How is IIT Madras connecting Mentors & Students using Communities in Teams?
With ongoing advancements in technology, there has been a continuous shift in how we learn, network, and interact with each other. Communities in Teams experience enables students and mentors to connect and bring out a true sense of connection among them. IIT Madras, one of the leading engineering institutions in India, has been using Teams to enable mentorship-led communities along with their Microsoft Learn for Educators (MSLE) effort in their data science program. Mentors connect with the students to help them with course curriculum and technical questions related to various Microsoft certification courses that they are encouraging their students to take up, both asynchronously and with live online office hours, in one place. In this article, we will explore how IIT Madras created communities for mentorship cohorts and engaged their students to help them easily connect with one another and have a go-to space for upskilling and networking. Why create mentorship communities on Teams? Building a strong connection between the mentors and mentees is critical for folks to achieve goals and learn from each other. This is especially true if the students are from diverse geographical locations, ages, roles, and backgrounds. The BS Degree in Data Science and Application Program offered by IIT Madras is born out of the philosophy of democratizing education and has seen wide acceptance both inside and outside the country. With data science being a buzzword in the industry for quite some time, the BS program aims to provide without compromising the strong academic foundations needed in this arena. Knowledge of cloud computing and use of cloud resources is a significant extracurricular component where IIT Madras is working with Microsoft (through a faculty development program – Microsoft Learn for Educator program) to enable Microsoft Cloud-related certifications, both in Data Science and Application Development, for its students. Communities in Teams provides a single platform for students to connect, engage, and build relationships with their fellow students and mentors before and after their sessions. This community is the centralized space for students to find information related to their out-of-class mentoring sessions scheduled in the program and address all questions and concerns. Students can Find the program schedule Engage with the coordinating team Track important dates Help, interact, and collaborate with peers Resolve queries in real time One-stop access to all your reading materials Connect with your trainers/mentors Follow upcoming events Additionally, since students could potentially use Teams in their colleges, it serves as an excellent opportunity for them to navigate on a single platform. How is IIT Madras creating and managing mentorship cohorts in Communities in Teams? IIT Madras has been using Communities in Teams as a platform for all its students and mentors to build relationships, expand their network, and motivate students in finishing their Microsoft certification programs. For every mentorship session, they share the QR code/ invite link of the community to all its registered participants. Students join the community before/during the course delivery session to connect asynchronously with their peers and discuss key elements discussed during the session. The mentors/coordinating team shares all the required details of the cloud certification including meeting details, and prerequisites, and supports students by providing them a platform to ask questions, seek guidance, and share their certificates. These communities also act as a knowledge resource for all the students aiming to get themselves certified with other certifications as IIT Madras leverages the existing community network they have built to cross-promote the upcoming mentorship sessions and certifications. Here is what IIT Madras has to say about Teams In the unique context of IIT Madras BS Degree in Data Science and Programming, the mentorship communities through MS Teams help emulate the informal learning environment that is available in the regular on-campus programs for extra-curricular activities. This is a very significant activity as students aiming to get Cloud Certifications not only get guidance from their peers/seniors who have already completed their journey but also promote a strong sense of belonging. We are really happy to be part of this journey with Microsoft Teams and are looking forward to having a strong community built within this space. Jayakrishnan Warriem | Senior Scientist Overall, these communities have been helping the students to engage proactively, find easy resolution of queries, and stay motivated to complete their programs and certifications. Best practices to keep in mind while creating student-mentor communities on Teams Set Community Description, Avatar, and Guidelines: Once the community is created, ensure the community description encourages participation and delivers the goal of the community. Additionally, fill out any specific community guidelines you want to communicate to members of the community. Having a community avatar makes the community more real. Learn more about updating the community details. Restrict Community Join Link Sharing: To ensure the community remains secure and limited to authorized members, disable the option to share the community join link and enable requests for members to join. This step prevents the link from being shared outside the intended audience, maintaining the privacy and exclusivity of the community. Learn more about how to disable the option to share a community link Create an engagement plan: Plan your engagement for 2 weeks beforehand as starters to kick-start conversations in the community. You can have multiple types of posts planned with details on who will post and when. Change your profile name so members can uniquely identify you as the mentor. You can use titles such as Your Name - Mentor Diversify Communities: Consider creating separate communities for every certification/program type. This segmentation allows for more targeted discussions and networking opportunities within specific cohorts. Empower the community to lead: A community becomes strong and sustainable only when leaders are nurtured within the community and empowered. As part of this, there is a cognitive apprenticeship within the community through which students can move up to become Mentors and Community managers. By following these steps, you can harness the power of Communities in Teams to create vibrant communities that foster connections, facilitate networking, and enhance the overall mentorship experience. How to send feedback and suggestions? We are always happy to receive feedback and suggestions to make our product even better. To participate in our feedback program and help us in our endeavor, please follow the steps below: Report bugs and glitches by sending us relevant feedback using the in-app form. Please include diagnostic logs and screenshots which will help us to investigate your reported issue. Learn more about how to send feedback or suggest a feature in Teams (free) If you have suggestions for new features or changes to the existing ones, you can vote and submit ideas on the Microsoft Teams (free) Feedback Portal. You can always create a post here on the Microsoft Tech Community as well. You can also sign up for a user panel, to get opportunities to connect directly with the product team and help make Teams (free) better. Learn more.
