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The Benefits of Cloud-Based Projects Management Software for Remote Teams

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, remote work has become the new norm. As teams are spread across different locations, it is crucial to have efficient tools and systems in place to ensure seamless collaboration and project management. This is where cloud-based projects management software comes into play. By leveraging this technology, remote teams can streamline their workflows, improve communication, and enhance overall productivity. In this article, we will explore the numerous benefits of using cloud-based projects management software for remote teams.

Streamlined Collaboration

One of the key advantages of cloud-based projects management software is its ability to streamline collaboration among remote teams. With a centralized platform accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, team members can easily access project files, share updates, and collaborate in real-time. This eliminates the need for lengthy email chains or time-consuming meetings, as all relevant information and discussions are readily available within the software.

Efficient Task Management

Effective task management is crucial for any project’s success. Cloud-based projects management software offers robust features that enable remote teams to efficiently manage tasks and deadlines. Team members can assign tasks to specific individuals, set deadlines and priorities, track progress, and receive notifications when tasks are completed or overdue. This level of transparency ensures that everyone stays on track and helps avoid miscommunication or confusion that can arise in a remote work environment.

Improved Communication

Communication plays a vital role in any team’s success, especially when working remotely. Cloud-based projects management software provides various communication channels that allow team members to stay connected effortlessly. From instant messaging to video conferencing capabilities, these tools enable real-time communication regardless of team members’ physical locations. Additionally, many platforms offer integrations with popular communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for seamless collaboration across different channels.

Enhanced Productivity

With streamlined collaboration processes, efficient task management features, and improved communication channels at their disposal, remote teams using cloud-based projects management software can significantly enhance their overall productivity. By centralizing project information and providing real-time updates, these tools eliminate the need for manual data entry or searching through multiple platforms for relevant files. This allows team members to focus on their core tasks, minimizing distractions and maximizing productivity.

In conclusion, cloud-based projects management software offers numerous benefits for remote teams. From streamlined collaboration and efficient task management to improved communication and enhanced productivity, these tools empower teams to work seamlessly across different locations. As remote work continues to grow in popularity, investing in a reliable projects management software becomes increasingly essential. With the right platform in place, remote teams can overcome geographical barriers and achieve their project goals effectively and efficiently.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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How to Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management

By Shubhangi Pandey | 20 Min Read | Updated April 3, 2023

Table of Contents

1. getting started with microsoft teams, 2. managing projects with microsoft teams and brightwork 365, 3. chat in microsoft teams, 4. video meetings in microsoft teams, 5. tips and tricks for microsoft teams, what does teams offer, the economic impact of teams, what comes with teams, what are teams made up of, creating your first team, adding your first channel, private vs public channels, tasks in teams, permissions and privacy, governance in microsoft teams.

Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite, which was launched in early 2017. The application offers:

• Real-time chat and messaging
• Video conferencing and meetings for up to 300 people
• Live events for up to 20,000 people
• Cloud calling
• Document storage
• Real-time co-editing
• Integration with third-party apps and connectors
• Public or private channels
• Task management
• Robust security and privacy capabilities.

A report conducted by Forrester on the economic impact of Microsoft Teams found that:

• Teams reduces the number and duration of meetings and business travel.
• Organizations can easily replace numerous hardware and software communication solutions, like video conferencing and on-premises phones,  with Teams.
• With easy access to information in one place and less time wasted switching between apps, Teams save workers up to four hours per week.
• Teams enables remote working with various collaborative capabilities and shared document storage. In turn, this accelerates decision-making and increases productivity.

Teams is built on the Office 365 Groups framework and the Microsoft Graph, bringing various collaboration tools within the Microsoft ecosystem into one location. The solution creates a single collaborative experience.

Each team comes with:.

• A SharePoint Online site, including a document library.
• A new Office 365 Group.
• An Exchange Online mailbox and calendar.
• A OneNote notebook.

Each Team is made of up:

• Individual teams, a collection of people, conversations, and files, for example, a project.
• Channels within a team. These are typically focused on a particular topic within a project.

If you are accessing Teams via Microsoft 365, you can use the web app or download the software to your desktop. Note – the desktop app includes more functionality than the web app.

Take care with the name of your team and channels as these become the names of the associated SharePoint site, file library, and Outlook email address. You can change the name of a team or channel if needed, but the original name is retained in SharePoint and document links.

It’s also worth checking that a team with the same name does not already exist. In the case of duplicate teams, a random number is simply added to the name of the site collection. A team can be private or public The team owner can switch between these settings as needed. Users must be invited to a private team by the team owner. Anyone within an organization can join a public team.

Complete your team by:

• Adding team members.
• Creating channels – explained in the next section.
• Uploading or creating new files.
• Adding tabs, including Planner and SharePoint.
• Connecting third-party and apps.

Channels are a useful way to facilitate collaboration in key areas of a project, for example, a workstream, within a team. Think of channels as a mini team, with conversations, calls, files, and other capabilities of Teams, within the overall team.

All members in a team can access and use channels in a team, including conversations and files. When creating a channel, update the settings so your team can see the channel! Every team includes a General Channel, which cannot be deleted or renamed. To keep your team engaged with daily work and specific areas of a project, create channels and avoid using General. Users can add 200 public channels and 30 private channels to a team.

To create a channel, click the settings menu within the team, and follow the on-screen steps. The channel appears as a folder within the SharePoint document library for the team. Files stored in a channel are also stored within this folder. Use ‘Meet’ in the top right-hand corner to start or schedule a meeting within the channel.

There are two types of channels in Teams:

• Public, available to everyone in the team.
• Private, available to invited members only. A private channel is indicated by a lock icon.

Private channels are a relatively new addition to Teams. The aim is to facilitate collaboration on sensitive information, for example, budget, with a small group of people within a team. A private channel uses a separate, lightweight SharePoint site collection for additional security. Users, including team owners, must be invited to a private channel. Non-members will not know the channel exists!

Tasks in Teams combines tasks from To Do, Planner, Outlook, and Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), allowing teams to manage their work in one place. is part of Microsoft’s unified vision for tasks in Microsoft 365 , based on three principles:

• Coherence : Task management will have a consistent experience across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
• Intelligence : Users can leverage intelligent services like the Microsoft 365 Graph or MyAnalytics to manage and prioritize work.
• Integration: Tasks are connected to one of two task-management apps – To Do or Planner. Tasks for Teams allows users to access both apps in one place.

As part of Microsoft 365, Teams delivers a high level of security, uptime, and scalability . As Teams is a single platform for collaboration, document management, and so on, it’s easier to conduct risk audits and enforce policies, for example, data retention.

However, permissions within Teams are somewhat limited, particularly when compared with SharePoint. Unlike SharePoint, you cannot assign a ‘read-only’ role to team members; everyone in the team is a content creator and editor. However, files are subject to the sharing and permission rules of SharePoint.

There are two main end-user roles in Teams: owners and members.

A team owner:.

• Creates the team and has control over settings.
• Can add new members, including external guests.
• Can delete or restore a team.
• Can restore deleted files.
• Has the ability to connect third-party apps to a team.
• Can add tabs to a channel.

Although one individual creates the team, it is advisable to ‘promote’ another team member to owner. This way, an owner is always available to help team members, for example, add a new user. To assign a role, select the team name and click More Options → Manage team . Use the drop-down menu beside the relevant individual’s name to change their role.

Team members:

• Cannot access or change the team settings, or add new team members.
• Can upload and edit files and libraries.
• Can add – but not delete – channels.
• Have the ability to connect third-party apps to a team.

For full details on the capabilities of each role and external guests, see this summary table from Microsoft.  It’s worth noting files shared in a private chat are stored in OneDrive for Business, rather than SharePoint, and are only accessible to participants in that chat. For this reason, it’s best to add files to the main Files tab in a channel and share a link in a chat.

If you do need to manage posts in a channel carefully, switch on the moderation option under settings. Moderators can start new posts in a channel and decide whether team members can reply to messages. Guest access allows anyone who is external to your organization and who has a business or consumer email account to participate as a guest in Teams with full access to team chats, meetings, and files.

However, guest users cannot:

• Create or edit a Team
• Search for a Team
• Share files in a one-to-one chat.

