Microsoft Teams has become the go-to communication tool for countless businesses. This is largely due to its wide range of features and ease of use. Teams offer various ways to communicate, collaborate, and boost productivity, all while keeping things simple and user-friendly.
You probably already know about the basic features of Teams, such as video calls, and file sharing. However, several lesser-known features can improve your Teams experience even further. We have compiled a list of five such features below and hope that you find them as useful as we and our clients do.
Apps in Teams bring various tools and services right into the platform. Using apps allows you to complete more of your tasks from one place. You might find that there is already a Teams app for the services you currently use. This means you can keep your existing functionality or data whilst working in Teams.
Some useful apps that can be found in Microsoft Teams are Planner, Trello, OneNote and Microsoft Forms. All of which can boost your daily productivity. In addition to this, there is also an extensive catalogue of apps available. To conclude, whether you are looking for tools to assist with project management, file storage, or productivity, you will likely find an app that meets your needs built into Teams.
You can use the meeting transcription feature to automatically generate a text version of everything said during your meeting. This then syncs with the meeting recording. Therefore, allowing you to see the text alongside the video when it’s time to review your meeting. This also makes it easy to summarise key points without needing to watch through the whole meeting.
Once you start the transcript, your participants will see a window that updates in real time. This also makes the transcript feature great for accessibility within your team.
Transcripts will be saved after the meeting too, making transcripts a handy feature for any information you might have missed the first time around. Using transcripts also means that you do not have to upload the whole recording onto your device, saving both storage on your device and time.
In Teams, you can view the full list of shortcuts. Simply open your Teams, click the three dots in the top right and click ‘Keyboard Shortcuts’. Here you will see that there is a combination for nearly every action in Teams. You can go through the list; find the actions you use frequently and make a note of the shortcut.
Once you’ve started to familiarise yourself with some of these combinations, you will be amazed at how quickly using keyboard shortcuts can speed up your workflow.
Although the full list of useful shortcuts can be found directly in your Microsoft Teams. We have highlighted some of the ones we find most useful day-to-day when using Teams:
– Start a new chat window: Ctrl + N
– Mute or unmute your microphone during meetings: Ctrl + Shift + M
– Turn your camera on or off during a meeting: Ctrl + Shift + O
– Edit the last message you sent: Up Arrow
– Open the Share Screen menu during a meeting or call: Five – Ctrl + Shift + S
For Mac users, you will find when you follow this same process on Teams, you will be given the shortcuts relevant to your keyboard layout. You can also follow the link at the bottom of the window to see shortcuts for all platforms. This is useful if you use Microsoft Teams across different devices or operating systems.
Microsoft Whiteboard is a useful tool that lets your team write and draw on a virtual canvas together in real-time. This allows you to be more collaborative and creative during your meetings. Microsoft Whiteboard works just like a regular whiteboard, allowing you to draw diagrams, write down ideas, and share thoughts. During a meeting, it can be found in the ‘share’ menu. You will find that it is incredibly easy to use from the get-go.
In addition to this, you will see that it also comes with a large catalogue of handy templates for you to use. These templates will help you get started and save time when you are in a meeting. Different templates can be found for different usage scenarios such as diagram layouts, mood boards and project planning. And of course, you can also save your templates for future use.
Overall, Microsoft Whiteboard is a great way to encourage participation and enhance your brainstorming sessions, helping your team collaborate and enhance your workflow.
Tags are like customisable labels you can add to members of a channel or team. Also, tags can help you to group people based on specific roles, projects or anything else you choose. The use of Tags makes it easier to divide out your work and keep ongoing projects separate from one another.
Once you have set up the appropriate tags for your team or project, you can use them to notify and message the people the tag pertains to. For example, you could set up a tag called “Marketing Team” and tag them using “@Marketing Team” in a message. Doing this would mean that only the tagged people would get the notification for your message, even if it’s in a channel that contains other people.
With just a bit of setup, tags can boost your team’s collaboration, keep chats and channels organised, and help you and your team stay focused on the task at hand. Overall, improving your workflow throughout the day.
Microsoft Teams has a lot more to offer beyond the usual messaging and video calls. We have explored just a few things Teams can do like utilising apps, meeting transcriptions, keyboard shortcuts, and Microsoft Whiteboard. Overall, you can see how much more you can get out of Microsoft Teams to improve your daily workflow. It is also worth mentioning that these features only scratch the surface of what is possible. There are still several features in Teams that are there for you to discover.
If you are not using Teams yet and are considering switching over, there are a wide range of licensing options available on Microsoft 365 to suit your business needs. In addition to this, Microsoft 365 also offers a complete suite of fantastic software and tools that come together to boost your business to the next level.
Microsoft 365 also offers products such as Outlook and cybersecurity protection along with everyday applications. Some applications include Word and Excel, all on one platform.
If using Microsoft 365, including Teams is something you’d like to learn more about, feel free to contact us and we can help you find the best licensing solution for your business.
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