Over the past month, many of us have transitioned from working in shared physical spaces (with our co-workers and colleagues) to working from our homes (with our children and pets!) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This transition has been challenging to some, as we adjust to new schedules, different work environments and new tools for collaboration, like Microsoft Teams and Slack.
Slack has been used by businesses for many years and last year, Microsoft Teams was launched to replace Skype for Business (as part of the Office 365 subscription). The primary use of Slack and Teams is the ability to chat with co-workers individually or within a group, however, both have other features to enhance your employees’ productivity, especially for remote employees today.
Here are FIVE ways your employees can extend productivity, using Slack and Teams:
1. Add applications to manage your “flow of work” through one platform
Both Microsoft Teams and Slack have “App Marketplaces”, to allow you to add in applications, such as Asana for project management, Twitter feeds, and MeBeBot’s Intelligent Assistant. With the MeBeBot app, your employees can ask their HR or IT questions, and receive instantaneous answers…anytime from anywhere (as Teams and Slack are available as mobile apps to smart phones and tablet devices), eliminating the need to submit help desk tickets or emails.
2. Make content more engaging using videos, GIFs and photos
Text isn’t always the most effective way to get important information across. In Slack and Teams, you can get creative—and mobile-friendly—with your communications, using engaging formats like videos, GIFs, photos, podcasts and slide decks.
3. Create channels in Slack or Teams groups with intuitive names, not abbreviations
Planning events, coordinating on projects, and customer engagements can be managed all in one centralized place, using channels in Slack or creating a Team in Teams. Invite the team members who need to be “in the know” and reduce the volume back and forth emails.
4. Access and share files, such as Excel spreadsheets and Word documents
Teams makes sharing and gaining access to files much easier for organizations. Files can be associated with specific projects in the associated Team, making it quick and painless to link to and share information with the right people via various channels.
5. Video conference for remote meetings in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams includes a meeting feature with audio and/or video that allows you to share your screen with attendees anywhere. The Team also acts as a hub to store associated prep documents and meeting notes. These meetings can be internal or external, meaning you can create collaborative spaces with clients.
Embracing remote work takes time, but with tools like Slack and Teams, collaboration can be just a message or app away! And, MeBeBot's Intelligent Assistant is in your employees' flow of work, to provide immediate answers to their questions, when they need it.
To see how easy MeBeBot is to implement today, please book a 15 min time to see a demo: