4 Major Business Benefits of Using Microsoft Teams

Team-work means something else in 2021 than it did two years ago. Small-to-large-scale organizations have had to transition their in-person office meetings to a virtual environment, where the application determines the meeting’s quality. More than ever, businesses are becoming more dependent on reliable business communication applications to encourage team-work and collaborative efforts.

For five years, LDI has been advising customers on Office 365 and Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Our Managed IT Services team specializes in upgrading and installing any hardware, firmware, or software your business may need.

With more and more organizations working from home, your team needs to be well connected. We want you to have the best tools necessary to conduct your business operations safely and efficiently.

In this article, we will cover the business benefits of using Microsoft Teams. We will discuss the features that set Teams apart from its competitors. By the end of this article, you will know if Microsoft Teams is the right application for you and your business.

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is an integrated application within Microsoft 365 that enables efficient interactions with team members and clients. 

Microsoft Teams allows you to streamline your virtual workspace through helpful features such as workspace chat, video conferencing, file storage, document sharing, screen sharing, and scheduling meetings through your Microsoft Teams calendar. 

Teams offers a wide array of features and keeps the user in mind when it comes to usability, organization, and productivity.

Microsoft Teams is changing the way businesses interact, collaborate, and manage their work. Having a safe space to collaborate with others; is vital when making important creative decisions as a team.

Now let’s go through the top four benefits of utilizing Microsoft Teams for your business.

4 Benefits Your Team Will Experience When Using Microsoft Teams

Utilizing Microsoft Teams as a business can improve your team’s workflow, productivity, communication, and collaboration efforts. As a single platform that is easy to use and straightforward, Microsoft Teams can significantly enhance your business operations. Let’s dive into the four benefits to expect when using Microsoft Teams:

1. Simplified Workflow and Productivity:

As an integrated application of Microsoft Suite, Teams makes for a seamless transition from email to messaging and vice versa. Where Microsoft Outlook is functional and accessible, Microsoft Teams is effective in cutting the time it takes to send a document or a message in half. 

Microsoft Teams lets you access everything you may need in one place, especially access to your team members through chat and call features.

Microsoft Teams also provides a variety of 24 bots that can answer frequently asked questions. Bots enable productivity by offering help in delivering scheduled reports and even exchanging positive praise to your co-workers about their work.

Becoming a full member of an Office 365 Group isn’t necessary to access Microsoft Teams. Yet, it is strongly advised that a user gets to experience the many perks when having direct access to Microsoft’s tools and applications like PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Planner, OneNote, Delve, PowerBi, and SharePoint.

2. Improved Communication, Collaboration, and Customization: 

Microsoft Teams perpetuates a conducive and collaborative environment where team-work is a priority. Teams encourages sharing, collaborating, and creating solutions with team members and clients alike. Communication, collaboration, and creativity are all prioritized by the various features mentioned below:

Communication: Through either chat and call, Teams users can ask questions quickly and get the answers they need instantly to work more efficiently. Both instant message and group chat enable the user to mention another team-member, label the conversation thread, and even navigate past conversations through the search bar. Instant messaging lessens email clutter and allows you to stay focused through organizing your discussions, files, and applications all in one place.

Teams makes communicating fun and personalized with its wide selection of GIFs, photos, and emoji options that help you convey exactly what you want. Whether you are working from home or at the office, Teams allows you to stay connected with a simple press of a button.

Collaboration: While instant messaging enables quick results, a Teams phone conversation or video call can be hugely beneficial for collaboration purposes. Through video calls, users can share their screen with others to collaborate on a new or existing project. Having the ability to share documents with others and actively edit them within the application can significantly affect speed, efficiency, and quality.

Customization:  With added features such as Together Mode, Dynamic View, and Microsoft Whiteboard; Microsoft Teams gives participants the option to partake in a shared background like a college lecture hall, prioritize shared video and content, and actively collaborate during a meeting on a particular project with sticky notes, pen and ink, and more.

Teams users can easily change their virtual background during a video call to a more scenic view if their real background is not ideal for joining a meeting.

3. Straight-Forward and User-Friendly: 

For those who have never used Teams before, the application’s interface is straightforward and easy to navigate. Since Teams already exists as part of the Microsoft Suite, all conversations and data are accessible via Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365’s Portal. You can access Microsoft Teams by logging into the Portal.

With the many distractions that can happen when working from home, Teams enables you to chat and call from your phone, tablet, or computer; with zero interruption if you choose to switch devices during a meeting. If you forget a specific file name, every conversation within teams is automatically saved and acts as a saved asset for you to refer back to later.

Teams also gives you the opportunity to schedule meetings and change the timing, subject, and list of participants. With direct access to your conversations, scheduled meetings, and shared documents; Teams makes working virtually convenient and easy to learn.

4. Business Insights and Analytics: 

Microsoft Teams provides you with data regarding your particular Teams account. This information enables you to understand your activity patterns and what you prioritize daily. 

Microsoft Teams can give you specific insights such as active users, guests, the total number of messages sent to coworkers during a given time, and analytics reports that help with project estimation and time management.

You can obtain analytics data across the various teams you are a member of, including specific channels. By selecting either the Manage Team, Manage Teams, or Manage Channel option, you will be able to access the analytics and data range you wish to see.

And finally, is Microsoft Teams right for you? 

Many organizations want their team to be productive using a single-platform that is reliable, efficient, and easy to use. The idea is to set your team up for success so they can get what they need out of their virtual workspace. Although we advocate for using Microsoft Teams, we know that usability, efficiency, and quality all influence whether a platform such as Teams is the right choice for you and your business.

If you or your business needs help with implementing Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, we would love to talk to you about some of the services we provide. If you decide you want to speak with an LDI representative today to see how LDI may be of service to you, be sure to check out our Contact Us tab on our website or click the link below.