Stop the Email Nightmare. Use Microsoft Teams for Improved Efficiency.

When to Use Microsoft Teams vs. Email

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A good rule of thumb is to use Microsoft Teams for most internal company communications. The vast majority of intra-organizational messages are quick back and forth correspondence that can benefit from a more agile communications platform. Or, company emails are topic-specific and would be better contextualized according to the subject matter. Microsoft Teams is perfect for both of these situations.

Traditional email is best suited for messages sent to people outside of the organization. Additionally, email is usually reserved for internal communications that need to reach a large audience.

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Why Use Microsoft Teams for Improved Efficiency

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Consider these four benefits of relying on Microsoft Teams vs email:

1. Focused Communications & Structured Messages

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Email threads can quickly lose focus. After the initial emails, the original topic is often lost. The conversation can take a turn and be difficult to follow. Finding specific information in the communication, especially at a later point, is challenging. There might be people on the thread no longer needed there or others who should be cc’d.

Microsoft Teams allows for focused communications, particularly when using channels and posting with headlines. Channels are created for specific collaboration topics for invited team members. As such, there is a designated place to share an update, pose a question, or later search for a specific conversation on a predetermined subject. The use of channels also forces you to structure messages before they are sent, rather than putting messages in folders after the fact, as with email.

Learn More: How to Manage too Many Emails 

2. Searching Made Easy

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Microsoft Teams exceeds email in search too. Use Microsoft Teams for improved efficiency when searching by filtering conversations based on:

• Team

• Channel

• Individual

• Date range

• Attachments

• If you were mentioned

After locating the message you need, you can glean the relevant information at a glance. All communications in Teams are structured so that the context is readily understood. This saves considerable time compared to re-reading through information in unfocused email threads.

The context-laden design feature of Microsoft Teams also allows new people on a thread to promptly get up to speed on the topic. They also have access to all previous conversations on the thread, a feature that email cannot boast.

3. Seamless File Sharing

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Sharing files via email is tedious, confusing and prone to errors. Attempting to track all the versions of a document is a major time-waster and often leads to revisions and comments being omitted, and the correct version of the document being lost.

Instead share a link to a document through Teams. Your team can work on the file concurrently. All changes and comments are automatically applied. Co-authoring in Teams is transformative in improving efficiency and accuracy for working groups still trying to share files in email.

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4. One Location for It All

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Relying on Microsoft Teams for communications is just the tip of the iceberg. Utilizing this program to its fullest is when it becomes your key collaboration platform.

Teams tabs can be used to access every aspect of your workflow, including but not limited to:

• Tasks

• Guidelines

• Client profiles

• Files

• Web pages

• Tracking team progress

• OneNote

It is the height of convenience to have all of the tools you need in one place. Rather than clicking in and out of different applications, you can use Teams as your work hub for a consolidated workflow.

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Reduce Email by 50-75 Percent with Priority Management

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When you use Microsoft Teams for improved efficiency, your email nightmare comes to an end. Our training participants regularly report a reduction in email between 50-75 percent.

Priority Management has 40 years of experience in workload management and driving behaviour change. In other words, our training offerings connect the dots between concept and reality. We work with you in and out of the classroom in adopting Microsoft Teams best practices to enhance your productivity and work product.

Priority Management is a worldwide training company with 55 offices in 15 countries. We have successfully trained more than two million graduates in Priority workshops. Our programs help companies and people be more effective and manage their workflow in and out of the office by providing tools, processes and discipline. Simply put - A Better Way To Work! Clients range from Fortune 500 companies, small-to-medium businesses and government/military employees.

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Click Here to learn more about how Priority can help you and your team WorkSm@rt, develop essential management skills and the competencies to....make life and work better and happier!