Microsoft Teams has taken the world by storm with over 270 million active users worldwide.
Hailed as the ‘digital king’ for its extensive suite of office based services, Microsoft is one of the most established digital suites in the working world.
Microsoft 365 arguably hosts the most useful and business-savvy products on the market today, from Word to PowerPoint and all the dynamic working solutions in between, but what makes it unique among a sea of other essential business services?
We’ve put together a list of under-utilised apps from Microsoft 365 that are guaranteed to streamline your business operations, improve your productivity and boost opportunities for business growth.
Spice up your work life with Microsoft Teams
Before we get to the business-centric stuff, here are Five Microsoft 365 features that will spice up your work life:
- Spotify link-up feature for Teams – Using the automation platform Zapier, businesses can benefit from Microsoft Teams and Spotify integrations that bring music and communication together on one platform for easy access. So, whether you’re creating the ultimate office playlist or simply adding a new track to your personal library, it won’t take time away from your work.
- New Microsoft Teams filters – A brilliant selection of additional video effects, frames and styles available in Microsoft Teams that will be rolled out between February and April of 2023. Keep your eyes peeled for these new video augmentation features.
- New Microsoft Viva ‘Praise Highlights’ in Teams and Outlook profile cards (requires Viva Insights subscription) – Designed to demonstrate appreciation to employees and colleagues, the ‘Praise Highlights’ feature allows employees to send praise to one another with a feature that highlights their achievements in their profile card on Teams and Outlook.
- Microsoft Teams ringtone update – Incoming calls don’t have to be daunting with Microsoft Teams ringtone options. The original tune has been remixed several times but ultimately one adaptation from a social media user attracted the attention of Microsoft bosses and has been added to the ringtone options for a customisable Teams experience. Disclaimer, dancing is optional.
- Microsoft Outlook images – Many of you will have recognised a distinct lack of visuals and image displays in your emails. While we recognise that this Microsoft Outlook security feature is eliminating opportunities for exploitations and cyber threats, we’re all about keeping work as interesting as possible. By adding known domains and senders to your ‘Safe Senders’ list, you can keep your inbox engaging. Simply open a message containing locked items (only from known senders and domains), click on an element and a menu will open, then add the sender and domain name to the safe sender’s list.
Boost productivity with Microsoft 365
While Microsoft is known for its more popular products such as Outlook, Teams and the Office Suite, we’d urge you to take a minute to imagine the impact of your under-utilised apps.
We’ve put together a list of some of the apps you should be using to boost productivity in your business.
Project
Although Microsoft Project isn’t covered in Microsoft 365 packages, we feel it’s worth a mention.
As an agile application, Microsoft Project gives you the power to make project management simple.
Project integrates easily with other software in the suite and is a great way to take the hassle and cost out of project management allowing your teams to collaborate across continents without limitations.
With a centralised view, timeline tracking and reporting features as well as timesheet submission and resource management capabilities, Microsoft Project remains a popular and easy-to-use project management application that’s perfect for beginners and pros alike.
Visio
Visualising data-connected business processes can be difficult, particularly serving as a blocker when it comes to business-wide collaboration in hybrid working environments.
Visio is a Microsoft application offering comprehensive flowchart software that eliminates data complications and allows your teams to create engaging business visuals such as flowcharts, org charts, network diagrams and floor plans with the click of a few buttons.
The often overlooked software comes with dozens of premade templates, starter diagrams and stencils in both the desktop and web apps, delivering an accessible and easy-to-use platform that streamlines your business operations and ensures your team are working toward the same goals, wherever they’re working from.
OneNote
It’s a universal rule that keeping organised increases productivity.
If you haven’t heard of it before, OneNote is your ultimate organisation solution.
The perfect tool for all your creative moments, OneNote is a digital notebook program that allows you to type, tag, organise and share from one easy to create and navigate platform.
Working without limitations is the best way to ensure all your creative breakthroughs are put to paper before they disappear without a trace. With OneNote, you’ll never miss a brainstorming opportunity again.
Planner
A little more formal than OneNote, Microsoft Planner is a task management application that uses boards and features like checklists and labels to help organise your team’s tasks and ongoing workflow.
Encouraging teamwork with intuitive, collaborative and visually lead task management, Planner can automatically transform a task’s status into a pie or bar chart for some quick and engaging visuals that support your processes.
Recommended as a great companion to Microsoft Teams, Planner is the ideal solution for those looking to increase productivity and collaboration across their business.
Yammer
Yammer is the most interesting of Microsoft 365’s suite of lesser-known tools.
Serving the similar purpose of an internal social media program, this feature rich communication tool connects up to 20,000 people at any one time, making it easy to understand ongoing activity and measure impact.
Engaging with all members of your business has never been easier. With business growth insights, dynamic alignment solutions and a trusted, compliant supplier, you’ll be able to facilitate collaboration between departments like never before.
