A new way to work

The way we work together on a daily basis has changed significantly over the last two weeks and businesses and employees alike are having to adapt.

With offices closed and people working from home remotely in their millions the Monday morning boardroom meeting already seems like distant memory.

There will be many people out there celebrating the temporary end of this laborious weekly task but there is more to it than cold coffee and weekly projections.

These meetings (and just being in the work environment) create interaction between people and this is not only important for the business but for the employees on a social level. Being able to interact with each other face to face is a basic human need – even if it is only to moan about the fact you have to be in the meeting!

Seeing another face and communicating with another face to face humanises the interaction. Take away the face and a person can become nothing more than a name on a screen.

Of course, there is email and telephones but how many times have you misinterpreted the tone of an email or had the sneaking suspicion that the person on the other end of the phone is not fully committed to the conversation.

So, how are businesses keeping in touch and ensuring those all- important social links between employees stay alive?

It seems that Microsoft have given the perfect answer with their collaboration tool Microsoft Teams. The tag line itself claims the software gives the user the ability to ‘work remotely without feeling remote’ and the last two weeks the tech giant seems to have been tested on it claims.

Microsoft Teams is not new technology and has been around for 3 years. It seems now that it is beginning to realise its potential with a reported increase of 12 million daily users over March taking it now to 44 million daily users world-wide.

Microsoft Teams is free with any Microsoft Business or Enterprise packages and offers the opportunity to host face to face meetings and live events from 2 – 10,000 people on a number of devices. It’s the prefect platform to keep in touch with your team and continue that all important face to face communication.

The meetings can be scheduled and placed directly into the Teams outlook calendar along with the meeting agenda.

Meetings can be recorded with audio and automatic transcription and saved along with any notes in the meeting thread. Keeping all the meeting information in one easily accessible place.

The instant messenger service allows you to see who’s online and exchange documents and links at the click of a button either inside, or outside of a live meeting.

Businesses now more than ever, are needing to adapt and adapt quickly to ensure they able to continue through the current climate.

Arming your team with the right technology will enable them to continue to give a high level of service and commitment whilst working remotely.

With the implementation of a platform like Microsoft Teams, businesses will also be able to care for the mental health of their employees by ensure that they have and are engaging in regular face to face contact until the return of those Monday morning meetings!