Microsoft Teams has a low learning curve and will quickly become part of your project management process. Depending on administration settings, Teams is easy to get up and running.

This ease of use can also cause problems. Without agreed guidelines on creating teams, you’ll quickly find yourself in multiple ‘ghost’ teams and too many conversations. Like any communication tool,  document protocols  for using Microsoft Teams in the project communication plan. These protocols should be defined within existing IT governance policies within your organization.

Think about:

• Who can create a new team for a project or a new channel within a team?
• Who can add third-party apps to a team or channel?
• Who can create private channels and why?
• Naming conventions for teams, channels, and files.
• When to archive a team, for example, during project closure.

It’s important to balance flexibility with governance. If policies are too strict, your team will use other apps to collaborate – the opposite of what you are trying to achieve! For practical tips on security and governance in Microsoft Teams, check out this  useful article from ShareGate .

In the next section, you’ll read more about how the BrightWork Marketing Team uses Teams. In terms of roll-out and governance, we initially encountered problems such as inactive teams, files in different places, and overlapping chats. Confusion was growing so we took the time to review our teams, move files as needed, and archived unused sites.

Now, we use one team for Marketing with multiple channels for daily work, projects, and workstreams. We also agreed to store documents in Teams and use BrightWork for project management, task tracking, and reporting. This way, we always know where to find important files or project information.

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For the Marketing team at BrightWork, Microsoft Teams has been part of our toolkit since 2017. We use Teams for everything from chat to video calls and file sharing. The solution allows us to work together as a team and on a one-to-one basis as needed. However, Microsoft Teams is not designed for project management.

Whilst you can add various apps to a site, there is no way to track tasks, identity risks, manage resources, or report across projects. It’s also impossible to configure Teams to match the needs of a particular team or project.

BrightWork 365, a PPM solution for Microsoft 365, solves these problems with a direct integration with Microsoft Teams . In BrightWork 365 , every program has a dedicated Microsoft Team. Every project within the program has a channel within that Team, added during project setup. The app is located in the Charter tab in the relevant Team channel. You can rename the tab as needed, for example, Project Site.

Using this seamless integration, our team can manage projects, store deliverables, and collaborate in one place with:

• Project templates
• Task and Work Management
• Interactive Gantt chart
• Status Reports
• Power BI dashboards for projects, programs, and portfolios.

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What Does Teams Chat offer?

3 types of chats in teams, 6 ways to improve chat in teams, chat is the lynchpin of collaboration within teams. the chat is persistent, that is, messages are always available..

Think of chat as an informal communication tool for the team with email serving as a formal channel for stakeholders, vendors, and so on. For the Marketing team at BrightWork, chat has almost replaced emails within the team.

There are three main types of chat within Teams :

• Small Groups and One-To-One Chats
• Channel Posts
• Conversations

1. Small Groups and One-To-One Chats

Chat is located on the left-hand menu of the teams application.  use chat to discuss any aspect of your project, daily tasks, ask a question, or to check-in with an individual., to start a chat with a group or individual:.

• Click the New Chat icon.
• Assign a name to the group, an easy way to  track multiple conversations about projects and tasks.
•  Add the relevant team members by entering a name, email address, or group tag. We’ll cover tags later on.

Chats are grouped as Pinned or Recent in your chat pane. A chat is similar to a channel. You can:

• Add documents to the file tab. Note – this action adds the file to OneDrive for Business rather than SharePoint.
• Add tabs for files, website links, apps, and so on.
• Start a video or audio call with the participants.
• Add or remove people.
• Leave the chat. A chat doesn’t need an owner so you can leave chats you no longer need to be in.
• Pin a chat to the top of your chats for quick access.
• Mute a chat. You’ll still be part of the group; you just won’t receive any notifications.
• Temporarily pause incoming notifications by setting your status to ‘Do Not Disturb’.

2. Channel Posts

A post is a chat within a channel. unlike a group or one-to-one chat, the message is accessible to all members of the channel..

There are two main types of posts: new conversation and announcement. Both formats have the same functionality. However, with the option to add a large heading, background color, and an image, announcements are more prominent in the channel feed.

Posts are threaded. Replies to a conversation are grouped together and individuals can reply to any message at any time. However, maintaining a thread only works if participants use the reply button when posting a message.

3. Conversations

Projects and documents go hand-in-hand. to collaborate in real-time on a file, use conversations..

There are 6 main ways to improve chat in Teams

• Delivery Options
• Post in Multiple Channels
• Mange Chats and Post Notifications

1. Formatting

Make any chat, post, or conversation engaging and easier to read with formatting. click the ‘a’ icon, beneath the message, to access a range of formatting options:.

• Bold, italicize, underline, or strikethrough text.
• Add highlighting or change the color of the font.
• Format heading sizes, useful for long messages.
• Create bullet or number lists.
• Add quotes, tables, and links.

2. Delivery Options

When sending a chat to an individual or small group, you can avail of three delivery options by clicking the ‘’ icon underneath the message. the options are:.

• Standard: The message will be sent as usual.
• Important : The message will contain ‘Important’ as the headline, along with an exclamation icon.
• Urgent : In addition to adding ‘Urgent’ as the headline, the recipient will be notified every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.

3. Post in Multiple Channels

Need to share important news with several project teams.

4. Group Tags

A recently introduced feature allows team owners to create custom tags within a team ..

Imagine you need to collaborate frequently with a small group of testers on a website project. Create a custom tag for this group in the settings of the channel.

5. Manage Chat and Post Notifications

Just like a channel, you can pin, hide, or mute a chat..

There are a few ways to search through chats for important content.

Firstly, search for the relevant team member into the search bar to view one-to-one messages. Next, search within the chat using ‘CTRL+F’. Note – this option also applies within Channels.

Finally, use the filter options in the Chat pane to search by:

• Keywords used in the message.
• Unread messages.
• Meeting chats.
• Muted chats and posts.

6 Ways to Improve Teams Chat

An overview, scheduling a meeting in teams.

• 4 Must Know Features

Privacy and Control for Meeting Hosts

• Project Meetings Tips With Teams

Video meetings are a powerful way to collaborate with project teams, stakeholders, and vendors.

There are a few ways to create video meetings in Microsoft Teams:

• Schedule meetings for up to 300 people.
• View 49 meeting participants in a gallery view, with breakout rooms for smaller groups and discussions.
• Create a recurring meeting series.
• Use ‘meet now’ to quickly start a meeting.
• Meet one-to-one with individual team members.

Below we will discuss 3 key areas when scheduling a meeting in Teams:

• Calendar Meeting Options
• Inviting Someone Outside Your Organization
• Video Meeting Options

1. Calendar Meeting Options

Navigate to ‘calendar’ in the left-hand menu of the app. there are two meeting options in the right-hand corner: meet now and new meeting. you can also start a call using the video icon in a chat, in a channel, or within the ‘call’ tab on the left-hand menu., there are three ways to start or join a meeting:.

• If using Outlook, click the link in the meeting request.
• If using Teams , open your calendar and find the relevant meeting. The ‘join’ button will appear on the meeting block about five minutes before the start time.
• A notification will also flash on your screen when another attendee starts the meeting. Click ‘join’ to attend the meeting.

When joining a meeting, you can opt to:

• Switch your camera on or off.
• Blur your background.
• Turn your microphone on or off.

To schedule a new meeting, select ‘New Meeting’ in your calendar. Next, complete the meeting invitation, which is similar to Outlook. You can also create a recurring series using the invitation. Use ‘Scheduling Assistant’ to check the availability of team members and save the meeting to send an invitation to the attendees. That’s it! Your meeting is scheduled and will appear in your calendar in both Teams and Outlook. Teams now includes an option to share a link to a meeting without starting the meeting. Simply click ‘Meet Now’.

To add more context, such as an agenda, to your meeting, click on the session in your Teams calendar. Each meeting has options for chat, files, meetings notes, and a whiteboard. This information is accessible before, during, and after a meeting.

The ‘Multi-Window meetings’ feature launches the meeting in a separate window, making it easier to find files or chats in Teams during the call.

2. Inviting Someone Outside Your Organization

Need to  invite someone who is outside of your organization  you can schedule a meeting with anyone who has a valid email address..

