Too many houses (TEAMS) can get confusing and tiring. In Microsoft Teams it is not advisable to create or be a member of too many different teams. For organizations that don’t have any governance/policies in place, or for end-users that haven’t received proper training, the number of teams created can easily grow out of proportion and become unmanageable/unsustainable. This would eventually lead to extreme confusion and decrease productivity. When an organization adopts Microsoft Teams it is prudent to think through how various groups within the organization collaborate and create a structure that allows for efficient work-flow. Proper training, policies and guidance should be given to users. This will mitigate risks, minimize frustration and allow TEAMS to become a valuable productivity/collaboration tool.

2) Think of a “Channel” as a room

When a house is first built it only has one room. In Microsoft Teams, when a TEAM is first created a new room (“General” Channel) is created.

In the “General” room (Channel), you can see everything at any point in time. If you are away for a day/week/month, when you return

you can view the entire history of the room (Channel). Everything is kept in the order it arrives. In Microsoft Teams this is referred to as

“Posts or Conversations”. Posts, announcements, replies, email…everything is visible in the conversations window. Everyone in the

team sees everything in the channel conversations.

As users start working on more projects and more initiatives, different groups of people in the house (TEAM) will break out and start working in different rooms (Channels). In Microsoft Teams, a new room corresponds to a new “Channel”.  As of November 2019, a channel can be “Standard” or “Private”. A Private channel is an invisible room that only selected people in your house (TEAM) can see and have the key (permissions) to enter.

3) Think of the “Activity Feed” as the hallway

 Houses have hallways that connect rooms (Channels). A person can stand in the hallway, open the doors to the rooms (Channels) and see all the conversations in the various rooms – without leaving the hallway! In Microsoft Teams, the hallway corresponds to the “Activity Feed.” Opening the door to a room (Channel) corresponds to turning on the Channels activity feed/channel notifications.

A user does not have to worry about missing anything meaningful in a room (Channel) with closed doors (except private rooms {Channels}). In teams, a user can tag a person to get their attention by using @mention. Whenever someone @mentions another user, that user will see it in their “Activity feed” whether it is turned on for channel notifications or not. 

4) Think of “Chat” as private conversations or selected group conversations

Sometimes it is necessary to have a private conversation with one, or a few people in your house (TEAM). In Teams, this is 

accomplished by using “Chat” or “Calls”. Whatever is communicated via chat is only for the people specifically identified.

5) Think of “Tabs” as pictures hung on the wall

In various rooms (Channels), pictures can be hung on walls. This helps users quickly find what’s most important or quickly access resources needed. In Microsoft Teams this corresponds to “Channel Tabs”. Here you can attach items of importance – such as Excel spreadsheets, shared notes, and other apps.

Succeeding with Microsoft Teams

Understanding how Microsoft Teams works is an important step in order to succeed with your Microsoft Teams adoption. But it’s important to acknowledge that Teams drastically changes the way people work, and changing behavior is difficult. It will take time, patience and managerial “buy-in” to foster cultural change.