Whether your organization is brand new to using Microsoft Teams for collaboration, connection and videoconferencing, or you've been using it for awhile, there are some tips and tricks that can help you use it most effectively.
While Teams prides itself on being intuitive and easy to use, there are many features that you may not be aware of that can help enhance your organization's experience. Here are a few features to be aware of that can help your customize your user's experience:
*New: Background Change -
A brand new Teams feature, you can now change your background to a variety of options. This is a great option for those that wish to hide what is behind them whether it is simply unsightly or they are worried about proprietary information being on display. It is also a fun way to add interest to your videoconference.
To change your background:
Start or join a Teams video meeting using the Windows or Mac application. (This feature isn’t available on the web version.)
Click on the three dots (the advanced features icon)
Select “Show background effects.” One note here: the background effects feature was still rolling out when this was being written, so if you don’t see that menu item, you may have to settle for “Blur background,” which has been available for some time. But just be patient — you should get it soon.
Choose from the variety of backgrounds that will appear on the right side of your screen. Click on “Preview” if you want to see what your screen will look like before anybody else does; otherwise, click on “Apply.”
Schedule and Host Meetings with External / Guest Users
Teams meetings and videoconferences are not just reserved for internal organization users or others who are using teams at their respective organizations. You can invite any users with an email address to join a teams meeting. All you need to do is invite them by entering their email address when setting up the meeting. They will need to use a web browser to access the meeting (easiest to do via a desktop computer vs. a mobile device) they will be emailed a link to the meeting and can join easily via the link.
Use Tabs to Display Rich and Interactive Web Content
You can use tabs within Microsoft teams to display web content. Only an administrator of a Team is able to add tabs.
To add a tab:
click on the plus mark on the top of the Teams channel that you'd like the tab to be added to.
This will pull up a box with options of pages you can add to your tabs.
Select the tab that you'd like to add.
Bookmark Specific Content
You can bookmark specific content within Teams to quickly come back to it when you need to reference it.
To bookmark content:
When hovering over the item you'd like to bookmark click the 3 dots in the corner that appear next to the reaction options.
Click "save this message/file"
To view your saved message click on your profile picture in the top right corner of teams and click "saved".
Hide and Show Teams to Stay Organized
If your organization / team has many different channels it can bog down your work day when you have to sift through the entire list to find the most important lists to you. You can click on the options (the 3 dots) next to each Team and Channel to show and hide channels that are most important to you.
Comments