20 Tips to Improve Productivity with Microsoft Teams

20 TIPS TO
IMPROVE
PRODUCTIVITY
WITH MICROSOFT
TEAMS

RUSS BASIURA
Founder & CEO, Accel365, Consultant, background is SharePoint
20 years experience with mid-size and enterprise companies
10 years growing Microsoft Gold Certified Partner
8 years running Philadelphia SharePoint User Group
SharePoint Saturday and SharePoint Conference Speaker
Author – Security and .Net Development Books
5 years Working From Home

CHRISTIAN BUCKLEY
Founder & CEO of CollabTalk LLC (www.buckleyplanet.com)
30 years in IT, primarily working with collaboration + project technology
Microsoft MVP (Office Apps & Services) and Regional Director
Utah SPUG board, formerly on Puget Sound SPUG board
Spearheaded SPS events in Utah, Redmond, Oregon, Los Angeles, Sacramento
Co-author of 3 books on SharePoint, 3 books on SCM / Rational (IBM) products
10+ years Working From Home

TIPS 1-5
1. Use Tags to Group People
2. I can’t Find my Content…Searching
3. Website Tab
4. Reordering Teams
5. Sending a Quick Message to Externals

1. USE TAGS TO GROUP PEOPLE
• Tags allow you to create logical groupings of people in Teams
• @ mention them in your posts
• See how many people have that Tag assigned
• Hover Tag to see information about members
• Chat with group
• Teams owners can manage Tags for the Team
• Edit Tag name
• Add / Remove members
• Tags column in Members list
• Manage Tags for individuals from Members list
• Only allowed to add from members of the Team
• Team owners decide who can create Tags
More Info:
shorturl.at/bEQSY

2. I CANT FIND MY CONTENT….SEARCHING
Search Messages
1. attachmentnames:contoso
2. from:megan hasattachment:true
3. from:megan importance:high
4. isread:false subject:sales
5. kind:im to:russ
6. size:100000..1048567
More Info:
shorturl.at/pruzI

2. I CANT FIND MY CONTENT….SEARCHING
Search Files
1. author:megan
2. filename:contoso
3. filename:contoso AND author:megan
4. lastmodifiedtime>=05/10/2019 AND
lastmodifiedtime<=06/1/2020 AND title:sales

3. WEBSITE TAB – SHAREPOINT SEARCH
• INCLUDE ANY WEBSITE IN TEAMS

REORDERING YOUR TEAMS
LONG CLICK AND DRAG CAN ALSO SHOW / HIDE
TEAMS AND CHANNELS

5. SENDING A QUICK MESSAGE TO EXTERNALS
• Anyone with an email on the M365
platform or Skype
• russ@accel365.com Hi Russ

TIPS 6-10
6. New Teams & Outlook integrated experience
7. Channel cross-posting
8. Testing your calling with /testcall
9. Connecting your Cloud Storage
10. The Immersive Reader

As we all know, Microsoft Teams is the “hub” for
getting work done, and using Teams will likely mean a
decrease in your internal use of email as your primary
communication tool.
But Teams is not an “Exchange killer” for most (any)
organizations. Instead, Microsoft’s goal is to provide
multiple tools and workloads to accomplish your
communication and collaboration needs.
The new integration between Outlook and Teams
makes it easy to collaborate no matter where the
conversation is taking place.
With Outlook on the Web enabled, you can now move
a conversation from Teams to Outlook by clicking on
the more options ellipsis (...) in a conversation.
6. NEW TEAMS & OUTLOOK INTEGRATED EXPERIENCE

To use this feature, click on the ellipsis (…) next to the
conversation thread, and select Share to Outlook.

After processing for a couple seconds, an email dialog
box will open with access to your Outlook Online
contacts, allowing you to provide a short personal
note and send details of the Teams conversation.

After processing for a couple seconds, an email dialog
box will open with access to your Outlook Online
contacts, allowing you to provide a short personal
note and send details of the Teams conversation.
As with any other email, you can format the body of
your email, include images, or attach local or cloud-
based files before sending.
Hit Send to proceed.