The individual will receive a link via email and can attend the meeting using the web app. To maintain privacy, you can decide if external guests need to wait in a  virtual lobby  before the meeting starts.

If you have installed the Teams desktop client, you can also schedule a meeting in Outlook using the Teams add-on.

3. Video Meeting Options

An in-call menu is located at the top of the meeting window, with various ways to manage your video calls..

• Name of the meeting.
• Duration of the meeting.
• Meeting participants.
• Meeting chat, which opens to the right-hand side.
• ‘Raise your hand’ to ask a question. A yellow box is added around the relevant person’s tile on the call, letting others know they wish to speak.
• Breakout rooms.
• Toggle your camera on or off.
• Share your screen. You can share your desktop, the contents of an app, or a document by selecting the relevant screen in the panel below the menu. Users can also request control to share content as needed.
• Leave the meeting. If you have scheduled the meeting, you can choose to end the meeting for all attendees.
• Access ‘more actions’ such as recording the meeting, background settings, and ‘Together Mode’.

4 Must Know Features in Teams

Below we will discuss 4 must know features to make your meeting easier to manage.

• Meeting Recordings and Recap
• Together Mode
• Breakout Rooms
• PowerPoint Live

1. Meeting Recordings and Recap

Meeting recordings  are stored in onedrive and sharepoint. anyone can start a recording at any stage during the meeting. depending on organizational settings,  transcriptions  may also be available on recordings..

Microsoft recently launched a  meeting recap feature , allowing users to access the recording, transcript, chat messages, and notes from either the meeting chat tab or the details tab after each meeting.

2. Together Mode

3. breakout rooms, 4. powerpoint live, powerpoint live in microsoft teams  is a new remote presenting experience. instead of sharing your screen, you can present your deck from within teams itself.  select the sharing option and look for powerpoint live..

As a presenter, you’ll have access to your notes and chats on a single screen, which also allows you to see your audience. Attendees will only see the active slide and can interact with your content with emoji reactions.

Just like an in-person meeting, meeting hosts need to facilitate virtual meetings to create an enjoyable environment for attendees. Virtual sessions also require additional privacy and control settings.

When using  microsoft teams  for meetings, you can:.

• Mute all attendees.
• Invite external users and use a virtual waiting lobby to check who wants to join your meeting.
• Remove participants during a meeting.
• Designate presenters and attendees to control who can and cannot share content.

Project Meeting Tips for Teams

Before you start scheduling video meetings, consider if you need to update your project communication plan. make sure your team and stakeholders are aware of:.

• The use of video meetings.
• Software and hardware requirements, for example, Microsoft Teams and headphones.
• Where to find training videos and support if needed, for example,  free Microsoft resources .
• The back-up plan in case of technical difficulties, for example, issues connecting to your broadband network.

With a little tweaking, you can replace any face-to-face meeting with a video call in Teams. The key is preparation. This includes:

• Creating and sharing an agenda in advance using Meeting Notes as explained above.
• Assigning times to agenda items – and sticking to those times!
• Sharing required reading, such as presentations or reports, beforehand.
• Asking members of your team to prepare contributions or updates.
• Starting and ending meetings on time.
• Using breakout rooms for discussion and feedback.
• Circulating action items afterward. The BrightWork Marketing Team adds tasks to our project site during meetings so nothing falls between the cracks.

Meeting etiquette is also important. Try these ideas for adapting in-person meetings to virtual video calls.

• If possible,  switch on cameras  during the meeting. Just like a face-to-face meeting, the ability to see your team and gauge their reactions is key.
• That said, video can reduce call quality on occasion. In the place of video, ask team members to  say their name before speaking  so everyone knows who is talking.
• Some microphones can pick up background noise. It may be a good idea to  place yourself on mute  when you are not talking.
• Make time for ‘small talk’  at the start of the meeting. Give people a chance to catch up and share what’s happening.
• At the start of a meeting,  ask if anyone needs to leave early  and if so, allow them to share any updates early on.
• As the meeting host,  ask questions  during the session to ensure everyone has a chance to speak up and is paying attention!
• Stay  focused on the meeting  – that means no emails or browsing online.
• Turn off  other applications and notifications.
• Share a summary of  actions and follow-ups , with owners and due dates, after the meeting. Not only will this keep your project on track – it increases accountability within the team.

Privacy and Control for Hosts

Managing notifications, finding people and information quickly, document management, bots and apps, the fun stuff, the stream of notifications in teams can feel a little overwhelming, especially when you need to focus on an important task. there are a few simple ways to reduce interruptions:.

• Update Your Team-wide Notifications
• Turn off Notifications for a channel or chat
• Change Your Availability to “Do Not Disturb”

1. Update Your Team-wide Notifications

2. Turn off Notifications for a Channel or Chat

3. Change Y our Availability to “Do Not Disturb”

If you want to receive notifications without the pressure to reply instantly, try setting your status to ‘Appear Away’.

As user adoption grows, you may suddenly find yourself creating or participating in multiple teams! Try these quick tips to track key conversations and find information.

1. activity.

• Unread chats or messages.
• @mentions, i.e. if a team member has tagged you in a chat.
• Reactions to your messages.
• Missed calls.

• Marking an item as unread.
• Renaming a group chat.
• Saving a message to your bookmarks.

A file library is created in the  underlying SharePoint site  for a new team, with a folder created for each channel.

Microsoft is working towards bringing the full power and experience of document management in SharePoint into Teams. This means your project team can work seamlessly in either platform.

As such, the Files Tab in a Team site is increasingly similar to the documents view in SharePoint Online.

With Teams, you can:

• Upload existing files and folders.
• Create a new folder or file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote).
• Sync files to your desktop for quick access.
• Open and work with files in SharePoint.
• Move or copy files between folders, channels, or Teams.
• Copy and share documents links for Teams or SharePoint.
• Open, edit, and save a file in Teams, in your browser, or on your desktop.
• Co-edit documents in real-time.
• Start a conversation about a document.
• Add comments to a document.
• Bookmark important files within a library with the ‘Pin to Top’ option.
• List documents as a tab within a channel so they are easier to find.
• Add existing SharePoint document libraries to a team.

There are a few ways to find files in Teams:

• Click ‘Files’ in the left-hand navigation for recently accessed files.
• Filter search results by file. Refine results further by team, file type, and modified by.

Commands  are shortcuts for performing tasks in Microsoft Teams more efficiently. Simply type the below commands into the search bar to find what you need!

• /Files : Find files shared with you on Teams.
• /GoTo : Go straight to a channel
• /Call : Starts a call with someone else on Teams
• /Help : Access the Teams Bot, T-bot, for help.
• /Saved:  View your saved messages
• /Join:  Join a team.
• /Mentions : See all your @mentions.
• /Whatsnew : See what’s new in Teams.

Bots and apps  are an easy way to add extra functionality to Teams.

Select ‘Apps’ in the left-hand menu for a full list of options, including solutions from Microsoft and third-party vendors. Before installing an app, check the pricing options. Some apps offer a short free trial or a limited free tier. Bots and apps can be added to a particular team or channel or used just within your own Teams environment. This way, you can customize your experience to match your needs.

Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• Who : Search for anyone in your organization based on what they’re working on and who they work with.
• Polly : Useful for creating simple polls.
• Forms : Another option for surveys, quizzes, and polls.
• Praise:  Share your appreciation with a team member!
• How-to:  A series of training videos for Teams. Add as a tab in a channel to improve user adoption.
• Remember This : Use to create time-based reminders to reply to a conversation.

Like any messaging tool, Teams makes it easy to add some lighthearted fun or share your thoughts with emojis, gifs, polls, photos, and so on!

The various options are located on the editing bar underneath a message. Add some personality to individual teams and channels by uploading a team profile picture or adding emojis to channels.

• To add a team picture, click ‘manage team’ and settings. Select ‘team picture’ and upload the new image.
• To add an emoji to a channel, find and copy the relevant  Unicode . Select ‘Edit this channel’ and paste the code into the title.

Using an app such as Polly or Forms, you can create fun (or serious) polls, surveys, or quizzes about any topic.

Finding People and Information

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Get Started with Microsoft Teams: Top 5 Tips for Project Managers!

“Are there any resources on using Microsoft Teams for Project Managers?”

