There is a lot right with Microsoft Teams. It has become the primary communication and collaboration platform out of Microsoft, complimenting Yammer, and replacing Skype for Business. Its easy to navigate interface and many chat features make it a great tool.
One of the things that stands out when using Microsoft Teams are its channels. Channels may be overlooked as merely where communication happens, but they are much more than that.
What are channels
If you aren’t familiar with Microsoft Teams channels; they are where communication and collaboration happen in Teams. You can find them under a Team – usually owned by a department, campaign or initiative – and channels should get more specific than the Team.
For example, if the Team is ‘Marketing,’ then the channels could be marketing initiatives or campaigns. If the Team is a specific campaign, then the channels could be the different marketing elements – social media, SEO, et cetera.
The possibilities are endless, and at the end of the day, you need to find the structure that best fits the way you operate. Test out structure on different groups of employees and don’t be shy the change things up
Why are Microsoft Teams channels so great?
While Skype for business is nothing more than a place to communicate, Microsoft Teams is a place for communication and collaboration, with channels being at the forefront of the latter.
The channel level is where conversations happen, making it the perfect place for the actual work to get done. What do we mean by this? If you look at the menu in your channel, you will already see things like ‘files,’ but if you have permissions, you can add pretty much anything you want to the tabs next to the fixed ones.
So, let’s say that for a given project, you use OneDrive, Trello, and OneNote. Instead of having users jump from application to application, you can add the Microsoft 365 you want as one of the tabs. As for external tools like Trello, you can have one of the tabs load the webpage!
As a bonus, since you can even invite external users to Teams and online meetings happen directly in MS Teams, you can operate your entire workday out of the application, with channels at the core of the productive side. MS Teams channels are truly where productivity meets collaboration.
The experience and knowhow you need
Whether your organization is looking for a professional to get everyone using Microsoft Teams efficiently, help with structuring your Teams and Channels, or anything else regarding Microsoft 365, Mindlab is the right idea. Mindlab Systems has an MCT as its leader and over 20+ years of managed IT services experience ready to help with your training and managed IT service needs.
