Recent months have been a good time in terms of the growing use of the Microsoft Teams video conferencing application as remote work has quickly become the new norm for many employees. The time is right as Microsoft’s integrated cloud services increasingly direct users to use Teams more. As a result, the number of trainings and introductions on my calendar has also increased with different kinds of organizations. These trainings and introductions have been organized as Teams meetings, of course.
The core functions associated with holding Teams meetings are generally relatively smooth for users. Instead, using the app, in general, is perceived as difficult in the sense that the organization may not have agreed very precisely on common rules about how to work with it in-house. Indeed, discussions about creating a community’s playbook to support the implementation of tools often prompt employees in the organization to think about it from their own, and foremost, from the organization’s perspective; how to use Teams and what to get out of it.
Comprehensive instructions can be found in the Microsoft support materials and YouTube video tutorials, which describe how to use the application and how to change various settings and advanced features to suit your needs. However, the key to success is to instruct on the method and process defined by the organization, as well as its guidance so that each user understands how the organization wants the issue to be handled and how to work with related tools.
Get the most out of Teams and other Microsoft 365 programs
During the planning of Teams implementation, it is good to remember that Teams is part of a package of interconnected Microsoft products.
Teams enables smooth teamwork, including:
– Document processing with Office programs: working, saving and sharing documents, and leveraging SharePoint document management features
– Supporting project management with Planner
– Meeting management: smooth planning, organizing, and handling related material, both documents and OneNote notes.
Once one part of the Microsoft 365 universe is under control and on top of mind, the other parts’ utilization becomes easier and turns into routines. This saves employees time, makes work more efficient, and increases the meaningfulness and productivity of work by eliminating unnecessary jumping between windows in multiple applications. In this way, the time spent on planning comes back as a return on investment once the organization begins to create its playbook.
When one part of the whole is under control, the entity begins to take shape more clearly, and thus the benefits of the other parts and functionalities become clearer. Perceiving the whole brings benefits to employees in saving time and effort, making work more efficient, and increasing the meaningfulness and productivity of work without unnecessarily jumping between windows in multiple applications. The time spent on planning comes back as a concrete benefit involving all employees. The organization’s own defined playbook brings users clarity and ease of use, as well as an increased return on investment for the business.
The key to happiness through education
As stated above, one part of success is a defined playbook. Also, it should be remembered that proper guidance alone is not enough, but implementing guidance is the ultimate key to happiness. When an organization has Microsoft Teams instructions and training available in addition to its playbook, they further streamline and boost application usage. The right type and timely utilization of training and consulting to put things right in the organization are as important as taking into account the needs and perspectives of end-users and involving them already in the planning phase of the implementation project. Through a common way, a high-quality and consistent outcome is created.
Is the Wild West raging in your organization? Contact our other consultants or me and let us tackle the situation together!
Arno Hakkarainen
Senior consultant
