3 Things I Learned from Microsoft Teams

I joined the UPMC team as a Technical Writer in October of 2018.  After a few short weeks on the Modern Workplace team, I began hosting trainings for Office 365 with a specific focus on Microsoft Teams.  As I traveled around the organization for these events, I learned that many people had something in common with me (and maybe you) - feeling trapped in their email inbox.  By the time we would finish the training session, I would see the light bulbs going off.  In the spirit of collaboration, I'm sharing a few of my favorites.

1. Chat - Concise not Formal: One challenge with email is the level of formality with that style of communication. While formality is applicable in some scenarios, it can be overkill in others.  For example, when the email hits a distribution list I happened to be on, I struggled to know, "Do I need to reply?" It was great to learn about tagging or the @ in Teams messages.  Much like social media, I could tag someone if I needed their attention.  The conversation flows better now and our conversations are no longer clouded by signatures or phrases like "I hope my chat finds you well..." People reply to me faster and the conversation history is always right there.
2. GIFs for Visual Context:  For a while, I've said, "If a picture says a thousand words, then a GIF says a million".  I believe that when you spend less time reading between the lines then the happier you become. Thus enters the world of chatting instead of emailing.  Short concise updates or questions, coupled with a GIF.  Whether you are a small accounting firm during tax time or a project manager under a deadline, humor or someone taking an extra moment to make you smile can instantly uplift you.  For me, laughter is the best medicine for tech issues.  Imagery is a faster track for feeling seen when there just aren't words for what is happening- good or not so good.
3. Collaboration & Connection from Anywhere: There are 5 generations in the workforce (talk to Albert at Solutions 21 to unpack that). I have learned that we are all working hard in our silos.  With so many of us head down in to-do lists, it has been refreshing to connect with the diverse people who are adopting the digital workplace.  I hear from people everyday with new wins for creating things that help.  Some of my favorite automation suggestions have come from people who are new to Teams and have process improvement suggestions based off of their work experience - not a coding background. Community is important for feeling connected and engaged.  I've had the opportunity to be available to anyone from anywhere when they need help, regardless of technical experience. It is amazing to be helpful with just a few clicks.  I often joke that my childhood work expectations from the Jetson's have finally been met.

The most important thing that I have learned from Microsoft Teams is that anyone can make a difference if they are willing to share their ideas.  Features like Praise and Conversations make it easy to be kind and supportive to team members while understanding the full picture of the overall effort.  For me the core lesson is that collaboration is unlimited when we are willing to invest in changing the way we work to raise our impact (ROI).

.