5 Best Practices for Microsoft Teams to Follow in 2023

Believe it or not, Microsoft Teams users are surging dramatically. According to a report by BusinessofApps, Microsoft Teams had 250 million active daily users as of July 2021 compared to 75 million as of Q2 2020. On top of that, 500,000+ business enterprises across the world are harnessing the benefits offered by this tool that is designed to improve the collaboration between the teams and accelerate workplace productivity. If your company has also jumped on the Microsoft Team bandwagon, it becomes imperative to learn the best practices for Microsoft Teams in order to make the most of this tool. Let’s get started.

1. Ace in MS Teams keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are proven helpful in improving work efficiency when working with any software or application, and Microsoft Teams is no exception. One of the easiest ways to speed up your daily tasks is learning some common keyboard shortcuts that come in handy. Listed below are some essential keyboard shortcuts that you should ace in:

• Ctrl+Shift+O = Turn your camera on/off during a call
• Ctrl + Shift + M = Mute/unmute you during a meeting
• Ctrl+Shift+P = Background blur
• R = Reply to a message thread
• Ctrl + N = Start a new chat
• Alt+A = Attach a file to a message
• Ctrl+ = Zoom in & Ctrl- Zoom out

For more shortcuts, you can explore this official resource shared by Microsoft to get a complete list of keyboard shortcuts for both Windows and macOS.

2. Download MS Teams mobile app to stay in the loop

When you opt for Microsoft Team services, you will no longer be restricted to desktop applications for collaboration. In fact, you can collaborate with your team members on-the-go by downloading the mobile application that comes for all major mobile platforms including Android, iOS, and Windows. The important thing to note here is that you may not access all the features in mobile applications that you usually enjoy through a desktop or web application. Since the mobile version of MS Teams sticks to the basics and it keeps you in the loop by allowing you access to all your official chats & messages, from anywhere, at any time, which is what you need most when you are on-the-go.

3. Bookmark or save messages, conversations, and mentions

Unless you have got some superpower, you can’t complete all your tasks at once. At times, you need to save or bookmark important conversations, messages, and mentions so that you can check them later and give your utmost attention. This is where MS Teams come to the rescue. In MS Teams simply hover over any message that you would like to save or bookmark followed by clicking on the 3 ellipses and finally click on save this message. To see your saved or bookmarked messages, simply type the command “/Saved” in the search box & hit the enter button and all your saved messages will appear in front of your screen. From here, you can also “mark as read” to all your saved messages or unsave them using the bookmark icon.

4. Bank on T-bot for instant support

Microsoft Teams comes with an intelligent bot that is engineered to help newbies navigate through the application and answer their questions in a quick turnaround time. When you get your hands on this workforce productivity tool and make yourself familiar with it, you may ask a few common questions to T-bot that include:

• How to blur your background during a call?
• How to create a channel in Teams?
• How to assign or create new tasks?
• How to save screencasts during meetings?
• How to transcribe your meetings or screencast?

5. Leverage SharePoint

SharePoint is one of the popular applications of the Office 365 suite that allows you to share files and collaborate in real-time on the files shared. The best part is that SharePoint is already integrated into MS Teams, which means, without leaving your chat window in Teams, you can share files and make collaboration a breeze.

Concluding thoughts

Microsoft Teams is undoubtedly a great productivity tool that not only offers smooth remote collaboration but also provides easy access to all your work applications by supporting end-to-end integration. You can make the most of this tool by religiously following the best practices given in this insightful post or you can also opt for Microsoft Teams consulting services from a seasoned professional.