In today’s environment, businesses of all sizes are moving to a more portable model for getting work done. With the increasing number of remote workers, business travelers, and companies with multiple locations, collaboration between coworkers can be a challenge. Office 365 has collaboration tools that can make this process easier. Here’s more information:
SharePoint Online
SharePoint Online has several tools that businesses use in Office 365 to enhance collaboration – Team Sites and Communication Sites. SharePoint Online Team Sites are considered to be one of the most powerful tools in the Office 365 Collaboration Suite. Using it, people can find information quickly using a designated home page that has a newsfeed, activity feed, and document libraries. It also integrates with OneDrive.
SharePoint Online Communication Sites are also a powerful tool, but this is only available to users that have the 2017 version of Office 365 or later. Communication Sites publish information on a common, community site that will be available to all the SharePoint users within a company, not just those that are on a specific team.
Outlook Groups
Outlook Groups is typically used to make email collaboration much easier. While it is true that SharePoint is a powerful tool for collaboration, for some users, it might be too complex. Microsoft understands that there are some users that benefit from simpler tools, and from this understanding Outlook Groups were created. This is a useful tool because it groups collaborators into a shared inbox in the email program, which makes communication much easier. All the user needs to do is create an Outlook Group and then each member will have access to a set of tools, including a shared Outlook inbox, a shared calendar, a designated SharePoint document library, OneNote Notebook, a SharePoint team site, and a Planner.
Yammer Groups
For those craving a collaboration tool that resembles a forum, Yammer is a good choice. Yammer started out as an independent company, but Microsoft purchased them in 2012. This is one of the earliest collaboration tools that Microsoft has incorporated into Office 365, and it is still a popular choice for those who want to organize their collaboration efforts into a forum-like space. When a Yammer Group is created, the users get access to a designated inbox in Outlook, a calendar, SharePoint document library, OneNote Notebook, Sharepoint Team Site, and a planner, just like they do with Outlook Groups.
Microsoft Teams
This is a fairly new tool that Microsoft released in March of 2017. It is also specifically geared towards teams that want to streamline their communications. Each of the employees on a specific team can create channels for different topics. Each of these channels can be open to multiple collaborators or even be set for private communications. Microsoft Teams can also integrate with Skype, which enables team members to easily organize video conferencing. It is an ideal tool for teams that need to be in constant communication.
It’s true that Office 365 has tools that can make communication easier. For more information, contact Roan Solutions.
