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on Friday, November 19, 2021 0

 


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.

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on Thursday, September 03, 2020 0

 

Each week, we will go into details on how to address project and change management now to create a resilient and robust organization for tomorrow.

If you missed last week’s blog on Introducing Automation, you can check it out here.

This week, we will look at the 5th of 6 ways a company can use downtime to impact the greater good of the organization and position themselves to be a better, stronger company when the work picks back up.

Employee Training

When client or customer work slows, internal training can be a great way to keep employees engaged in their job and company. A key piece to internal training is gaining buy-in from employees. Some are willing to learn as much as possible, others will look at it as a chore or as something unnecessary for their job. Communication is crucial to convey the positive attributes of internal training and how an employee’s participation in the training will benefit their career path within the organization.

  • Key benefits of internal training
  • Improved employee performance
  • Improved employee satisfaction and morale
  • Addressing weaknesses
  • Increased productivity and adherence to quality standards
  • Increased innovation in new strategies and products
  • Reduced employee turnover
  • Enhanced company reputation and profile

When it comes to training, companies can think outside the box by promoting expanded skill sets and convenient delivery systems. Data analytics, new technology, presentation skills, public speaking, negotiations, crisis management, other company operations, etc., are all concentrations that increase the value of the employee.

In terms of delivery of training, there are multiple innovative methods that can keep employees engaged:

  • eLearning
  • Virtual instructor-led classroom
  • Webinar
  • Job aids
  • Infographics

Specific Example: Project Management Training

Project management training can help bring into focus the larger picture of why a company does what it does. It can help to define all the complexities that go into a project and allow employees to better understand the arc of decision making.

Project management training courses provide competitive advantage for the company and the employee, including the development and success of project goals; advanced industry education; effective implementation of essential phases throughout the project’s entirety; and a realistic defining of project duration and budget. Successful development and delivery of training programs also facilitate a structured approach to project delivery and work packages, as well as effective management of changes in project objectives and scope.

Employees are able to apply newly gained knowledge to refresh company policies and procedures around clients, projects, goals, processes, etc. It’s a win-win for the organization and its people.

Additionally, there are opportunities to then dive deeper into the broader scope of project management and how its many facets can be defined for the organization. For example, distinguishing the difference between project management and change management can help to foster integration between the two.

Although project management and change management disciplines are often viewed as separate and unequal components, assimilation between the two is imperative for project success An important first step is to understand the roles of both the project manager and the change manager and where their responsibilities converge and, at times, collide.

  • According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), a project manager is accountable for the success or failure of a project. They are responsible for the planning, execution, and close of the project. Further, the project manager must manage teams, ensure progress, and motivate project team members. It’s up to the project manager to make sure that project goals are in alignment with key stakeholders.
  • According to Prosci, a change manager facilitates the desired outcome of projects/change initiatives by working with employees. This person focuses on meeting objectives on time and on budget by increasing employee adoption and usage, which could include changes to business processes, systems and technology, job roles, and organizational structures.

Integrated approach ensures project benefits are fully realized by utilizing the strengths of both project management and change management disciplines, including:

  • Enhanced employee and leader engagement
  • Increased sustainability of the change enterprise-wide
  • Realization of your people ROI for the project
  • Avoidance of change saturation across an enterprise
  • Measurement of an organization’s change tolerance

An organization requires strong project management and change management to reinvent and grow. Both are crucial for the success of an organization. Without strong project management, organizations will not be able to release new products in the market nor bring about internal changes. Without strong change management, organizations cannot survive in the ever-changing competitive business world.

Please check back next week for a look at part 6 of this series where we will discuss how to ‘Optimize, Organize, and Design’.

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