know the lunch discussions happening in the chat group; neither do you want a pop-up every second from teams & private channels with 150 members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Setting up your notifications properly is perhaps the best hack to use Microsoft Teams efficiently, if not effectively. Here\u2019s how you do it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are a team owner, you can manage all the files and folders in the team\/channel. Ensure you never set the files library to private unless you don\u2019t want team members to view the file. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By default, the owners and members can edit the files\/folders, and viewers can view them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did you know that you can use MS Teams as more than an internal collaboration platform? <\/p>\n\n\n\n For one, you can connect live chat with MS Teams<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, you can chat with your current and potential customers immediatelychanges and support<\/a> them in real-time from the software you have open all day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meaning, instead of the customer having to send an email or submit a support ticket and be dissatisfied with delayed responses, you get to build a great customer experience. And if you didn\u2019t know, 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, a confused customer is way more likely to ask via live chat than take his\/her time to find your email & send concerns. In other words, connecting MS Teams with Live Chat essentially helps you pull potential customers into the sales funnel<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Team meets are a vital part of running successful projects. Microsoft\u2019s Outlook + Skype for Business is a great tool to schedule & conduct team meetings. However, Microsoft\u2019s Teams just makes it easier by integrating the Meetings functionality on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can schedule a meeting and notify team members directly from Teams. Even better, if you need to discuss things over the call while having a chat on the teams, you can simply \u201cMeet Now\u201d and start the meeting right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OneNote is Microsoft\u2019s note-taking application, primarily used for free-form information gathering and collaborations. It provides a hub for all your notes. You can organize notes into separate notebooks, create sections within notebooks, add multimedia documents, write notes, and do much more with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to OneNote integration, you can collaborate<\/a> on documents & take notes directly from MS Teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Duplicate](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/v3F29w41ng_hsP8tL4gGY-VMc_VqLT_Jkt349fv33GoNqYg9AOkalOlIUmI4_cRu8cWh9JenDkJjmrflSfFMcWPVAvT-zGIgHVpDmjgFlZZX1qiv9TKdRc6P_sSVyVWz95_HOrea\")
2. Set up naming conventions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Naming](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/zGRXFyImbBqpcZsyKOzCrca_KiGOtbg0-kXWwHgOeVDYpoy-1tdL9Fl_cmu_A8fDuaesYwVkodqyWGAR56bJZmFV9tnZTwIKIU2f1_Q53HDSvlv2mf8WGDETf_l0rP0JMUvwRMGC\")
3. Use chats for one-to-one messages and general channels for collaboration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Chat](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/JwrnMl038jx0TmV1MLDmi16vDwg-gGGQsZwI8j8XkMY1BZPCdXnqB64rmuI4BKM0iHu_XiPPB7S3bVjmHSqt4a8LBJA0VIchPTAWRIW0EEZGJTnwCuulrivAb2f3IJwm4MTin3ZX\")
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4. Make important groups private to let the team focus on their work<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Set up teams for each project<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Familiarize your team with Folders and Files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"File](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/EVQ9aPFog1juryGN6EhJt3SfpGbFh01CAqAblrQJgRCQSxDNP9_6r8OZi24MvzqylJSAzuf-2s8E3W23JShBLjAKJFlEb7Lp5ie3pFcOjwVCvksbSK72DEyCWDtO9OEbq9i1F_YD\")
7. Set up Notifications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"MS](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/vSLmcCWOnJJDpmIvEnbglULHOT4GCBbyHKDXTB8aIua3jm9XWyEQCtqEi1yKM1cv2AVmzTsnM-FV8IzF-d9_ejid4_2gCHR6P-SZejAmEGbVk5oAnz1p_eB3JP4Zwh5h8o8qC6rJ\")
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8. Do not set files library private<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Connect Teams with Live Chat<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Live](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/avfP4FoZbz-ACuwU3RCZSIxvwiUkaljipWBo008jc4-EQ_gQL3jDZrZwv9M1_orpN2JvegsHg2oUCp3RSVLRqU6jKPi_7YVa5JeWe9PPTN_diZMaHkZD5u86UgZL5AnEDZHQdn-F\")
10. Set up all calendar meetings in Teams, not Outlook<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Calendar](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/ebZRA1yy-yINwYxZCQH8dxeFHdQC6QrPDQofYbDJTnkQ_oqskB3QdWX-mmkioHehhitjMzThdl0kENHw2O1myikomLTJxd7rLAAyDyEfO8ohy7fwbIyPhZ0AeoC4y2lQyOHO-DLk\")
11. Use Notes in Teams to collaborate on documents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"OneNote](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/fZBOY5kAE7vlQZuBHR8TVkktDC_o7mfs_1uXvXw3Pp_UsvNqc1bLOTLvUK3772KsK9QXSHGVqq8yZcCfALXU5PVX4kqRCGxoaOuNHk5BnxgeeQddyMYOmviZaGbEbmhPU-_lzdTy\")
![\"Background](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/orc34L5cyQBiUk_aKh-ObQC7NJNiC16jsPVT4uwFgDL3ZztOoaixuxboCQkbzbMn_AKdJ9xzuRvcNupPIfK_xA-EUM1g0C_ikTB1u7nw0hdmaQgzgTFlfplAP1K_CmE8IMzP1ePk\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n