The digital nature of work has introduced a lot of complexity into everyday tasks. On any given day, employees can easily get swamped in group work, instant messages, and shared files. When that happens, questions like “What should I prioritize next?”, “Who am I working with?” or “Is the task completed?” become increasingly difficult to answer. Keeping a personal planner to get organized or calling an IT support provider might come in handy, but if you’re planning to collaborate with a team, Office 365 and its wide assortment of collaboration tools are the perfect solution.
But we’re not here to talk about Office 365 co-authoring -- the feature that allows users to simultaneously edit shared documents with their colleagues in real-time. Everyone and their mother knows about this function. We’re here to talk about the other, lesser known, Office 365 features that greatly boost teamwork and productivity.
Call and chat in the same document
Immediate feedback can be extremely helpful when you’re collaborating on a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document with your colleagues. It’s easy to miss, but at the top right corner of the document, you’ll see a blue Chat button. Clicking on it will allow you to either send instant messages or Skype call your co-editors to discuss any burning issues about the document.
Keep tabs on your teammates
Want to know what Bob from HR is up to? With Office Delve you can search for employees; see what project they’re working on; and if you have permission to edit, help them with their tasks.
Manage workflow with planning tools
Much like a digital to-do list, Planner helps you and your team members organize and delegate tasks, set due dates, share files, track progress, and chat with other colleagues. Assigning tasks can be as straightforward as dragging and dropping display pictures or file links to a card, or in this case, a “bucket.” Team members can then choose to receive automatic email notifications from Planner to never miss a single development in their project.
Connect your team
Let’s face it, teams without any means to stay on top of emails, conference calls, and group meetings are bound to fall apart. But with Office 365 Groups, team leaders can establish a hub by aggregating all team-related information to one centralized inbox. To truly get on the same page, teams also have access to a shared calendar, Notebook, and file repository.
Taking this a step further, Office 365 Groups users can navigate to the Connector menu and pull in third-party applications when the entire team needs to get more done. In other words, you can interact with applications like Twitter, Salesforce, or Bing, without ever having to leave Office 365. All the relevant material your team will ever need will be neatly compiled in your shared group inbox.
Find out what your office is Yammering on about
We’ve all heard how perusing social media can put a damper on your productivity, but Yammer is one productivity-boosting social media tool your employees should be checking more often. Operating in a similar way to popular social networking sites, Yammer uses a discovery feed to update employees on the latest goings-on in the business. Unlike Office 365 Groups, Yammer allows employees to share files, photos, and ideas across all departments and locations. And, as an added bonus, this private social network creates a strong sense of community that no business can put a price on.
Microsoft has made great strides in building a platform for collaboration. And with more features expected to come in the near future, it’s definitely a good time to be an Office 365 user. Visit us at www.intelligis.com to get all the Office 365 installation and IT support that you need today.
