Communities, Teams and Channels

Microsoft just announced a new feature coming to Teams personal edition - Communities. What are they - and why should any enterprises care?

Let's start with the elephant in the room: Microsoft today has multiple programs it supports for individuals and small organizations - from Skype, to GroupMe to Teams (free). The latter can be confusing, because it launched as "Teams for your Personal Life", but now can be seen as "Teams for Home and Small Business" or simply Teams (free). All of these different apps, ultimately, overlap in their coverage. For the purpose of this article, I'll refer to the consumer version of Teams as Teams (free) and the work/school version of Teams as Teams (enterprise).

Until recently, though, Teams (free) was quite different than Teams (enterprise). And because of that, many folks might continue to use Skype or GroupMe. One of the biggest changes, of course, was that when Windows 11 was introduced, Teams (free) was included with the operating system, leading many folks to instantly have access to the app.

Of course, Teams (free) has had one major flaw - no Teams (!).

The personal version only allowed chat. One could great groups to chat with, and those groups could share files and photos, but those were in fact just a non-persistent chat, similar to the same functionality in Teams (enterprise).

At this point, it is worth noting that as many organizations adopt Teams (enterprise) - I have seen most of the individuals have little trouble picking up non-persistent chat. Same thing for meetings: folks understand that a calendar mirrors what Outlook looks like - and running a meeting in Teams is quite intuitive. As additional apps (e.g. Viva Insights, Tasks by Planner and To Do) get lit up - most folks have little difficulty navigating to each app, and using them in a seamless, collaborative way.

You'll notice I didn't mention one aspect of Teams: Teams themselves.

That is because, ironically, one of the most difficult experiences to orient staff into is what a "Team" really is, and why one would use it versus a non-persistent Group chat. After all - both allow you the ability to share files, and add applications. Why bother with a Teams at all?

The second struggle for many organizations is how to use a Team effectively. I have seen far too many groups spin up a Team, then build a huge number of channels, solely for the purpose of organizing file content with the associated SharePoint file sharing system. Channels are supposed to be an easy way to organize a Team into different groups - but if the number of people posting updates on the channel is low, or non-existent, there's no need for a channel. It's akin to a TV channel - if there aren't any shows on for the bulk of the day - why would you watch it? Sadly, this also sometimes goes to the main Team itself - if all a group wants to do is share files, but has no desire to chat together - then the Team isn't terribly effective as a communications medium. Oddly enough, I have also seen many Teams where a non-persistent chat has been spun up, separate from the regular Team, that everyone in the Team communicates with - but is stand-alone. This scenario seems to indicate that folks just don't gravitate towards chatting in a dedicated channel as easily as they do in a chat.

Microsoft, of course, is iterating Teams on a rapid cadence, and we can expect to see changes in the future. One good way to see where Teams (enterprise) is going is to actually examine Teams (free) in detail - especially now that Teams (free) includes Communities - which are the equivalent of a "Team" in Teams (enterprise). When we look through the mobile lens as these new communities, a few things stand out:

1. Conversations are reverse threaded from chats - so the most recent update goes to the top - which seems intuitive but is a big change from regular chats which scroll from the top to the bottom
2. "Events" (as opposed to meetings) - have an easy to use setup - and even a big picture function, which makes them feel distinct from Teams (enterprise)'s mirroring of Outlook
3. Creating a new community has a series of Templates based on different scenarios, something that mirrors Teams (Enterprise) today - but isn't used that much at many organizations that simply snap Teams to various departments instead of by purpose\
4. Just like Teams (enterprise) - chats are walled off into their own section from Communities - so you'll need to flip between the two (or respond in real time when you are alerted)

The final point is key - because Teams (free) is using the same app as Teams (enterprise). I've seen a few folks online complain that they don't enjoy "switching" between their work and personal Teams app - which I understand up to a point: because they are using the same app - if a work colleague pings me via chat, and I am logged into my personal instance, I can simply respond to the message without swapping instances - which is, of course, the big benefit. Obviously, if I need to open a file, or do more than simply respond to a chat, I might need to flip into my work environment, but once I've done so, again, I don't need to flip back into "personal" mode unless something comes up requiring more than a quick chat.

Ultimately, the inclusion of Communities within Teams (free) is bringing the personal experience closer to the Teams (enterprise) functionality. Why is that important? Imagine if Outlook behaved differently if you connected a personal email address versus a work email account! This simplification is good for all consumers and enterprises - because it means that if you're familiar with how you meet up at work, you can use the same tech for your HOA meeting, or your PTO, or your soccer club. And because it's all done out of the same app on the mobile side, it means one less app to flip through on your phone, or to get notifications for. I'm sure we could all use less app switching simply to stay in touch with friends and family.

Best of all - Microsoft is setting the standard for how these sorts of collaborative applications should work. By iterating often and continuously - the feedback many of us have provided on the Enterprise app has resulted in a better experience for the personal and corporate versions of Teams. Being responsive to customer feedback is wonderful to experience - and leaves me quite excited about what Teams will look like in the future.