Within Outlook you’ll easily see that the received
message is from Microsoft Teams.
You can continue to communicate via Outlook or
select Go to Teams to continue the discuss on the
original thread.
Also rolling out is the ability to move an email
conversation from Outlook, including attachments,
into a Teams chat or channel conversation by clicking
on the ‘’Share to Teams’’ in Outlook.
Learn more https://support.office.com/en-
us/article/share-to-outlook-from-teams-f9dabbe9-
9e9b-4e35-99dd-2eeeb67c4f6d

The ability to cross-post in multiple channels
in Microsoft Teams has been deployed
globally, making it much easier to get
certain messages out to a wider audience.
This is how it works…
To start a post that will be cross-posted,
click on the Format icon to start a new
conversation:
7. CHANNEL CROSS-POSTING
This tip courtesy of @duffbert

Once you compose your new message, click
on the Post In Multiple Channels option:

The To: field will show your current
channel, and you can click on Select
Channels to add additional Team
workspaces and channels where the
message will appear:

In the Choose Channels panel, you can
select one or more channels where the
message will appear.
Once you're done, click Update:

The To: field now shows all the channels
that will get the message.
Click on the Send icon to post your
message:

The message is now in the General
channel, and it has an icon that shows
that it's a cross-posted item:

If I go over to the Change Enablement
channel, I'll see the same message over
there:

You can also delete the message from a
single channel or all channels by clicking on
the Ellipsis icon and selecting Delete:

A couple of caveats to keep in mind… First, you cannot edit a cross-posted message. If you need to make a
correction, you'll need to delete the message and start over. And second, replies do not get cross-posted. If
someone replies to the post in the General channel, you won't see that reply in the post that appears in
Change Enablement.
Finally… do NOT use this feature to spam multiple workspaces with messages that are not appropriate or
applicable to everyone. While I used a "Free Kitties" example, that is NOT the type of message you want to
use cross-posting for.
(or is it??)

Microsoft Teams has become a vital part of
remote working, but not everyone is set up
properly to have a call or meeting using Teams.
Use the /testcall feature in Teams to see how
your remote set-up is working.
Here's how to do that…
In your Microsoft Teams client, you can enter a
forward slash ("/") to get a list of commands.
The command you'll need to enter or select is
/testcall:
8. TESTING CALLING WITH /TESTCALL

This will start a test call with Teams Echo (TE).
You'll see your controls for the video camera and the
microphone, as well as the icon to hang up. TE will
ask you to leave a short message that will be
recorded and played back to you:

Just babble away for a few seconds, checking to make
sure you can see yourself via your video camera in
the lower-right corner.
Once you stop talking, TE will stop recording and will
play back your message to make sure your
microphone and speakers are working as you
expected:

After TE hangs up, you'll get a synopsis of what is
(or isn't working).
If everything is green, then you're ready to have
calls and meetings via Microsoft Teams.
If any of your items are red, check with your help
desk or Teams administrator to get things working
the way they should:

Did you know that you can connect multiple SharePoint lists and
libraries to Microsoft Teams through Files and Tabs?
But did you also know you can also connect to your other cloud
storage apps and services the same way?
• Provides an interface into relevant content
• Surfaces sites and tools in context to conversations
• Removes (or reduces) the “which tool do you use when?”
argument
9. CONNECTING YOUR CLOUD STORAGE

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/skypeh
ybridguy/2017/10/28/microsoft-teams-use-
an-existing-sharepoint-library/
When you select SharePoint as your cloud storage
solution, you can paste a specific URL, or search for
the relevant site. This is a great way to connect
Teams to legacy SharePoint sites and content.
Once the SharePoint details are provided, click
Next.
Teams will confirm your site selection, and ask you
whether you want any activity within this
document library to be posted to the channel.
Confirm by selecting Next.
Finally, Teams will ask you to name your new Tab.
To complete the process, click Save.
You now see your newly minted SharePoint
document library as a Tab.

