We’ve looked at Chats, we’ve investigated Channels, and you know all about Email. But what is the best tool to use, and when? Well, there are no fixed rules. So here are some Teams principles to use with your Team.
Teams Principles for Channels
If you’re working on a new project, well that should be a conversation in a Channel, in a Team.
Our Team rarely uses email since we adopted Teams into our workflow. For example, if we’re working on a new YouTube video, we will start a conversation in a Teams Channel. It will be accessible to all members of the Team. This also means that everyone can find it using Search. New members of the Team will have access to the entire thread of conversation, neatly and appropriately filed in the Channel. Since it’s a piece of work, it belongs in a Team Channel.
When we add a new team member, we’ll add them to the Team. They’ll then have access to the entire history of our work. So, for example, if they’re wondering where the files are for a certain video, they can find them by looking at the conversation in the Channel, in the Team. The files are also stored right there in the files tab in the Channel.
Usually, that piece of work would also go onto the Team Planner, and there will be some OneNote pages and several video files that all live in the Team.
Teams Principles for Chat
If we have a more general question for the team, we could send it as a message to the group using chat. But before we did that, we’d consider if it’s the kind of question that would be best asked to the Team. If it’s likely that the question could come up for someone else in future, then it might be best to find a place within a channel in a Team to ask it. That way, it’s there in the Team record. Keeping things in the Team means that we don’t have to redo the same work repeatedly.
But if it’s a more casual conversation, or a one off then it goes into the chat. For example, “Is anyone heading to the office today” would be a chat. But “How do we contact this supplier” might be better in a Channel.
When to Use Email
If the communication is more formal and is likely to include external parties who are not part of your Teams, then email is the best bet.
3 Key Teams Principles for Effective Teamwork
So, there are some general principles that you can discuss with your Team.
- Teams in Teams is for teamwork.
- Chat is for more casual conversation.
- Email is for formal communication and messaging with external parties who are not part of your Team.
There are always exceptions though. That’s why we call them principles, not rules. Have you found Teams in Teams helpful? Or do you use chat? Tell us in the comments. Why not use this post in your next weekly digital skills jam.
In the next post, we’ll be looking at how to bring your existing OneNote Notebooks into your new Team or Channel. So, make sure that you’re subscribed to our YouTube channel, OzTabletPC. Hit the notification bell to be the first to know when the next video drops!
