Microsoft just made it easier to get more work done – and have fun doing it

Microsoft has launched a new product that makes it easier for people to work together.

Microsoft Teams places conversations, content and Office 365 tools in one digital workspace to make projects more collaborative and allow staff to be more efficient, the company revealed during a special event in New York recently.

“Office 365 empowers individuals, teams and entire organisations with the broadest platform and toolkit for creation, communications and collaborations in the market,” said chief executive Satya Nadella. “Microsoft Teams adds a new experience to Office 365 as the chat-based workspace designed to empower the art of teams.”

Employees are on twice as many teams as they were five years ago and collaborative work occupies 80% of their time, Microsoft pointed out.

Microsoft Teams is based upon 4 core features:

• Chat for today’s teams: Microsoft Teams uses messaging, Skype and private conversations to ensure that all members are connected and informed. Fun features including emojis and memes
• A hub for teamwork: familiar Office 365 features such as OneNote, Word, SharePoint and Excel are built in, and it is easy to move between them. With the ability to embed a Power BI dashboard, all members get access to in-depth information about their projects.
• Customisable for each team: members can change Microsoft Teams to suit their needs, use tabs to mark frequently-used documents, plug in third-party apps and embed bots to help.
• Security teams trust: as Microsoft Team is an Office 365 application, it benefits from the advanced security features of the Cloud. All data are encrypted, centrally hosted and in compliance with data protection standards to ensure it remains safe.

“Think of it as a digital transformation of an open office space environment; one that helps build a team culture that is both fun and inclusive, so everyone has a voice,” said Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice-President of Office 365.

Microsoft Teams is available as a preview for all customers with Office 365 Enterprise or Business plans, in 181 countries and 18 languages. General availability will begin in the first quarter of 2017.