Office 365 has a lot of features, and many of them are underutilized. Whether collaborating on a report with a colleague down the hall or brainstorming in an airport terminal across the country, Microsoft has developed powerful tools to boost productivity. These four Office 365 programs are filled with useful functions aimed at streamlining your work environment and facilitating open communication.
One Note
Microsoft OneNote is a product that builds on the idea of the “sticky note” when it comes to organizing information. This versatile tool can be used to jot down notes, store random facts, organize ideas, bookmark images and create to-do lists. The familiar design offers an intuitive learning curve as you master page outlines, section hierarchies and jump links to other notebook pages. OneNote is a simple tool that automatically converts handwritten notes into typed text, reads notes and images so that they are searchable and can even turn audio recordings into organized meeting minutes.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is an essential tool for your department to get quick answers to questions, spontaneously exchange ideas and share information in an open digital environment. Since launching in November 2016, the chat-based collaboration tool has become a productive way to have meaningful discussions that solve problems. However, the messaging platform supports far more than instant conversations. You can create group tasks, share content, attach files, schedule meetings, poll co-workers, collaborate on documents and automatically schedule delivery of reports. This teamwork hub creates a shared workspace that integrates all files, ideas and conversations to make them visible and accessible to every member of the group.
Delve
Delve is designed to “harness the collective knowledge of your organization” and then deliver a curated homepage that brings together all content created in any Office 365 program. The personalized dashboard displays the documents that are most relevant to current projects. Files that have recently accessed, shared or favorited are given priority. The smart file manager also discovers and organizes similar information so that relevant emails aren’t missed, overlook pertinent data or forget an important late-night note. It is possible to even create boards that group project documents and share them with other Delve users. The collaboration tools also come in handy for quickly connecting with frequent contacts and checking on who is working on what.
Planner
Another new Office 365 productivity tool is Planner, a project management platform that provides a centralized hub for organizing and completing tasks as a team. Each project is arranged on a board that contains buckets. These hold task cards that include due dates, pertinent files and associated conversations. This allows users to easily switch from an overview of the entire plan to a screen that displays only the important tasks. From the Planner app dashboard, it is also possible to assign tasks to group members, check progress updates, create checklists and post comments to ensure that the project stays on track.
Office 365’s versatility and flexibility makes it the ideal resource for working productively when you are in the office or on the go. The fully integrated services help you cut the clutter, stay on task and collaborate more efficiently. For more information on how to use these tools, contact Roan Solutions.