Introducing Community Experts in Viva Engage
We’re thrilled to announce the addition of a new role within a Viva Engage community, community experts. A community expert is a member of a community who is assigned by a community admin to serve as a subject matter expert within a specific community. Adding a community expert role to your community ensures additional support and engagement throughout the community. A community expert can mark the best answer, pin posts, and ensure valuable insights and accurate information flow within the community. However, a community expert does not have the ability to manage members, assign roles etc. like a community admin. Once designated as a ‘community expert’, that label will only show within that community. Note: This feature is available as part of your existing Microsoft 365 licensing. Community expertise is determined by community admins within your organizations, not Microsoft. Microsoft does not have the ability to define a community expert in your organization. Who can be a community expert? The role of community experts is to support peers, share valuable insights, and ensure knowledge flows across departments, making information accessible and reliable for everyone. Community experts aren’t limited to high-level executives—in fact, you should seek individuals who are deeply knowledgeable, actively engaged, and approachable. Below is a guide to identify potential community experts, with examples and scenarios to illustrate ideal candidates. Community expert capabilities today: Marking “Best answer”: With the new role, community experts can now mark an answer as the best answer on a question post. Pinning/Unpinning a post: Community experts can now pin posts that they want to highlight in a community. 1. Defining an effective Community Expert: Subject Matter Expertise: Has specialized knowledge in a field or topic that benefits others across the organization. They can answer technical questions or provide insights into niche areas. Active & Engaged: Participates regularly in community discussions, contributing thoughtful responses and guiding discussions constructively. Approachable & Helpful: Willing to share their knowledge openly, whether through direct answers or by directing people to the right resources. Trusted by Peers: Known within their team or department as a reliable source of accurate information, with a reputation for being insightful and dependable. 2. Examples of community expert personas by department Technical (Engineer): Someone who may not be the head of a department but has extensive experience in specific technical stacks (e.g., cloud infrastructure, coding languages, hardware troubleshooting). Scenario: A mid-level software engineer, often answers questions related to backend development and cloud computing in a 'teams' chat or via email or even in an Engage community, providing clear explanations and solutions. Their insights are practical and resonate with peers. Legal: A non-executive legal team member who has detailed knowledge of compliance, intellectual property, or contract law. Scenario: An associate in the legal team within a company has guided several product teams on compliance questions. While they are not in management or a senior level leader, their guidance on data protection protocols has become invaluable across departments. And they are likely to have the most accurate information or help verify what is accurate. Communications Management: A mid-level comms lead who excels in crafting messaging strategies, managing internal and external communications, and navigating crisis communications. Scenario: A communications manager frequently advises teams on tailoring messaging for key audiences. When the company has faced an issue, they have been involved and instrumental in responding to the crisis and can be trusted to speak on behalf of the organization/team. Supply Chain Operations: A logistics coordinator or mid-level operations manager with deep insight into vendor relations, inventory management, or distribution channels. Scenario: A logistics coordinator known for their in-depth understanding of vendor logistics and delivery timelines. They regularly share tips on optimizing supply chain processes, helping various departments troubleshoot and improve. Facilities Management: Someone with an understanding of facilities operations, maintenance scheduling, or building management systems. Scenario: A facilities specialist within a specific office location, consistently advises teams on equipment maintenance schedules and energy efficiency projects. Their practical experience makes him the go-to person for questions on facilities management within that office. Note: Self-nomination and peer nomination for community experts are currently in progress and coming soon. Managing community experts Assignment Assigning a community expert: Community admins in a community may assign community experts based on their knowledge and the abilities of members in that community. In the member panel in the right rail, community admins will see a new section called: “Community Experts.” In this section, there is a link to, “Assign.” Once an admin clicks on assign, it opens a modal where the admin may add experts by clicking the “Mark as expert” button. Removal Removing an expert: After assigning a community expert, an admin can remove the expert by doing the following: Navigate to the member panel in the right rail. Click on the “+” sign in the Community Experts section. Withdrawal Withdrawing from the community expert role: After being made a community expert, a user may withdraw from this role at any time by taking the following steps: In the member panel in the right rail, click on the number of experts in the community expert section. This shows all the experts in that community with the user at the top and an option to, “Withdraw.” This then opens a modal that informs the user of the action they are taking. And the user may withdraw. Community experts play a crucial role in fostering a knowledgeable and collaborative environment, enhancing community effectiveness within Viva Engage. Stay tuned for additional capabilities that will further empower community experts.
How to resolve QuickBook𝙨 BEX Error on Windows 11?
I am reaching out for help regarding a persistent issue I am facing with QuickBook𝙨 on my Windows 11 system. Every time I try to open QuickBook𝙨, I encounter a BEX (Buffer Overflow Exception) error, which causes the application to crash. Has anyone else encountered this issue on Windows 11? If so, how did you resolve it? Are there any specific settings or patches that I might be missing? Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as this issue is significantly impacting my work. Thank you in advance for your assistance!
