Experts in Microsoft Teams share their tips and tricks to help you master Microsoft Teams.
Prior to March, Microsoft Teams had been getting a lot of attention from organizations that had made the investment in Microsoft 365. It had passed up Slack in the number of daily users and was quickly becoming the preferred tool for collaboration and communication. It was also connecting users to other applications in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that may have been underutilized prior to the release of Teams, applications like SharePoint and Microsoft Planner.
We have been using Teams for quite some time and there are a few features and tricks that may not be well known. When we tell clients about these capabilities and features, clients are excited to learn about them. We have picked a few tips and tricks to share in this blog.
Microsoft Teams Shortcuts
If you are an experienced user of Microsoft products, you may know about shortcuts. With a combination of just a couple of keys, you are able to improve your experience in Microsoft Teams.
Here is a downloadable one-pager of the Microsoft Teams shortcuts.
Microsoft Teams Gallery View
We often host Microsoft Teams meetings with several attendees and some users don’t know how to set up their view so all meeting attendees can be seen. Switch your view to Large Gallery or Together Mode to see all of the other attendees in one view.
Backgrounds
Microsoft Teams has several background options that you can use to hide that pile of laundry that is sitting behind you. Choose from a simple “blur background” to more sophisticated background that will have other attendees guessing, “Where are they?”
Kiefer had even put together a customizable template and instructions on how to create your own personal backgrounds. This blog will show you how.
Background Noise Suppression
Believe it or not, this is a real thing! And, it works.
This newer feature was recently released and uses Teams AI to differentiate between your voice and other noises. A dog barking, a loud truck driving by, a leaf blower, or even a noisy bag of chips will not be heard by other meeting attendees, but they will hear your voice loud and clear. In a funny experiment we did, Kiefer Consulting Principal Consultant, Peter Allen, could be hear but we couldn’t hear his vacuum cleaner. Funny thing, Peter couldn’t hear us over the vacuum. Here is a great video that highlights this new feature.
New Team or New Channel?
Our friends at AvePoint have done a good job of defining when to create a channel vs. creating a team
“Channels are the communication boundary, meaning that the Team includes everyone who has access and should know about the work being done, while channels are the method in which you sub-divide what that greater Team is doing into organized segments.”
This is good information. If you are working collaboratively in a Team and you want to break up the work within the team, a channel will keep the effort tied to the Team but will allow collaboration and communication to occur in a designated space.
Governance policies help guide users on how to best use Microsoft Teams and policies regarding Teams vs. Channels are often defined in the governance plans that we help clients develop.
We can help you get control of Microsoft Teams and work with your organization to help you maximize your investment in Microsoft 365. These tips and tricks are just to help you get started. Call us to learn more or for a free Microsoft Teams consultation.