There are two ways you can connect to and share
cloud storage: within the Files experience, and
through the Tabs.
To add via a Tab, simply click on the + on the top
navigation to add a new Tab.
The various OOTB options will appear. From here
you can point to a 3rd party solution, or to a
specific SharePoint site and library.

Within the Files experience, you can also
connect to additional SharePoint and 3rd party
cloud storage solutions, which add each as
separate folder options.
To add via a Tab, simply click on the + on the
top navigation to add a new Tab.
A list of approved 3rd party solution providers
will appear.
Select your solution, and a login screen will
appear to confirm your access to the service.
Once confirmed, the dialog box will prompt you
to navigate to the appropriate list or library, and
like the SharePoint tab, have you name the
folder before adding it to your Files experience.

The immersive reader is another hidden feature
in Microsoft Teams that can actually be used
across other Office 365 apps such as Word and
PowerPoint.
What the immersive reader does is display the
text on the channel in full-screen focus and speak
the text out loud. This can be super helpful in
eliminating distractions and digesting
information when you’re struggling to
concentrate.
To use the immersive reader simply click the
ellipsis (…) next to a message and select
“immersive reader”.
10. TRY THE IMMERSIVE READER

This will bring the message into focus and you can
click play to have it read out loud.

You can set the default look and feel for the reader to
help you better follow along with the text…which can
also be a great tool for learning proper grammar!
Find out more at
https://www.sharepointeurope.com/top-7-hidden-
features-in-microsoft-teams/

TIPS 11-15
11. Finding People with WhoBot
12. Adding Data Intake with Microsoft Forms
13. Signing a PDF with Office Mobile App
14. X
15. Microsoft Lists

11. FINDING PEOPLE WITH WHOBOT
• Who knows about
• Who is the manager of
• Who reports to
• Who works with
• Who has the same manager as
• Who have I emailed about
• Who was in the meeting about
• Who have I messaged about

12. ADDING DATA INTAKE WITH MICROSOFT FORMS
CUSTOMIZE FORMS GRAPHICAL SUMMARY
OF RESULTS
EXPORT RESULTS TO
EXCEL

13. SIGNING A PDF
New Office Mobile App Enables Signing of PDF
documents in Teams

15. MICROSOFT LISTS
• Future
• Web and Mobile
• Templates
• Flexible views like cards, grids and calendars
• Conversations integrated into the list
• Add an existing list or create a new list in Teams

TIPS 16-20
16. Pin a Channel
17. Pin Apps to the Left-Hand Rail
18. Add the Yammer Communities App
19. Giving people Praise
20. The Microsoft Teams Adoption Guide

As the number of Teams and Channels
proliferates, one of the most common
complaints from end users is trying to keep their
navigation clean and organized.
While the AI in Teams will automatically “hide”
Teams that are less frequently used, the reality
is that active Teams users are often jumping
between specific, active Channels within
multiple Teams, scrolling and expanding to get
to the right place.
With the new Pinned Channels, you can now
“pin” your most active Channels to the top of
your left nav.
To pin a Channel, highlight the Channel and
either right click, or select the ellipses, and then
select Pin
16. PIN A CHANNEL

Once pinned, a new Pinned section appears at
the top of your left nav, providing a short list
of favorites for easier navigation.
To remove a pinned Channel, simply reverse
the process and Unpin the channel.
16. PIN A CHANNEL

Sometimes there is just too much on the page:
too many teams, too many channels, too many alerts.
Microsoft has added features to help clean up the
clutter and help people get more organized: search
filters, favorites, pinning channels, and now – pinning
apps.
You can now pin personal apps to the left-hand rail
(also known as the Teams app bar).
Simply find the app, right-click the app icon, and select
“pin”.
Even after you navigate away, the app icon will remain
so you can easily return to it. Additionally, you can pin
apps to relevant channels or chats for easy access.
17. PIN YOUR APPS TO THE LEFT-HAND RAIL

To pin an app to the left-hand rail, click on the ellipses
(…) to find your app.
What opens first is a list of your most recently
added/used apps, which you can select from, or click
on More Apps to see the full list of available apps.

