From 1 August 2020 many more of us will be returning to the office, many will be working remotely and for a lot of us, a hybrid of the two will become the ‘new’ normal.

Whilst the benefits of virtual collaboration has been evident for some time, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of platforms such as Microsoft Teams at ‘Warp’ speed. 

At Freestyle TS we’ve been helping our customers to make the most of the functionality that Teams offers.  Based on recent research examining how users interact with the platform Microsoft have added some exciting new ways to collaborate:

Making you to feel together, even when you’re apart

Dynamic View – This gives you more options over what you see when you’re in a Teams meeting. For example, seeing all participants in the video call at once (for calls of up to 49 people). Or creating a ‘Virtual Breakout Room’, which allows the meeting organiser to split larger meetings into smaller groups for a set period of time.

Reflect Messaging – Being able to support your team has never been more important. The Reflective Messaging extension allows polls to be created. So, you can easily get feedback from your team on a specific or more general point.

Together Mode – putting everyone in the meeting into a shared background (for example in a Library, Theatre or on a Panel), you can really have fun with this and bring your meetings to life!

Helping teams feel engaged and included

It’s easy to feel less engaged in video meetings, especially when you are not physically with your team. Microsoft have released these features to help boost meeting engagement:

Chat bubble- Currently, chats sent during a Teams meeting are hidden, until the user clicks on the chat window. Soon any chats sent during a meeting, will pop up on the screens of all participants.

Live reactions – It can be harder to read non-verbal interactions on a video call.  So, Microsoft have added Live Reactions, allowing meeting participants to react using emojis.

Meeting Transcripts – When a meeting ends, a transcript will be available automatically, so participants can refer to it if needed.

Increasing productivity and saving time

Having a shared space for your team to view and track projects is a good way to save time and increase productivity.

Tasks App – This acts as a planner for your team allowing you to view projects as a whole and see your personal tasks.

Suggested Replies – Quickly reply to your Teams messages without opening your keyboard, this feature is useful when you are out and about.

Most of these features will be available for Teams users over the coming months and in early 2021. To discover more about how to use all this new functionality talk to our Techies.