Forum Discussion
Adopting Microsoft Teams for your projects
Most of the questions I see around Microsoft Teams and adoptions is often based on the misunderstanding of the fundamentals of the technology behind and the purpose of the work methods enabled by using the tools. I was challenged by jamielwatson to write a post about this, thanks for the push 🙂 I've spent more time than I probably should have digging into the depths of Teams usage, this is a quick excerpt of the core of using teams and an example for
This Article is AI Powered, using my Voice2Text2ChatGPT approach. It helps me take my ideas to the table in minutes instead of hours. Enjoy!
Unleash Your Team's Potential with Microsoft Teams: The Ultimate Digital Workspace
Why Settle for Ordinary Teams When You Can Have Microsoft Teams?
Picture this: a digital high-rise where every floor houses a unique team and every room within is a dynamic channel. Imagine having every single tool, conversation, and document you could ever need, all at your fingertips. Welcome to Microsoft Teams, the future of collaboration.
Be the Architect of Your Team's Success
Three words to live by when building your Teams universe: Organizational, Topical, and Project. These categories are not just labels; they're blueprints for creating teams that are laser-focused on their goals. Know what you want to achieve, and the right kind of team naturally follows.
The Art of Crafting a Project Team—Decoded!
This is where the magic really happens. Crafting a Project Team in Microsoft Teams isn't just about gathering people; it's about setting the stage for groundbreaking innovation. Here's how:
- Crystal-Clear Objective: Define a clear mission and timeframe. This is your team's North Star.
- The Dream Team: Assemble your squad—insiders and external talents alike. Diversity fuels creativity.
- The Conversation Highway: Use Posts for dynamic discussions. Ideas shouldn't just be shared; they should be debated, refined, and celebrated.
- Your Digital Filing Cabinet: Files are your project's memory. Store every important document for quick access and collective editing.
- The Planner: Think of it as your project's air traffic control. Delegate tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. Efficiency, meet your new best friend.
You can even add Channel calendar, OneNote and SharePoint pages + News to give your project even more structure and power!
Why This Should Matter to You
If you're not leveraging the full power of Microsoft Teams, you're not just missing out; you're falling behind. Mastering this toolset will supercharge your team's efficiency, making your workspace a well-oiled machine tailored to your unique needs.
Elevate Your Team to New Heights
No, you don't need to be a Teams prodigy, but having one in your corner will open doors you didn't even know existed—like connecting a centralized project portal for one-click access to updates from all project teams. Imagine that; a world of information, only a click away.
7 Replies
Thanks! I like the analogies a lot: The one with the highway is my favorite one. If the highway is the channel conversation, one could elaborate more on streets that flow apart/to the highway to represent the 1:1 or group chats.
The highway analogy can also be elevated up to match the inner and the outer loop :).
Thanks for sharing!- Thanks for sharing, I appreciate you 🙂
- I like the analogy as well. I think that a lot of people miss that Teams works best when they are functionally aligned as opposed to organizationally aligned. Ad hoc Teams work best when they have a specific set of people, working on a specific set of tasks, for a specific period. There can be exceptions to that, but the best examples of ad hoc work meet those criteria. A Microsoft Teams Workspace that is organized around a process that is worked on by a group of people allows them to work on that process with only the communications and files that relate directly to the process and tasks at hand. This allows them to focus intently on that work and makes them more productive. The key is to do this intentionally across the organization. That is the hard part.
- Yes, I agree. Many so-called "organizational teams" are not "real" teams. A real team is -in my opinion- a group of people who need to deliver a business outcome so they have a common purpose aligned to tasks, files, and ongoing recurrent conversations. Those real teams are the best use case for Teams. Organizational Teams tend to be underutilized compared to those functionally. What kind of collaboration space do you recommend for organizational teams instead? 🤔
- Thank you for sharing Daniel! It was fun to watch this go from first draft to final product too 🙂 Check out Daniels article on AI text to speech: https://teams.se/leveraging-chatgpt-while-awaiting-microsofts-copilot-update/
I love the analogy of Teams as a building, and channels as rooms where work is done. In my organization we struggle to help people understand the need and advantages of moving from file shares to Teams. Helping them create their "rooms" where work can be done more effectively may help us!- That analogy is an interesting one and resonates. I know that Judson Althoff uses a similar analogy when talking about the Rooms of the House as how Microsoft sells.
There are several subparts of this article I would love to go into detail on, such as:
- Microsoft 365 Groups, the skeleton behind Teams.
- Project Portals using SharePoint Communication pages and the hub-sites function.
- Color-coding your teams (https://teams.se/microsoft-365-color-coding-your-work/)
Please engage in this post, and I'll share my perspectives on the matter 🙂