Once you’ve selected your app, it will appear in the left-
hand rail, and any recent activity of the app will appear
on the right.

To remove or “unpin” the app, simply right click on the
app and select Pin. The app remains on your system, but
when you move away from the app (click on another left-
rail item) it will disappear from your left-rail.
If you are a Team admin and do not want an app used
within your Team, you can Block the app altogether.
You can also remove the app from your Team by
selecting Uninstall.

Your Teams Admin can also create group
policies so certain apps appear on everyone’s
Teams app bar.
Learn more about Admin app pinning at
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microso
ft-teams-blog/four-more-reasons-to-love-apps-in-
microsoft-teams/ba-p/1119114
Learn more about the admin capabilities at
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
us/microsoftteams/teams-app-setup-policies

18. ADD THE YAMMER COMMUNITIES APP
It just got easier to connect the company-wide
visibility of Yammer within the project or task-
based focus of Microsoft Teams using the new
Communities app.
Add the Communities app to the left rail by
selecting the ellipsis (…) and searching for the
app from the store.
Once added, right click and select Pin to keep it
in the left rail.
Clicking on the icon will take you to the
corresponding Yammer community within your
current channel.

The Communities app reduces the context
switching between applications, making it
easier to move between community and team
discussions.
As you can see in the image, the app allows
you to work within the Yammer interface and
interact with any of your communities. You
can also search for new communities or create
a new community.

What the new app does NOT do is tie a
specific Yammer community or thread to a
specific Teams channel. For this, you will still
need to add the Yammer discussion using a
Tab in the relevant channel.

What the new app does NOT do is tie a specific
Yammer community or thread to a specific
Teams channel. For this, you will still need to
add the Yammer discussion using a Tab in the
relevant channel.

The Discovery and Create New Group
(community) steps remain the same.
With this new integration, however, your
organization will better be able to see the
benefits of leveraging both workloads.
Learn more about the new Yammer
Communities app at
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/use-
the-yammer-communities-app-for-microsoft-
teams-930c86f1-e1e2-4e45-a66a-
ce8faca71a21
Additionally, learn more about what is
happening with Yammer here.

When you're in Microsoft Teams, collaborating
with all your coworkers, you might feel the need
to call out someone for the excellent work they've
done or the help they've given you. You can do
that now with the Praise feature. Here's how that
works…
When you're in a workspace conversation or a
chat, click on the Ellipsis icon in the new message
area. That gives you the option to create a Praise:
19. GIVING PEOPLE PRAISE

Select a badge that is applicable to the Praise
you're creating:

Using the To field, enter one or more names of
people who the Praise is intended for. Click on
Preview to see what the Praise looks like:

If everything looks good, click Send:

Your Praise now shows up in your conversation!

One of the most common asks for organizations that have started
leverage Microsoft Teams is for guidance and best practices around
adoption and end user engagement.
In response, Microsoft has produced a visual treat: the Microsoft Teams
Adoption Guide, which is available as an interactive resource:
https://teamworktools.azurewebsites.net/tft/index.html
I blogged about it and shared some additional resource links at
http://www.buckleyplanet.com/2018/12/new-microsoft-teams-
adoption-guide.html
20. THE MICROSOFT TEAMS ADOPTION GUIDE

The Adoption Guide walks through all of the core capabilities of
Teams, provides use cases and examples, and is full of video links
and other resources for managers and end users alike.
https://teamworktools.azurewebsites.net/tft/index.html
20. THE MICROSOFT TEAMS ADOPTION GUIDE

THANK YOU FOR JOINING
https://www.linkedin.com/in/russbasiura/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianbuckley/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzCktnDTdDFTj3zMRBrY01w

20 Tips to Improve Productivity with Microsoft Teams

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