TEAMS - The basics (and the hidden)

TEAMS basics, Hidden emoticons, Edit in desktop app, Pinning in TEAMS

 

TEAMS is chocked full of functionality, in fact so much so that it would take quite a bit of time to learn it all.  The pandemic sped up the use of TEAMS and Microsoft increased the functionality by leaps and bounds to keep pace.

Very few people use all the features.

I was introduced to TEAMS in January 2020.  I had no previous experience; the system, for the most part, is extremely user friendly and intuitive.  

The functions highlighted below are nifty ones used by many on a daily basis:

TEAMS communication options fall into 1 of 4 types

(no difference if scheduled or impromptu)

• Chat only functionality - text conversation. 
• An audio only call (all parties picture or initials appear) with or without screen sharing.  
• Full video meeting (live faces) with or without screen sharing. 
• Audio call with people outside of the company - a traditional phone call.

I recommend considering  the "traffic light” approach prior to reaching out to someone internal for any type of communication (this is the availability status circle by the internal employee’s name or initials in TEAMS:

• Available - for calls and screen chat. 
• Busy - will receive chat messages and will have functionality to answer back. 
• Do Not Disturb with horizontal slash – no outside screen chat will appear until the has concluded. 
• Be right back with a clock sign - The person is temporarily unavailable or is finishing a task. (Be right back can only be set manually if your computer is idle/ screen lock or “asleep”)  
• Offline - It means the person is currently not using TEAMS, connected to the company, and until they log back into Corcentric they are not receiving messages. 

How to take and share notes in a team’s meeting

• Selecting the “More Actions” icon
• Select the “show meeting notes” option
• A side pane will pop up select the “take notes”

I need all the organization help I can get; with the elimination of paper files and the growth of a “cloud filing system” I can easily loose items. TEAMS provides the ability to “Pin” – think of a bulletin board.

Pinning/organizing your teams

• Open Microsoft Teams. 
• Go to the team and channel you want to pin.
• Find the post and click the more options button at top right.
• Select Pin.
• The post will be pinned to the top. The post is pinned for everyone, if part of a channel.

Edit in DESKTOP APP 

While in the document others that have access to the same document will be able to edit simultaneously and EVERYONE’s collaborative changes/updates will be AUTOSAVED!

FYI - changes can be made in the channel/non-desktop environment, however this is where (in my opinion) TEAMS is flawed; when multiple parties making changes, alignment and structure can become skewed.

 How to save a message/chat/or link to files

• Find the message you want to save.
• Hover over the message and click the bookmark icon to save the message.
• Once the message is saved, the bookmark icon will appear red, and a message will pop up indicating that the message was saved.

How to find saved items

• Just to the right of the text.
• To see a list of your saved messages, select your profile picture at the top of the app and choose Saved.

How to copy and send a link

• Select Format beneath the message box.
• Select Insert link.
• Add display text and the address.
• Select Insert or copy and paste the link into the message box.
• Select Send.

Emojis and Gif’s in Teams – Why & When 

According to the company hibox - (Paraphrased) "There are real, measurable benefits to the increasingly casual form of communication that has become the norm of the most innovative businesses. Without in-person interaction, there’s little emotional dimension to our messages at work which can tax employee engagement and relationships. Formal communication is being factored out in favor of informal methods which include emojis and GIFS because we simply work better this way. Using Emojis and Gif's in appropriate business communication produces better results!" 

TEAMS has over 800 Emojis, stickers and Gif’s incorporated into the platform.  On my team,  if a message is received with no action or reply required, the “thumbs up” is posted as a confirmation of being received/read by the recipient.  

Please know your audience prior to adding emojis, GIF or Stickers to group reads, channels – especially if clients are part of the communication/information stream. 

How to access the “Secret” Emoticons in TEAMS 

• Open Microsoft Teams. Go to either a teams' channel or a chat thread. 
• Click inside the text input field and enter the colon character: 
• Follow this character up with a letter for example “a” and emoticons that start with the letter will appear in the list.  🚲🍱🧐

These quick how-to tips are are used frequently and offer effective interactions both internally to an organization and when engaging external resources. TEAMS offers extensive robust features and functionality; continuously helping to bridge the gap of face-to-face interactions that are still impacted by Covid. 

Corcentric is currently looking for qualified staff... www.corcentric.com/company/careers/

If an opening is of interest or if you have questions about the company please email me at twankoff@corcentric.com.