With a large number of the population working remotely, we’ve been receiving questions, similar to the above, about whether or not Microsoft Teams can be used for Project Managers. This blog covers 5 tips you need to know to get started using Microsoft Teams as your project management tool.

In this blog, you will find: 

❓ Why use Microsoft Teams for Project Management?

⭐ Microsoft Teams Top Features

💡 Top 5 tips for Project Managers

🎯 Final Thoughts on Microsoft Teams   

Why Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management in the First Place?

Most people know Microsoft Teams as the communication tool that it is – they know that they can use Microsoft Teams to be able to connect with their colleagues and their project team members via chat and voice and video calling capabilities. Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of end users’ knowledge of Microsoft Teams ends. They’re not always aware that it can do so much more than just provide a way to stay in touch. In fact, it can be a powerful project management tool.

Microsoft Teams Top Features

📝 Document Collaboration : Microsoft Teams allows for seamless document collaboration. You can easily share, access, and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations, all while keeping every member of the team in sync.

📊 Integrated White-boarding : The platform provides interactive white-boarding capabilities. This feature allows team members to brainstorm, map out plans, and visualize ideas together, making your team's online meetings more engaging and productive.

🎥 Dynamic Presentation Tools : Microsoft Teams enhances your presentations with dynamic tools, allowing for live annotations, screen sharing, and PowerPoint Live, which provides a unique presenting experience.

💬  In-App Chat and Calling : Teams offers in-app chat and calling features, making it a centralized hub for all your communication needs. With high-quality audio and video calling, it simplifies meetings, whether you're connecting with your colleagues, clients, or partners.

🔗  Integration with Microsoft and Third-Party Apps : Microsoft Teams integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft applications like SharePoint, OneNote, and Planner. You can also incorporate a myriad of third-party applications, making it a customizable and versatile tool that adapts to your team's workflow.

🔍 Powerful Search Capabilities : Microsoft Teams offers powerful search capabilities, allowing you to easily locate files, conversations, and other content within the platform.

🗂️ Task Management : Teams also offers task management capabilities, which lets you assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor progress right within the platform, keeping your projects on track.

Top 5 Tips for Project Managers

#1 keep everyone informed with teams and channels..

Project collaboration in Microsoft Teams can make your management work a lot easier.

A Project Manager needs open and transparent communication throughout every aspect of the projects they’re overseeing, and Microsoft Teams has the capability to provide that!

By utilizing the Teams tab, you could create a team for each customer, then create channels within those teams for each of the three projects you need to oversee. Then, it’s a simple matter of adding the relevant people and/or resources from your staff to each of these teams and channels (as easy as a few clicks of the mouse)!

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#2 Don't miss another deadline!

#3 Use the Planner function to assign tasks & keep track of what's important.

If your team is also using Microsoft Planner to help organize your projects, that can also be integrated into your Teams platform, giving you another efficient way to keep track of tasks for each project and its corresponding deadlines.

To integrate Microsoft Planner, follow these four simple & easy steps:

1.- Navigate to team that you want to add Microsoft Planner to. 2.- Click on the + sign to add a tab to the group:

3.- Click on “Planner”.

4.- Either create a new plan, or choose an existing plan that you’ve already saved (choose from the drop-down menu), and click “save”.

Your new plan will be added to your team!

How to effectively use Microsoft Planner for Project Management

Managing multiple deadlines and tasks? Planner in Microsoft Teams is a simple-to-use project management tool. This tutorial below will show you how to create a board with Planner to keep you and your team organized.

Want to learn more about Microsoft Teams? Register below to access our informative webinar series on how this unique Microsoft solution can help your organization today. 

#4 Keep work accessible to everyone.

It’s probably safe to say that, when managing a project, time is of the essence. Is your team wasting valuable time on trying to locate and work on the vital documents from various repositories or folders?

Microsoft Teams can help save time instead! Simply utilize Teams in tandem with SharePoint to be able to access and co-author Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and more – all from the Teams platform!

Plus, with the mobile capabilities of Microsoft Teams, this means that access to all company documents can be done from wherever your team is and whatever device they’re using – all you need is a data plan or an Internet connection!

#5 Don't be afraid to make Teams your own!

As we’ve alluded to in this blog, Teams is highly customizable with many various integrations that can be incorporated into it to make it more efficient and more effective for your Project Management team to use. So, don’t be afraid to explore those integrations and make Teams your own. The Apps tab in Teams provides you with the option to browse the vast list of third-party apps and services that are available to you.

It seems, as well, that new integrations are being developed on a fairly regular basis, so keep your eye on this area of Teams so that you’re up to date on what’s new and exciting and what could be used to help you work more efficiently and effectively as a Project Management team.

Some Final Thoughts on Microsoft Teams for Project Managers

There’s no doubt in our mind that, with the right integrations in place, and with a little customization, Microsoft Teams can be a very viable and effective project management solution for your organization. From being able to track tasks, collaborate on documents, host meetings and white-boarding sessions, and keep all the project files in one convenient place that’s accessible to everyone on the team, Microsoft Teams has the capability to become your new project management secret weapon of sorts!

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Manage projects on a team site

You can manage projects and assign tasks to team members by adding task lists and calendars to your team site.

Click the Working on a deadline? tile on the Get started with your site web part.

Click Add Them .

This adds the Tasks and Calendar apps to your team site. Next, you might want to share your files with others who may be involved or interested in your project. If the right people already have access to your team site, then you can dive into project planning.

Plan and manage a project

The first step in planning a project is to add tasks and assign them to people . As you add your tasks, you may find that you need different fields to capture specific information. You can easily add columns to the task list .

Once you begin working on your project, there are several different things you can do:

Want to set up the timeline?     Here’s how to add tasks to the timeline and change the appearance of the timeline .

Want to add structure to your task list?     Here’s how to indent, outdent, move, and delete tasks .

Want to work with your task list in Microsoft Project or Microsoft Excel?     Here’s how to open a task list in Project or Excel .

Want to add files to your project?     Here’s how to upload, view, and remove project files or documents .

Want to see a high-level view of your project?     You can view your project’s tasks and events in the Project Summary web part .

Other ways to manage projects

While a team site may be just the right place to manage projects for some people, others may benefit from managing projects using a project site , or by using Project Web App .

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How to Utilize Teams for Project Management

Ashley Jolman, CSM

Features in Microsoft Teams can be channeled to support specific purposes, such as project management. Let’s dive into how Teams can be used as a powerful project management tool.

Microsoft Teams has become the hub of the workday. It’s an all-encompassing solution to an array of business needs. Users can store files, collaborate on documents, view and save files, and communicate with team members all without leaving the Teams app. We can channel the benefits of Teams in a way that covers all aspects of project management, from communication, collaboration, task management, status reporting, and even integrating with any outside applications your team uses. Let’s get into some key features of Teams that enable project managers to ensure success on any sized project.

A Central Source of Truth

How often in projects are people wondering where documentation is, what tasks are assigned to them or when those tasks are due? Creating a central source of truth that is easy and intuitive for team members to access is critical to running a successful project. Microsoft Teams’ ability to integrate with so many other applications is a huge advantage. Users don’t need to leave theTeams interface to access anything needed for the project, from schedules to to-do lists, to project notes or conversations. I can eliminate the need for anyone to ask where documents, notes, or tasks are.

Organization

Keep projects organized by utilizing Teams, Channels, and Tabs. Well-run projects have open and transparent communication and information flow amongst the project team. This keeps the team on the same page and moving forward, together, while swiftly eliminating impediments. Teams and Channels provide the ability to categorize your project and store documents and conversations accordingly.

Additionally, organizing your project in teams automatically resolves any security concerns. When you create a Team, Microsoft also automatically creates an associated SharePoint team site, a Microsoft365 group, OneNote Notebook, and other M365 Applications. All of these resources take on the permissions you created when creating the team, so you can utilize any applications while maintaining the organization and security you’ve established for your project.

To demonstrate the organization's capabilities, let’s walk through a basic project setup. One of my favorite ways to set up Teams and Channels for project management is to create a Team for each client and set up each project as a new Channel under that Team. This keeps all communication, files, and artifacts for each project easily located within the project channel.

Next, I use Tabs to separate the different aspects of a project – in this example, I have the tabs set up as follows:

I’ll walk through each of these tabs and highlight the advantages.

