Improving efficiency in large teams-Truth or a myth

If you were to ask leaders and top managers of companies around the world what they would advise as the most efficient way to save time while managing their growing teams, the answers would’ve differed, but they would probably all include utilizing the benefits of available technology.

This is especially true for the increasing number of teams functioning remotely; it is no secret corporations, but also smaller enterprises, now have offices spanning across continents.

Last year, two leading agency networks, McCann and MullenLowe, had their employees talk precisely about simplifying teamwork – you can check out the video here. The main focus was on how they benefited from using an Office 365 tool, Microsoft Teams, to completely change the way they do day-to-day business. As they’ve pointed out, it helped them reshape the conventional e-mail threads model, avoid many files duplicates, save time, and overall work smarter together.

McCann and MullenLowe employees were not the only ones who say they’ve cut the communication time while performing and discussing tasks using Teams. In 2018, CWPS (now Red River) had their Sales and Marketing representative also talk about this issue, pointing out how easy it is to keep in touch, collaborate and manage processes more efficiently since they’ve switched to this Office 365 tool for their communication needs.

By now, you’re probably wondering: what’s the secret?

Teams: a short overview

Microsoft Teams is, essentially, a hub for teamwork in Office 365 – a platform tailor-made for the needs of a modern workplace. It is designed to bring conversations, content, assignments and apps in one place, all in order to help your team work and communicate more efficiently. Among other features, this tool allows you to share real-time updates and ideas, work together on documents, or host online meetings or conferences for up to 10 000 people.

Teams also allows you to access, share, and edit Word documents, PowerPoint presentations and Excel files in real time, with the potential to eliminate the confusion (appearing more often than we would like to) about which version of the document is latest or final. Conversations make it easier to reach any team member inside the organization than via an e-mail, while the convenience of audio, video and web conferences is also a strong plus.

Teams and remote work

While Teams is certainly a great tool for collaborative work in large offices and growing teams stationed at the same place, it also has a great potential to help functioning of remote teams or freelancers – especially now, when working from home became kind of a global necessity. We all share the same concern about how the changes caused by the ongoing pandemic could affect our business continuity, and Teams might relieve some of the pressure.

For example, Teams can help resolve issues that can appear while working from home for a longer time, such as loneliness and feeling of isolation. With great possibilities for video calls or larger online conferences, your team members can hear (and see) from each other as much as they’d like – which certainly helps If they’re assigned on an ongoing project together. The possibility of working together on a document in real time is also quite important – as you’ve probably noticed if working remotely, the e-mail threads tend to become longer and more confusing with your employees not being in the same office, which can easily lead to unintentional mistakes.

Using Teams, you have the tools you need to make remote work more efficient, organized, productive and – why not – fun! If by now you need a full list of its features, simply check the official website.

Use Teams 6 months for free!

In light of recent global events, and in line with their commitment to help organizations achieve more and stay connected, Microsoft has announced a new offer that provides Office 365 E1, including Microsoft Teams, to as many end users as you need, free for 6 months. This means it could be the right time for your organization to try Teams on – the times of social distancing call for more online collaboration than ever, and it’s precisely what you get with this tool.

While further researching, bear in mind that Comtrade System Integration, as Microsoft’s Partner of the Year, is more than equipped to address any issues or concerns you might have about Microsoft Teams. We have more than 200 experienced engineers who can help you improve remote work processes and business productivity using this platform.

Contact us today – click here to schedule your free consultation!

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