6 Critical Microsoft Teams Training Tips
Now that your company is on board with Microsoft Teams and all users have been migrated over to the software, what is the next step? Obviously, you need to train your employees to become a well-oiled Microsoft Teams machine! To avoid frustration and ensure your users are set up for success, the following six critical Microsoft Teams training tips must be considered.
Tip #1 – Always be involved
As there are new activities your group is interested in, always remain involved in new Teams endeavors as the program is constantly adding new features and being updated. Ensure that new hires are incorporated into the Teams ecosystem to prevent the expansion of applications. If some group members are using Teams and others are using different applications, determine how to migrate them into the Teams platform to ensure all employees are using the same collaborative space. The more seamless the collaboration, the more the adoption of the program, and the result will be a better work experience.
Tip #2 – Be a curator
If you observe a user posting information in the wrong space, utilize the copy link feature to copy a link from where they placed the information and add it to the correct channel. Then privately message the user to discuss the switch and continue the conversation in the proper channel. This gives users excellent feedback while taking the onus off them to correct their mistakes.
Tip #3 – Be proactive
While this may be more challenging in a remote setting, the champions should occasionally ask other team members if they need help with any software-related problems. If there is a newly launched feature or a specific area of Teams the group is struggling with, explaining it to them will be beneficial and typically only takes a few minutes. This is also an excellent opportunity to better understand how the group is using Microsoft Teams.
Tip #4 – Ensure you are a champion
Since you are conducting the training, expect to become the go-to person for all questions and information related to Microsoft Teams. Your role is not to answer information technology questions such as why the software is not loading, but be prepared to answer questions such as, “How do you do this in a channel?”
Tip #5 – Host group sessions
Weekly stand-up calls, lunch and learns, or tricks and tips sessions are excellent opportunities to teach new features of Teams in a group setting while allowing your employees to ask questions. As the champion, you can find out what the rest of the team is doing, learn about their experiences, and see how they are utilizing the software. Usually, a single person does not figure out the best way to use Teams across the entire department, so having collaboration through group sessions often results in users sharing information about the software for more efficient working.
Tip #6 – Practice patience
Practicing patience is the best approach in any situation in life. When training a group on Teams, you must be prepared to repeat yourself regularly as users become more familiar with the platform. There will always be users improperly responding to threads, starting a conversation in the general channel when it needs to be in a specific location, and other simple mistakes. Regardless of these mishaps, never publicly shame a user or make someone feel bad about not having a full grip on the software. Instead, encourage other group members, since public call-outs will make other users hesitant about using the platform.
Microsoft Teams is an excellent resource for collaboration between employees to discuss and share information. Many companies are making the switch to Teams because of the extensive functionality and centralization of apps, which increases productivity across all corporations.