Here is where we can communicate about the project or specific project artifacts. This area supports everything from quick chats, collaboration on files, or full announcements. Conversations are transparent to the rest of the team who may find them valuable in their work, as well as easily referenced later.

Whenever you create a new channel in Teams, a SharePoint site is automatically created, along with the 'files' tab in your channel. Each channel is a different document library which can be organized however you want. This allows you to store all documents related to your project directly in the associated Team’s Channel. Documents stored here can be co-authored by anyone who has access to the channel. You can store, access, and co-author Word documents, PowerPoint decks, Excel spreadsheets, and more, all without leaving the project’s channel in Teams. Your team will always have access to the most current version of any document related to your project, with no saving and no emailing back and forth. Documents can also be discussed in the posts tab of the channel so that teams can communicate about documents, again, without leaving Teams and without storing documents in separate places.

This is a location for meeting minutes and any other documentation related to the project. Mine is connected to a OneNote Notebook which takes on the same permissions as the project. This happens automatically when you add a new tab and select OneNote, but you can use whatever note-taking tool you prefer.

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Task management is a huge aspect of project management. It’s important to keep tasks visible, updated, and tracked. I always add a 'tasks' tab that is linked to the task management tool that specific project is using. Teams integrates with several popular project management applications from the web, which can be added as a tab within your channel so that your team can seamlessly view an outside app from within Teams. For basic projects, I like to use Planner for task management. Because creating a team automatically creates an M365 group, I can set up a new project in Planner and associate it with my project group.That way, it’s automatically included the same members of my project team. A new board can be created right from teams when you add Planner as a tab. First, click the `+` sign to add a new tab, and find Planner:

Then create a new plan:

From here, I can create, assign, and track tasks, all within Teams. Everyone on the project will always know where to find their tasks or to check on the status of important items.

I can also quickly change the view to see dashboard-type updates on my projector a calendar view of the schedule:

Adding a tab for the Whiteboard app provides teams an easily accessible place to collaborate on ideas or thought exercises. This can be shared during a Teams call, and the project team can work on boards together. When finished, these boards are stored right along with the rest of the project and can be easily referenced later. If you don’t like Microsoft Whiteboard, you can add a tab to pretty much any popular tool.

Teams are highly customizable. Once you explore the integrations and the different ways you can set up the tabs, you’ll discover what works best for your team or a certain type of project. Once you have a preferred way to run projects, you can save the channel and tab set-up as a template, making your next project set-up that much easier.

We have a whole video and blog article on that if you’d like to learn more about how to set up templates. Templates make it quick and easy to start a project, in a way that is organized and effective for your team.

Microsoft Teams has great potential as a project management tool. The ability to have so many tools and collaboration capabilities in one central place sets it apart. Above all, Teams keep work visible and accessible to everyone while providing a central source of truth of all aspects of the project. When project managers find the right integrations and simple customizations that work best for their project, Teams can be a one-stop-shop super tool for project management.

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How to use microsoft teams for project management.

Microsoft Teams is a great tool for project management! With its user-friendly interface and multitude of features, collaboration and productivity among the team increase. Let’s explore how to use Microsoft Teams effectively for project management.

It serves as a hub for communication and file-sharing. Chat features allow instant messaging and conversations, replacing emailing. Channels can be created for specific projects or topics for organized communication.

Microsoft applications can be integrated within Teams. This includes SharePoint and OneNote. Project managers can access these apps from within Teams, streamlining their workflows.

Customizable tabs make it easy to integrate project management tools like Trello and Asana into Teams. This offers an entire view of project progress in one place.

Video conferencing is also available within Teams. This promotes communication and connection among team members, especially when working remotely.

Planner feature helps organize tasks and assign them efficiently. Task boards, deadlines and resources can be managed and monitored without switching between applications.

In short, Microsoft Teams makes project management easier. Enhanced collaboration, streamlined workflows and improved productivity are some of its benefits. So why not use the power of Microsoft Teams and take your project management to new heights?

Setting up Microsoft Teams for Project Management

Microsoft Teams provides seamless project management capabilities. Follow this 4-step guide to optimize your project management process:

• Create a Team: Begin by creating a new team in Microsoft Teams. Specify the project name and invite relevant team members to join.
• Customize Channels: Set up different channels within the team to organize discussions, tasks, and files. Create channels for specific project components or milestones.
• Assign Roles and Permissions: Define the roles and permissions for each team member. Assign project leads, administrators, and contributors accordingly to streamline collaboration.
• Utilize Integrations and Features: Take advantage of the various integrations and features offered by Microsoft Teams to enhance productivity. Include Planner, SharePoint, and OneNote for seamless task management and document collaboration.

In addition to these steps, consider leveraging additional features such as video conferencing, screen sharing, and real-time chat to facilitate effective project communication.

Pro Tip: Regularly update and monitor project-related channels to ensure everyone remains aligned and informed, maximizing project success.

Creating a team in Microsoft Teams is like assembling Avengers for a mission, except nobody has superpowers and the only thing at stake is meeting deadlines.

Creating a Team

To set up Microsoft Teams for project management, start by creating a team. Gather the right people and assign specific roles and responsibilities. Communication and collaboration are key for successful management.

Consider the project’s objectives, scope, and desired outcomes. Identify team members with the required skills and expertise. This will help with decision-making and task execution.

Assign clear roles and responsibilities to each team member. This encourages accountability and ensures tasks are completed on time. It fosters a sense of ownership in the team, leading to improved productivity and success.

Throughout history, forming teams has been an important part of project management. Ancient wonders like the Pyramids, modern challenges—teams have been essential in achieving incredible feats.

Adding Members to the Team

Microsoft Teams makes adding team members a breeze. Check out the steps:

• Go to the “Teams” section in the left sidebar of the interface.
• Choose the specific team you want to add members to.
• Hit the ellipsis (…) in the top right corner and select “Add members” from the dropdown menu.
• Input the email addresses or names of the people you want to add to the team.
• Hit “Add” and they will be part of the team, ready to collaborate.

Moreover, Microsoft Teams offers unique features. You can customize permissions for different channels within a team, ensuring privacy and data security. Plus, it has a notification system that you can use to decide which activities trigger notifications for each member, promoting efficient communication.

Pro Tip: Microsoft Teams’ guest access feature is great for extending collaboration outside the organization, by inviting external stakeholders or clients to specific teams. This boosts cross-functional partnerships and encourages successful project management.

Setting up Channels and Tabs

• Create Channels: To begin, click on the “…” next to your team name. Select “Add channel” and give it a fitting name.
• Customize Channel Settings: Choose “More options” > “Manage channel” to adjust settings like channel privacy and notifications.
• Add Tabs: Click on “+” beside the channel name. Pick from Planner, SharePoint, or Excel.
• Configure Tabs: After adding a tab, personalize its settings for the desired content or app integration. For example, link a Planner tab to an existing or new board.
• Collaborate on Tabs: Team members can edit documents in real-time and pin important files for reference.
• Manage Tab Permissions: Go to the tab menu and select “Manage permissions”. Assign permissions to individual team members or groups.
• Furthermore, utilize bots and connectors within channels for automation and integration.
• Microsoft Teams integrates with Office 365 apps, making project management across teams efficient.

Managing Projects in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams provides an efficient platform for project management. Follow these steps to effectively manage your projects within the application:

• Setup project channels: Create dedicated channels for each project to facilitate communication and collaboration among team members.
• Assign roles and permissions: Define roles and assign appropriate permissions to team members, ensuring clarity and accountability throughout the project.
• Utilize project management tools: Take advantage of Microsoft Teams’ project management features, such as task assignment, file sharing, and project timelines, to streamline project workflows and keep everyone on track.
• Conduct regular check-ins and meetings: Schedule regular meetings and check-ins with the project team to discuss progress, address challenges, and make necessary adjustments, ensuring effective project coordination and alignment.

To optimize project management in Microsoft Teams, it is important to explore additional functionalities and integrations provided by the platform, allowing for enhanced collaboration and efficiency, contributing to successful project outcomes.

A notable fact: According to a study conducted by Spiceworks, Microsoft Teams is the second most popular chat communication tool in the business world.

