Coronavirus has forced an unlucky few to stay home. It’s possible that we’ll have a nation of remote workers in due course. With such a disrupt, one may worry about what might become of your workplace’s productivity. Fear not. Microsoft Teams is here to ensure not even the latest pandemic will affect things. Here’s why.
Fewer stresses = increased productivity
Evidence suggests more remote work will benefit the workplace. Zero commuting will save hours. This can increase work life balance and preserve valuable energy that might otherwise be spent on travel. Plus, most employee homes are more conducive to quiet focus than the typical office.
Efficient collaboration tools
Some assume you need to share a room with a co-worker to effectively collaborate. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Multiple team members can work simultaneously from a shared document. Notes, questions and updates are easily accessible from within the platform, so back and forth emails are minimised. Shared docs can also be easily viewed with a shared screen function allowing team members to present their work to their co-workers easily. Much quicker than calling them over to a desk.
You can still nail team meetings
Similarly, meetings can take place without friction. Using shared chat rooms and on the fly video conferencing. Up to 80 people can communicate via video whether they’re remote or in the office. The calls can even be recorded and transcribed automatically ensuring nobody misses a beat.
Swift file sharing
You’ll find Microsoft’s OneDrive presently integrated with Teams. Right click any file from your OneDrive folder and a link is created for you to copy and paste into any communication channel of your choosing. Read and edit permissions can be set with similar ease. Far more efficient than doling out hard copies on site.
Easy scheduling
Scheduling can feel like herding cats, especially with older platforms like Outlook. With the Microsoft Teams calendar, someone can see both theirs, and the shared calendars of other departments. Now schedulers needn’t bother someone at home as calendars adapt and develop easily behind the scenes.
That’s the tip of the iceberg
Microsoft Teams is laden with tricks that’ll transform your work. You can filter out less relevant chats such as personal messages or to do lists using @mentions. Goodbye information overwhelm. You can speed up various basic operations with slash commands. e.g. /GoTo will jump you straight into a channel. Or /Saved will jump you to your saved messages. Then for international teams, inline message translation is great; people can chat in their native tongue as Teams translates things into English. Basically the more you use teams, the more it presents itself as a productivity Swiss army knife for both remote and on site work.
Stay calm
We’ve certainly seen the benefit of utilising Teams during this challenging period, and so have many other organisations across the globe. For example, Air France has even replaced its radio system with Teams.
If preparing for any curveballs Coronavirus throws and having a more efficient and mobile workforce sounds appealing, then click here to contact us on getting started with working remotely.