Ian
July 21, 2023
Microsoft

Is MS Teams the right collaboration tool for your business?

The success of any organisation hinges on its ability to collaborate and improve business operations. With 39% of employees stating that workers within their companies lack sufficient collaboration, team leaders should prioritise finding the right team collaboration tool for their employees.

Amongst all the collaborative solutions in the market, Microsoft (MS) Teams stands out as a formidable contender. This platform promises to unlock the innate potential of your business, transforming how your team interacts, shares ideas, and scales up.

But is MS Teams truly the collaboration solution your company needs? This article delves into the features, benefits, and potential uses of MS Teams, offering you a deeper insight to help you make an informed decision.

Key features of MS Teams you should know about

Of all the collaborative solutions out there, MS Teams’ rich feature set makes it a dynamic workplace tool for businesses of all sizes. These features are designed to facilitate good team collaboration for seamless business operations.

Teams’ most noteworthy features include:

Chat function – allows you to compose, send, and edit written communications to your team members. Chat messages can be carried out in private one-on-one chats and group chats that you can configure within the platform itself.
Video conferencing – Microsoft Teams lets users conduct video calls directly from chat windows. And with crisp video quality (especially when compared to Zoom), MS Teams can bring provide you with the benefits of face-to-face communication with the power of technology.
Audio calls – make and receive calls from any device, ensuring that you and your employees can communicate no matter where anyone is.
File sharing – upload critical documents to chat windows and channels so your co-workers can peruse them as needed.
Integration with Microsoft 365 – enjoy seamless data flows and synchronisation between Teams and Microsoft’s other productivity tools.
Integration with other apps – MS Teams can be customised with “more than 700 apps”, making the platform ready to support your company’s collaboration and teamwork initiatives no matter the day and age.
@mention – draw peoples’ attention to specific conversations to ensure effective communication and prompt responses.

Useful ways your business can use MS Teams

Microsoft Teams is a versatile platform that will help you streamline your business operations. It can be used in numerous ways to enhance the productivity and efficiency of your company.

Here are just a few ways:

Organise and manage company communication channels

MS Teams consolidates three forms of communication (phone calls, video calls, and text-based messages) into a central hub. You can easily move between the three mediums within the platform to guarantee that you can liaise with your team verbally and in writing.

Seamless project management

MS Teams lets you create different teams and channels based on projects and topics. You can use these to keep all relevant information and discussions in one place, making it easier to manage and coordinate projects.

Facilitate effective collaboration in the workplace

Leverage the co-authoring feature of Microsoft Teams to allow several employees to work on a document in real time. Changes are synchronised across the system, ensuring that everyone has the same (most up-to-date) document.

Hold impactful virtual meetings and webinars

Microsoft Teams offers powerful video conferencing capabilities, enabling business owners and leaders to conduct meetings, webinars, and presentations with ease. With features like screen sharing, Whiteboard, and recording options, MS Teams will make it easier for you to build relationships with your customers and employees.

Additionally, Microsoft Teams Premium – an add-on that enriches the overall MS Teams experience with greater personalisation and intelligent tools – can elevate your meetings and strengthen your company’s brand.

Onboard and train employees with ease

With its chat, video, and file-sharing capabilities, senior staff and business owners can create dedicated channels for new hires, providing them with essential resources, training materials, and mentorship. This ensures a smooth onboarding process and helps new employees become a part of the team.

Liaise with external parties

By adding external guests – clients, vendors, etc. – to MS Teams, you can securely share information, collaborate on projects, and maintain strong relationships with them. Not only will this help you streamline your operations and manage them more effectively, but it can also simplify your external communication practices.

The benefits of using MS Teams for workplace collaboration

Collaborative solutions should enrich your organisation’s team collaboration efforts.

Microsoft Teams does this in the following ways:

Improved communication – the range of communication solutions on offer can lead to faster decision-making, insightful problem-solving, and more impactful team collaboration.
Streamlined workflows – a central resource hub reduces time spent switching between tools, enhancing organisational productivity and efficiency.
Unshakeable employee engagement – supply your people with all the tools they need to stay in touch (regardless of where they are working from).
Solidify common goals – provide a space to broadcast project and business updates companywide.
Increased efficiency – integration with M365 and other apps results in a scalable, customisable platform that fulfils all your needs.
Cost-effective collaboration – reduce expenses on physical meetings and investing in multiple communication tools, allowing you to save money and maximise business operations.

Need help choosing collaborative solutions? Let Steadfast Solutions help you make the right decision

Microsoft Teams will reinvigorate your business operations and strengthen the ties between your employees. But the ins and outs of MS Teams can be confusing, and you deserve a team collaboration tool that works from the beginning.

The Microsoft Teams experts at Steadfast Solutions can offer you expert guidance and implementation support for MS Teams. Contact Steadfast Solutions today to make MS Teams the collaboration tool that will make your company influence the market.