Who needs a magic wand when you have Microsoft Teams? Create and assign tasks with just a few clicks, and watch your project management skills reach new heights.

Creating and Assigning Tasks

Creating and assigning tasks in Microsoft Teams is a vital part of project management. It enables team members to collaborate and stay organized. Here’s a quick guide to assist you through the process:

• To generate a task, click on the + icon in the chat or channel.
• Select ‘Task’ from the drop-down menu.
• Give the task a title for a clear description of what needs to be done.
• Assign the task to specific team members by mentioning them with the ‘@’ symbol.
• Set a due date for the task to ensure timely completion.
• Click on ‘Save’ to create and assign the task.

Remember, extra details such as priority level, attachments, and comments can be added to each task.

To streamline your task management process, use tags and filters to categorize tasks according to priority or status. This will help you to track and manage your work more efficiently.

When creating and assigning tasks, one pro tip is to divide complex projects into smaller, manageable sub-tasks. This will make it easier for team members to understand their roles and also allow for better progress tracking towards the project’s completion.

By following these steps and implementing good task management strategies in Microsoft Teams, you can guarantee better collaboration, productivity, and successful project execution.

Tracking Progress and Deadlines

For successful project management, tracking progress and deadlines is essential. This helps teams stay on track, meet deadlines and finish tasks efficiently. To ensure this with Microsoft Teams, here are some tips:

• Share updates, milestones and achievements with your team in real-time.
• Set reminders and notifications for key deadlines.
• Create tasks, assign them to team members, add due dates and monitor completion status.
• Use charts, graphs or Kanban boards to visualize project timelines.

It’s also important to communicate clearly with team members. Regularly update them and keep the lines of communication open.

For bonus points, use the Planner app in Microsoft Teams. This will help organize tasks, assign due dates, set priorities and collaborate with your team.

Using the Calendar and Planner

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Collaborating and Communicating in Microsoft Teams

Collaboration and Communication in Microsoft Teams

Collaborating and communicating efficiently is key when managing projects using Microsoft Teams. Here are six points to enhance collaboration:

• Real-time chat: Utilize the chat feature to have instant conversations with team members. This fosters quick decision-making and keeps everyone on the same page.
• File sharing: Easily share files and documents within the platform, eliminating the need for separate email attachments. This ensures that everyone has access to the latest versions.
• Team channels: Organize discussions and files by creating different channels for different topics or project phases. This allows for focused collaboration and easy navigation.
• Video conferencing: Conduct virtual meetings with the video conferencing feature. This allows for face-to-face communication, even when team members are geographically dispersed.
• Task management: Utilize the built-in task management tools to assign and track tasks. This promotes accountability and ensures that deadlines are met.
• Integration with other apps: Take advantage of the integration capabilities with other Microsoft and third-party apps. This streamlines workflows and centralizes information.

To further enhance collaboration in Microsoft Teams, consider these suggestions:

• – Encourage active participation from team members by setting clear expectations and providing regular updates on the project’s progress. This ensures that everyone is aligned and engaged.
• – Utilize the @mention feature to direct specific communication to relevant team members. This helps avoid clutter and ensures important messages are noticed promptly.
• – Leverage the automatic saving feature to avoid the risk of losing important changes or edits. This provides a safety net and allows for easy retrieval of previous versions if needed.
• – Foster a positive and inclusive team culture by utilizing the emoji and reaction features. This helps create a sense of camaraderie and encourages open communication.

By utilizing these collaboration and communication features, you can effectively manage projects in Microsoft Teams and ensure seamless teamwork.

Chat and video calls on Microsoft Teams: because sometimes staring at your colleagues’ faces through a screen is less painful than staring at their actual faces.

Using Chat and Video Calls

Chat and Video Calls in Microsoft Teams provide seamless communication and collaboration for professional settings. Let’s take a look at four key points:

• Instant Messaging : Teams offer an easy-to-use chat feature to enable quick conversations, replacing lengthy emails.
• Video Conferencing : Remote teams can come together with its video calling capabilities, improving engagement and connection.
• Screen Sharing : Easily collaborate on projects with the screen sharing feature and work on documents together in real-time.
• Channel-based Communication : Channels allow for organized discussion within a topic or project, keeping conversations and information relevant.

Also, create private channels for confidential conversations. This ensures security and better teamwork.

More advantages include integration with other Office 365 applications like Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Plus, third-party apps can be integrated as well, like Trello, Asana, or Zendesk.

Forrester Research found that companies experienced a 15% productivity increase when using Microsoft Teams.

This modern communication tool provides users with an easy-to-navigate interface and comprehensive features for chat and video calls. Businesses can benefit from enhanced collaboration among team members, regardless of location, leading to improved efficiency and success.

Sharing Files and Documents

Are you in need of sharing important files and docs with your squad? Microsoft Teams is here to the rescue! Here are four top tips to help you share and collaborate on files like a pro:

• Utilize the ‘Files’ tab . This gives you one central location for all shared files, so everyone can find and work on the same docs easily.
• Enjoy real-time editing . Multiple team members can edit a file simultaneously, without any version control dilemmas.
• Choose from different file sharing options . You can share files in a chat or a channel directly, giving others instant access to the required info.
• Control permissions. Establish different levels of access for team members, allowing you to stay in charge of who can view, edit, or delete files.

What’s more, Microsoft Teams offers exclusive features such as app and service integrations, advanced security measures, and enhanced search capabilities. Say goodbye to the hassle of rummaging through loads of emails or file folders!

Conducting Meetings and Presentations

Organizing meetings and presentations is made stress-free with Microsoft Teams ! This guide will assist you with planning to execution.

• Schedule utilizing the Teams calendar.
• Formulate an agenda of topics.
• Liven up the meeting with audio and video features.
• Screen sharing and collaboration tools enhance presentations and provide feedback.

Moreover, note-taking capabilities are integrated, so participants can easily record key points. Polls and surveys can also be used to get opinions and immediate feedback from members.

Fascinatingly, Microsoft Teams has revolutionized how businesses communicate. It has consolidated various communication channels in one platform, leading to increased productivity and efficiency when conducting meetings and presentations.

Integrating Third-Party Apps for Project Management

Integrating External Applications for Project Management

For seamless project management, integrating external applications with Microsoft Teams can enhance collaboration and productivity. By leveraging third-party apps, teams can streamline tasks, track progress, and communicate effectively.

By incorporating these external applications into Microsoft Teams, project teams can leverage their unique features and functionalities to streamline project workflows, enhance communication, and ensure efficient project completion.

To stay ahead in project management, it is essential to embrace technology and leverage external applications integrated with Microsoft Teams. By harnessing the power of these tools, teams can increase efficiency, improve collaboration, and achieve project success. Don’t miss out on the opportunities these third-party apps can bring to your project management processes. Start integrating them today!

Need some project management tools? Microsoft Teams got your back, just like a helpful colleague who never takes sick days.

Adding Project Management Tools

Integrating third-party apps for project management is vital for boosting productivity and making workflows smoother. These tools bring lots of features that make task management, collaboration, and communication easy.

Using these tools, you can assign tasks, track progress and deadlines simply. They offer a single platform where teams can access real-time info, making coordination effortless and reducing miscommunication.

Plus, popular communication platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack can be integrated. This means team members can communicate in the project management tool. It also has file sharing capabilities, which means no extra channels are needed to get to shared resources.

An example of the advantages of integrating third-party apps for project management is a digital marketing agency. It used a project management tool with time tracking ability. This enabled them to track how long tasks took and generate reports for customers. This made them more efficient and helped them meet deadlines. This improved customer satisfaction and grew their business.

Integrating third-party apps for project management is great for organizations wanting to optimize their workflows and boost collaboration. By using these tools’ features, businesses can enhance productivity, streamline processes, and get better results.

Automating Workflows

Automating workflows is a revolutionary way to manage projects. It cuts down on manual effort and streamlines processes. Here are 5 key ways to make it happen:

• Task Automation – Use apps to automate repetitive tasks, saving time and boosting productivity.
• Notification Integration – Integrate apps to get notifications right away. This keeps team members in the loop about project updates and deadlines.
• Data Synchronization – Sync data across multiple platforms, so no manual updates are needed and errors are reduced.
• Workflow Mapping – Use software to create visual representations of workflows. This makes it easier to track progress, spot bottlenecks, and increase efficiency.
• Collaborative Communication – Integrate communication tools into project management apps. This encourages collaboration and better decision-making.

