Microsoft Office 365 News, News 14 August 2019

Conquering Communications with Office 365

Business Communication, but not as you know it...

Helen Abbott, Finance Coordinator, Fabric

Stepping into my new role at Fabric a few months ago, I was quickly introduced to Yammer and Teams, having never used or even heard of them before.

 

Coming from an environment where Outlook was pretty much the only form of communication, my first thought was, “What’s wrong with Outlook?”, and secondly, “What are Teams and Yammer?”.

 

My Experience

Trusty old Outlook, sending emails, waiting for replies, and more often than not in a group conversation, going back through the inbox clutter to locate the last email thread, only then to find that Joe Bloggs hit reply instead of reply all, and now no one knows what is going on!

 

Welcome to Fabric

Keeping employees informed of the happenings within the organisation, and providing up to date information is pivotal for the smooth day to day running of a business, and its employees’ morale. Set up Yammer… a private social network, where anyone can provide updates; post announcements; ask questions; put out surveys; and publicly praise each other for good work. Information is available in one place and is accessible for everyone to discuss and utilise.

Perks? No one misses out.

 

What If I Want to Discuss Departmental Stuff?

There is a solution for that too – Teams – An instant messaging application that allows you to add people to a team chat; make calls; set up meetings; and share documents. This tool is so handy to get quick responses; to have private conversations that the whole office doesn’t need to be involved in; and allows new team members to get up to speed more quickly.

Perks? Everyone gets the same message at the same time.

 

So, Do You Want to Minimise Your Outlook Inbox Clutter?

I have given you two tools to make this possible, and if I can do it, so can you.

  • Keep your Outlook for formal communications – in my case, this is suppliers and customers
  • Be more efficient, use Yammer, encourage large groups of people to talk to each other and ask questions. Get the facts out there!
  • Don’t lose departmental information in a sea of inbox emails, talk directly to each other using Teams, locate documents quickly. Be proactive.

 

My Verdict

It isn’t always easy to change from what you’re used to, but adapting the way you communicate to target the relevant audience really will have a positive effect on productivity, and show employees, suppliers, and customers, they are valued. Would I go back to just using Outlook? Certainly not.

 

Want to know more? Contact us on 01625 443 110

Helen Abbott, Finance Coordinator, Fabric

Get in touch Back to blog