10 Ways Microsoft Teams Helps Us Work Remotely

Now more than ever before, the workforce for many businesses is mobile. Leaders must manage remote workers in numerous locations, and to be effective, they need tools that will enable and enhance their connectivity and collaboration.

Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork in Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft Teams is designed to connect remote workers so that, as Microsoft puts it, they can “work remotely without feeling remote.”

The application will bring everything you and your teams need in one place. It allows for greater individual productivity as well as improved collaboration between members. Even when working remotely, your team can have access to important CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) data, curated research, and on-demand information. Team members can converse with each other, host meetings, coauthor documents, and collaborate in other apps.

Because Microsoft Teams is so versatile, there are numerous ways to arrange your users and channels. You can figure out what works best for your organization and your crew. Watch this short case study video to see how we at BroadPoint, Inc., begin our day in Microsoft Teams. Then review the takeaways, along with screenshot examples, in the summary below.

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Daily Hub is configured to each user and makes use of channels that are organized to include all the tools, items, and resources that team members use daily. Our Daily Hubs include these channels:

1. My To-Dos is a channel we’ve created to give us an overview view of what we need to accomplish. There is a list of tasks and responsibilities designated: manager, customer, staff, or unassigned. We use Microsoft Planner to track tasks, assign due dates, and organize tasks by priority.
2. The Sales Analytics channel gives an overview of our financial data taken from our Dynamics 365 CRM and our Dynamics 365 BC ERP. We can easily view our sales leader board, win-loss analyses, and related data we need for running our business.
3. The Sales Opportunities view allows us to see all leads relative to our jobs. This data is pulled in seamlessly from our Dynamics 365 CRM system. We can quickly identify hot opportunities that require immediate attention by filtering for leads that are in late stages.
4. Our Virtual Notebook reminds us of the big ideas we’ve been working on and gives us a place to note staff and management topics. We use it with Microsoft OneNote – another Office 365 application that integrates beautifully with Microsoft Teams.

After reviewing our Daily Hubs to orient ourselves for the day, we can move on to our Corporate Hub. In our Corporate Hub, we’ve created various channels to help employees remain in sync with the goals and initiatives of our organization as a whole.

5. Announcements is a channel within our Corporate Hub that provides up-to-date company-wide information such as new employees onboarding, or new policies being implemented.
6. From Daily Access, staff can read articles relevant to our company, such as the latest Microsoft CRM capabilities. We can pull in the RSS feeds of blogs we monitor regularly. We also pull in content from our company blog so that everyone can quickly and easily read our recent blog posts. Finally, we have key, high-level metrics that are pulled in from our CRM and ERP systems so we can all see how the company is performing against goals.
7. With the How Do I channel, we can all find information that we may not use regularly but occasionally need access to. Examples would be the organization’s work-from-home policy, travel policy, or annual review process. When employees wonder, “How do I enter an expense report again?” they find the answer on the How Do I channel within the Corporate Hub team.
8. Through the Shoutouts channel, our staff can give kudos to co-workers. These comments are shared with the entire company and promote peer recognition.
9. The Water Cooler is a channel within our Corporate Hub team that functions as an internal social media channel for our users. For instance, our staff can post personal news and pictures, such as their kids’ sports milestones.
10. The Tips and Tricks channel within our Corporate Hub team includes audios and videos that employees record using Microsoft Stream, another Office 365 application that integrates beautifully with Microsoft Teams. They can post short videos to share information such as how to clean up your desktop, find posts, pin favorites, etc.

Microsoft Teams is an ideal app for all team members wanting to be more organized, and companies pursuing better collaboration and increased productivity. With Microsoft Teams, you can access information from your OneDrive files and read articles hosted on external websites whenever you want. Manage to-dos, view your weekly schedule, and organize notes for greater efficiency. And you can view CRM and ERP data when you want, and in the format you prefer, all in one place.

While your company is navigating the ever-evolving workplace this year, are you taking advantage of the efficiency and connectivity of Microsoft Teams?

Here at BroadPoint Inc., we are eager to support Microsoft CRM clients as they learn to better manage their remote workforce for ultimate productivity and collaboration. That’s why we’re offering this free, 30-minute Microsoft Teams for a Remote Workforce consultation.

By BroadPoint – Top Microsoft Partner for CRM –  www.broadpoint.net