Automating workflows also has other advantages, like accuracy, transparency, and proper resource allocation. With these strategies, project managers can create a smooth-running system that maximizes efficiency and lessens delays.

For today’s fast-paced business world, automation is essential. Don’t miss out on optimizing your project management process. Start using third-party apps for workflow automation and you’ll see how powerful it is.

Best Practices for Using Microsoft Teams for Project Management

In project management, utilizing Microsoft Teams effectively can greatly enhance productivity and collaboration. Here are some best practices to consider:

• Establish clear channels and teams for different projects, ensuring that members are organized and can easily communicate and share relevant information.
• Utilize the chat and video call features for quick discussions and virtual meetings, allowing for efficient communication regardless of location.
• Take advantage of the document management capabilities, such as sharing files and tracking versions, to ensure that everyone has access to the most up-to-date information.
• Use the task management and planner tools to assign tasks, set deadlines, and track progress, providing a centralized system for project tracking and accountability.

It is worth noting that these best practices can significantly improve project management efficiency when employing Microsoft Teams.

Additionally, a useful pro tip is to integrate other tools and apps, such as project management software or document collaboration platforms, with Microsoft Teams. This integration can further streamline workflows and enhance overall project management effectiveness.

Want to give your projects some direction? Setting clear goals and objectives in Microsoft Teams is like putting a GPS on your team’s productivity, minus the annoying voice telling you to make a U-turn.

Setting Clear Goals and Objectives

Setting clear goals and objectives is a must for successful project management. It ensures that everyone knows what needs to be done and how it will be done. Here are some steps to take:

• Define the project’s purpose and scope.
• Break the overall goal into smaller objectives.
• Set SMART goals .
• Create a timeline with milestones.
• Clearly communicate the goals to all team members.
• Regularly review and revise objectives.

Also, it’s important to involve team members in the goal-setting process. Their ideas can lead to creative solutions and increase their commitment to achieving the desired results.

The importance of setting clear goals has been proven by countless successful projects. For example, a software development company was having trouble meeting deadlines and producing quality products. But by using a goal-oriented approach and breaking down projects into smaller tasks, they were able to boost efficiency and client satisfaction.

Projects can benefit from setting clear goals and objectives. Defining purpose, involving team members, setting SMART goals, tracking progress through milestones, and keeping communication open are keys to success. So start setting clear goals now to make projects successful tomorrow!

Establishing Communication Guidelines

It’s important to define roles and responsibilities for team members, assign specific tasks and determine the best channels of communication . Set response time expectations and foster an environment for open and respectful dialogue . Microsoft Teams features like @mentions and notifications can help keep stakeholders informed of important updates. Regularly review and update communication guidelines for changing needs.

A great example of this in action is a software development project . Poor communication led to misunderstandings between design and development teams, but thanks to clear guidelines and prompt responses, the project was a success. Follow best practices in Microsoft Teams’ project management to ensure your projects succeed too!

Promoting Collaboration and Teamwork

Collab’ and teamwork are key for success in any project. Enhance both with Microsoft Teams . Here’s how:

• Encourage open comms: Set up channels for ideas, feedback and concerns.
• Facilitate virtual meetups: Video confs for team meetings, brainstorming and updates.
• Utilize shared docs: Use MS Teams’ file-sharing feature for project docs.
• Assign taks and track progress: Utilize MS Teams’ task management tools.
• Promote cross-functional collab’: Create shared channels to boost collaboration.
• Celebrate milestones and achievements: Recognize team successes to boost morale.

Plus, there’s integrations with Planner, SharePoint and Power BI to enhance collab’ even more.

Pro Tip: Get feedback from team members and refine your processes for improvement.

Microsoft Teams for project management brings heaps of advantages to teams and organizations. It offers a complete platform for successful collaboration, communication, and task management. Integrating with Microsoft tools like Planner and SharePoint makes it even better, giving easy access to docs, co-authoring, and visualizing project progress. Teams also facilitates real-time meetings and discussions with its audio and video conferencing features. Its user-friendly interface and flexible customization options let project managers streamline workflows, increase productivity, and enhance team coordination.

To make the most of Microsoft Teams for project management, here are some tips:

• Allocate Tasks Efficiently: Use Teams’ integration with Planner to create task boards, assign duties, and set due dates. This increases transparency among team members and keeps everyone focused on project goals.
• Centralized Info Hub: Make use of the document storage feature in Teams to store vital files and resources connected to the project. This way, team members can get to the essential documents without searching through multiple apps or emails.
• Utilize Collaboration Tools: Leverage features like co-authoring in Teams’ document editor to enable real-time collaboration on shared files. This encourages productive brainstorming sessions, eliminates duplication of efforts, and helps execute tasks smoothly.

By following these suggestions, organizations can make the most of Microsoft Teams for project management. Integration of task allocation tools like Planner makes sure team members understand their duties while the centralized information hub cuts down on time wasted searching for important documents or resources. Also, using collaboration tools lets teams work together seamlessly, enabling simultaneous editing and lessening the risk of version control issues. To sum up, embracing these tips optimizes workflow efficiency within teams using Microsoft Teams for project management.

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A Guide to Microsoft Teams Project Management [Features & FAQ]

• January 3, 2023
• A Guide to Microsoft Teams Project Management...
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Table of Contents

Most people are aware of Microsoft Teams as a tool that allows business users to chat, make calls, and even share files back and forth-but it's also a valuable tool for project management.

Employees working on a project often ask the same questions:

• Where can I find the tasks that I've been assigned?
• When is this due?
• Where can I find updates?
• Where can I find documentation?

Being able to have all this information in one place that provides a single source of truth for everyone, regardless of their role in a project, not only saves the project manager from having to answer the same questions over and over but also ensures that every stakeholder in a project can find what they need when they need it.

In other words, project managers and employees alike can take advantage of inherent Microsoft Teams features to stay connected with teams and channels and ensure projects stay on track with the ability to monitor progress in one place, even though work is completed using multiple applications. Those are good project management practices, and they are especially useful for modern organizations that support remote and hybrid work enablement .

With Microsoft Teams, communication and collaboration are king. Being able to emphasize the robust communication and collaboration features that Teams offers by integrating it with the applications that employees and managers use to complete their work allows projects to hum along seamlessly. It also allows people to use the applications and tools to accomplish their best work without hindrance.

Let's take a closer look at Microsoft Teams and how it can be used effectively as an essential part of your project management tech stack.

Microsoft Teams Management Tools

Essentially, every aspect of project management touches Microsoft Teams. The platform is uniquely positioned to give project managers a bird's eye view of every project, with the ability to see progress on project milestones as well as granular tasks. This is accomplished through document management, task management, effective communication tools (such as the Teams phone system ), integration with Microsoft 365 apps, and third-party apps and tools to keep information accessible in one place. The greatest advantage of using Microsoft Teams for project management is that team members don't have to leave Teams to collaborate; they can do it within the app itself.

Read More: 3 Key Benefits of Microsoft Teams for Business

Microsoft Teams Document Management

Be default, when a new channel is created under a team, a SharePoint document repository will automatically be created for that channel under the “files” tab (tabs are extremely useful in Microsoft teams, but we'll talk more about tabs later on in this article), but you can also click the Add cloud storage option and link to third-party cloud storage providers. This ensures that every file related to a project, whether it's a Microsoft Word document in SharePoint or PDF file in Adobe Document Cloud, is available in one place and can be accessed without having to leave Microsoft Teams.

All the files that are accessible in the “files” tab can also be co-authored, which means that multiple people can work on the same file without the need for multiple versions of the file to be created.

On the same note, any file under the “files” tab for your channel can be shared in posts, so if team members need to discuss a file or ask specific questions outside of leaving a comment directly in the file itself, this can be done in Teams as well.

Task Management in Microsoft Teams

Following the thread of keeping everything in one place, Teams can connect with dedicated project management apps and tools using the Tab functionality.

