With so many colleagues working outside the office or spending time out on the road or in the field, collaboration tools are absolutely essential in today’s workplace. Often, our clients ask us for recommendations on collaboration tools that would work well for them. Usually, it’s an easy answer: the best tools are likely the ones you already have but don’t use!
If you use Microsoft 365 at your workplace, then you have access to several of our favorite collaboration tools already. All you need to do is find them, set them up, and use them.
Outlook Tasks
Yes, Outlook is an email and contact management tool. But if that’s where your use of Outlook ends, we’ve got great news for you. It’s also a great tool for fostering team collaboration.
Outlook’s tasks function can help you get rid of paper to-do lists and sticky notes and get organized. Create a task and assign it to yourself or someone else in your contact list. Use its prioritizing feature to rank tasks by urgency. Add a start date, a due date, or both, then set reminders. If it’s a task you or someone on your team must repeat, you can set up recurrence, too.
Outlook Calendar
Outlook’s calendar function is another Microsoft collaboration tool. It has functionality beyond setting aside time for a meeting. You can invite collaborators, share calendars, book meeting rooms, generate virtual meeting links, and RSVP right in the app.
You can also use Outlook calendar as a scheduler. Show yourself as busy or available so team members know when they can reach out. Invite people to a Teams meeting right from your calendar. Once your meeting is done, add notes from your OneNote app.
OneNote
Speaking of OneNote, it’s another collaboration tool you likely already have and don’t use. Microsoft calls OneNote a digital notebook. You can take text notes, draw, take and store photos and videos, and clip web pages to read later. OneNote allows you to share your notes and invite others to collaborate on notes, too. This makes it a great tool for creative teams that work remotely.
SharePoint
SharePoint is one of the most overlooked tools anyone with a Microsoft 365 account has at their fingertips. It is a single place you and your team can go to find and share files, share company news, ask questions, submit requests, and even track purchasing and production. Your team can access your company’s SharePoint site from their phones, keeping them connected wherever they are.
Microsoft Teams
As many office workers are aware after two years of remote work, Teams is an internal instant messaging system, web conferencing platform, phones system, shift manager, and scheduling tool all rolled into one. The most robust version of Teams is an application for companies with Business Premium versions of Office 365. But you can get a free version of Teams with chat, file sharing, and video calling for free.
OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive is a file sync & share (FSS) application designed just for business. You can sync, access, and share files from your desktop or mobile device anytime, anywhere. It is a great collaboration tool to use alongside OneNote, Teams, and Outlook.
Interested in integrating any of these tools into your workflows? Contact ShareTech and we’ll help you and your team get set up.
