Microsoft Office Tutorials: Bring teams and resources together

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Bring teams and resources together

Create a virtual space for your team and documents with Microsoft Teams. Use the following tips to get your team working together.

If you're working with people outside of your business, you can invite them as guests to your team.

1. Get on the same page with your team

Create a team so you can all share information, ideas, and a schedule.

In Microsoft Teams, choose Join or create a team > Create team.
Under What kind of team will this be?, choose Private or Public and choose Next.
In the Create your team box, enter a name and description for your team.
In Teams, at the bottom of the page, type a welcome message to your team members, and then choose Send.

You can also create a company-wide team.

You can set up multiple teams or teams that contain multiple channels to manage specific projects or groups of people working on the same thing. For example, create a channel for finances and another for the sales team. To create a channel:

Find the team name and click More options > Add channel.
Type a name and description, then choose Add.

You can also create a team for your clients.

Add Microsoft Planner to your team to coordinate your work. You can track deliverables, dates, deadlines, and who's responsible for getting tasks done with Microsoft Planner. To add a Planner tab to your team:

In your team, choose Add a tab next to your tabs at the top of a channel.
Select Planner, then choose Create a new plan and type a name for the new Planner board.

Need a little help? Learn how to: Plan projects and track deadlines.

2. Store business documents in one spot

Store your documents in your team's Files tab. Everyone in the team can access the files, and you can work together on them right in Microsoft Teams. You can set up folders for specific types of files, like client intake forms, so everyone can grab the latest copy from the same place. Or set up space for draft or working files vs. finals, so you don't grab the wrong one.

In Microsoft Teams, in your team, choose Files.
Choose New and then select Folder to create a new folder.
Choose Upload and browse to select the files to add.

Need a little help? Learn how to: Share your files.

3. Chat, converse, or meet

Chat or meet whenever you need in Microsoft Teams.

Need everyone to know? Start a discussion in your team's Conversations tab. Everyone on the team can see the discussion and contribute to it.
Need a quick answer from a specific person? Choose Chat to start a quick chat with the person you need.
Need to have a longer discussion or share your screen? From the conversation or chat, choose Meet now to add voice, video, and sharing to your discussion. Or schedule a meeting for later when everyone can attend.