Tabs that can be added include Microsoft's own Project and Planner dedicated project management apps, but also numerous third-party options. This allows project managers to use the tools that work best for their teams while at the same time taking full advantage of Microsoft Teams' collaborative environment. It also means that you don't have to compromise and switch to a different tool; instead, the functionality of the project management tool that works for your team is maintained, but there's still a single source of truth for your project.

Resources and Communication Management in Microsoft Teams

Ensuring that important communications about a project don't get lost in the shuffle is extremely important. By default, a Microsoft Teams environment has the chat feature, but it's more for small group discussions or leaving notes for yourself. For effective communication for a project, more focused communication is needed.

Microsoft Teams Chat versus Channels

Let's say that you run a marketing agency and need to create a new website for a client. There are several stakeholders involved in this project, and they are going to be working on different aspects of the project simultaneously, and the client themselves will need to be able to weigh in on the project's progress as different milestones are completed. This means that communications from multiple stakeholders will need to be organized effectively.

That's where Channels come in. Once an overarching Team is created in Microsoft Teams, more granular channels can be created. Going back to the marketing agency example, when creating a website, there will be copywriters, designers, developers, project managers, and at least one, if not more, stakeholders on the client's side that will need to be involved.

Instead of using email, phone calls, or social media to communicate, relevant stakeholders for every aspect of the project can be organized into specific Teams channels. In other words, designers and copywriters could be in one channel, development in another, and project managers in every channel. Standard, public, and private channels can also be created to ensure that people can be added as the project progresses, but also prevents people from being bombarded with messages that don't apply to them.

How to Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management

Understanding the different tools and functionality available in Microsoft Teams is the first step to visualizing how this platform would perform in your organization's work environment. Next, you'll need to create a basic setup so you can start customizing your Teams environment.

1. Create Channels within your Team Environment

While Chat is a great function for private discussions or to save personal notes, Channels allow more organized discussions to take place between specific team members and external clients. Once you create your Team, a general channel will automatically be created. This is where general discussion between all team members can occur. You can add specific channels to keep conversations organized as you go.

There are two main roles within Teams:

• Team owner , which is the person who created the team. This individual can add co-owners so more people can share in the responsibility of managing the Team, inviting new team members, and managing general settings.
• Team members , which are the people who the Team owners invite to the Team.

With regards to your Team, if your organization already uses Microsoft 365 and has an existing group, you can securely add those team members to your Team, and the same roles and access permissions will be reflected automatically. In addition, if changes are made to the group's membership, it will automatically be synced with Microsoft Teams.

Standard, Public, and Private Channels

An important feature for project management in Microsoft Teams with regard to channels is the ability to create standard, public, or private channels. These different types of channels make it easy to have control over certain conversations without having to keep creating different overarching Teams.

Channels fall into one of three categories:

A standard channel is useful when:

• General discussion between all team members is needed, such as general project updates, policy changes, announcements, and more
• Resources that are applicable to all team members need to be shared in one location

A private channel is useful when:

• A group wants to collaborate in a separate space without needing to create another team
• A group of people (such as executives or managers) within a team want to discuss sensitive information like budgeting, strategy, etc.

A shared channel is useful when:

• Different people who are not part of the same Team want to collaborate with each other (e.g., individuals from customer support, marketing, and development need to collaborate on a project)
• You need to collaborate with an external party, such as a client, for a project

2. Customize Notifications for Each Channel

Team owners and members alike will want to customize their notifications to match their workflow. By default, anyone in the channel will get notifications for every activity that happens in that channel, including new posts, replies, and channel mentions (when someone uses the @mention function to tag a specific person's name).

Changing these notifications is easy. Clicking the ellipsis button (three dots) beside the channel name brings up a menu with the option to change channel notifications . Select the “custom” option to control whether or not you want to see notifications for all new posts, all replies, or channel mentions.

3. Add Channel Tabs to your Team

The tabs functionality in Microsoft Teams is vast, allowing you to choose from hundreds of different productivity, execution, and management applications to add to a channel. The thought process behind tabs is to ensure that everything related to a project is accessible from one location to make collaboration easier and workflow more efficient. Once you've created your channel, it's important to immediately add tabs so that a single source of truth can be established from the beginning of your project for all team members.

Remember that if you use Microsoft applications, the security and permissions settings that have already been established for those applications will transfer to Microsoft Teams. You'll have to manage security manually and permissions if you're using apps outside of the Microsoft environment.

4. Use Applications to Assign Tasks

With your channels, notifications, and tabs set up, it's time to assign tasks. You have several options for assigning tasks, including To Do or using something more robust like Microsoft Project, Planner, or a third-party project management application.

The Tasks app in Teams acts like a hub for Microsoft project management applications, showing information from Project, Planner, and To Do in one location . This makes it easy for team members and owners to see everything going on with a project without opening multiple applications.

Depending on the project and who is involved, it might be better to integrate one dedicated project management app into Microsoft Teams over another. For instance:

• If it's a solo project, then using To Do will suffice . It can also integrate with Microsoft Outlook so that your tasks can be viewable from there as well.
• For simpler team projects that only require basic planning and task assignment and where team members already have a working Microsoft 365 Business subscription, Planner is a good choice . It also provides a chart to track the progress of a project and can be used within Microsoft SharePoint as well.
• For more complex projects with dependencies, costs, and more, Project is the best choice . It's simple to get started with but has powerful functionality, such as automated workflows, to keep all the moving parts with big projects humming along.

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Drop us a line, microsoft teams project management best practices.

Using Microsoft Teams for project management can help your organization's projects run more efficiently, but only if you follow best practices to ensure you're taking full advantage of what the platform offers. Here are several tips that contribute to effective Microsoft Teams project management:

1. Use Microsoft Apps to Ensure Set Security & Permissions are Observed in Teams

If you connect Microsoft applications to your Teams environment, the security and access permissions that were set out within those applications automatically transfer to your Teams environment. This means that team members and owners who don't have permission to access certain information in these applications will also not be able to access that information as it's displayed in the Tasks app in Teams.

This takes the pressure off of your organization's IT department with managing security and access, ensuring that security and permissions remain static throughout your organization's entire Microsoft ecosystem.

2. Keep Work Accessible by Connecting with SharePoint

By default, the files tab under a Channel in your Team environment will show the option to open a file using SharePoint. This allows everyone in that Channel to access documents, edit them, leave comments, and more. Instead of dealing with multiple versions of a document, everyone can work on one copy where changes and updates are accurately reflected in the document's edit history. Since Microsoft Teams seamlessly syncs with SharePoint, all relevant documents are displayed without having to leave Teams.

3. Customize your Teams Experience with Channel Integrations

Using the tab functionality in each Teams Channel allows you to customize how Microsoft Teams works for your project management needs. If there is a specific application that has helped your team be more productive and efficient in the past, chances are that you can add it to Teams.

Further, administrators can modify the appearance of some Microsoft Teams applications, so it provides a seamless branded experience to the end user. This includes names, app icons, colors, descriptions, and more. Taking advantage of this option isn't just about optics but can also contribute to a more effective user experience as well. Specific metadata properties of an application help users understand its specific use case and make it easy for users to identify it as an application that belongs to the organization.

4. Use Templates to Save Time

Specific Channel setups (including tabs within those channels) can be saved as templates for future use, saving Team owners a ton of time when they need to create a new Channel for a project. Team members will also already know where to access certain information if a template they are familiar with is used.

There are default templates within Teams that can be accessed from the Dashboard in the Admin center that is already set up with different use cases in mind. But you can also create your own templates that work for your team by clicking on the “Add” button just above the list of default templates.

Overall, using Microsoft Teams for project management allows organizations that are already taking advantage of the Microsoft ecosystem to marry communication and collaboration with administrative project management tools.

Although multiple tools may be used to execute a project, Teams provides a centralized location where everyone can find the information they need to continue executing the role in the project. The increase in productivity and efficiency with having information in one place not only allows projects to be completed faster and more effectively, it can also prevent situations like crunch time, where employees work a large amount of overtime near the end of the project to complete it.

A major part of effective project management is having the right tools, but navigating the different licensing options for the Microsoft products you use to ensure that your organization is only paying for what it needs can be challenging. Amaxra removes that burden and helps you with Microsoft licensing optimization so your organization can not only save money but simplify its tech stack as well.

Contact Amaxra today to get started.

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