Microsoft Teams

How you can get the most from Teams

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Say goodbye to these challenges

Whether you're already facing these challenges or are worried you might; we can help.

Too many teams

By default anyone can create a team (and its associated SharePoint site). This leads to multiple Teams and confusion about where to work.

Hard to find what I need

“Where did we work on that report?"

As use grows over time info gets compartmentalised & mistakes happen.

Too many admins

By default Team owners & members can change key settings on the SharePoint sites - this can make it harder for users to use and even access this info.

Sensitive information risks

Personal or sensitive information held in Teams can become a ticking time bomb. Is content being held in Teams that should have been disposed of or secured?

Compliance & info accidents

All of the above raises risk and potential liability for indefensible disposal, not to mention making it even harder to gather the info needed for OIA, LGOIMA or Ministerial requests.

Why is Teams not making work better?

You and others getting disillusioned and returning to email, meetings, and file share use.

It's now way easier to do a great job

We used to have overflowing email inboxes and it was frustrating trying to find all the communications on a topic.

Now its all in a channel .. as all the information I need on a topic is together and tabs give access to relevant resources.

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We went from a mess...

Like many organisations, we plunged head first into ad-hoc Teams use. The outcome was not good and most of us reverted to email...

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... to excellence

Fast forward to now, and we couldn't imagine not using Teams as our primary way of working together and with customers.

 

It's also central to how we curate and build know-how and run our core business processes. We have seen this repeated in the implementations we have done for customers.

The method we have created we call "Teams Framework"

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Deliberately designed

All business activities and knowledge centres are covered. When using Teams, correct channel design was vital. We almost never have just the General channel. Channels are created per customer, knowledge topic, report, job or assignment etc. In some cases standard Teams and workspace templates are activated via a self-service wizard.

 

Metadata. The designs include inherited, as well as auto classified, metadata to drive search, navigation, browse and R&D.

 

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Goldilock's Channels

"Just right"If the breadth of a channel is too narrow, we end up with too many places to go to collaborate. If it's too wide, then conversations overlap, and threads get lost. This is what we refer to as the ‘Goldilocks’ effect where the trick is to design channels to be just right.

 

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Stamp out ambiguity

Death comes quickly to Teams, if it's not obvious where to collaborate or find what you need.

For instance, for conferences do we have a team per conference or a team for all conferences and a channel for each?

So this needs consultation then a binding decision - one way or the other.

 

Ad-hoc Teams? It also means we lock down or limit self created ad-hoc teams that will just sow confusion. If someone wants a Team they can easily check what Teams are in use already and then request one if needed.

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Security separation

Members only. When an out of the box Team is created, members have administrative rights and no one else even knows the Team and its library exist. This is a recipe for information accidents and duplication.

 

vs Organisational asset. So Teams Framework allows administrator rights to be limited while, for most Teams, adding permissions for all staff to see and search for the library content.

 

External guests? This used to be painful to setup and manage. Now customers can collaborate and share files securely through our Smart Guest Management App.

 

 

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Managing case files elegantly

We have many case files - proposals, reports, projects, campaigns, knowledge showcases etc.

 

Lifecycle managed. We have a channel for each of these cases and, through our Apps, the ability to close the channel when the work is done. This removes clutter in Teams but allows the files to be secured in SharePoint, and disposed of by the R&D schedule.

 

Teams Framework powers collaboration and getting work done in 50+ New Zealand organisations. Its been a game changer for many through lockdowns and WFH. Contact us for more information.

Teams Framework

Our iWorkplace framework gives you thinking, tools, training and a plan to take back control and get more value from this amazing interface.

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A track record and expertise you can trust

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Microsoft Charter Member

In 2020, Information Leadership was one of only 41 partners worldwide with this ranking and the only Kiwi company. This is for our proven expertise in Compliance/Records Management and Implementation. 

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Government Marketplace

We are an authorised supplier of Cloud Transition Services on the NZ Government ‘Marketplace’ - it is now simpler, quicker and more cost-effective for public sector agencies to access our services

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Covering all of Microsoft 365

Leaders in setting up Microsoft 365 digital workplaces so they are easy and flexible to use, while giving you the confidence and control to manage business-critical information and risks

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Microsoft Partner Awards

For the second year in a row, Information Leadership has won 'Empowering Employees' at the Microsoft New Zealand Partner of the Year Awards. As well as Highly Commended for the 'Modern Workplace' Award in 2019.

Get in touch

Are you ready to take the next step in your M365 journey or would like to talk to our team about how we can bring your Teams under control?

Make work better

As an organisation of information management experts who live and breathe Microsoft products, we saw the appeal and potential of Teams. But soon after adopting Teams, we broke it.

 

Thought Leadership coming soon.