Discover the Hidden Power of Microsoft Teams for Your Work

Tips from Duke technology experts to make work easier, smarter and more connected

A graphic depicts Microsoft Teams
Graphic courtesy of Microsoft

Amid the debate over whether TikTok should be banned in the United States or allowed to continue providing views of the latest trends and dances, a meme circulated on the internet.

“Congress, why are you banning TikTok when Microsoft Teams is RIGHT THERE,” it read.

Disliking Microsoft Teams may come easy for some – at less than 10 years old, it’s still relatively new, not entirely intuitive and carries a learning curve before its full potential becomes clear.

But there are Teams lovers among us at Duke, including Becca McDaniel, IT Solutions Architect, Information Services in the Duke Cancer Institute, who practically glows when she talks about the power of Microsoft Teams integrating every slice of technology she uses.

“Teams is a little information ecosystem,” McDaniel said.

Teams can act as a virtual meeting tool – like Zoom.

It’s a document storage tool – like Box.

It’s a portal for accessing common Microsoft applications in one place – everything from Word, to PowerPoint, to Excel, to Forms, to Planner and Lists.

And it’s a chat and phone tool – like Jabber.

But instead of in separate windows, it’s all RIGHT THERE in one handy little application.

“What I really like about Teams is it’s a hub for work,” said Karen Bencke, IT Manager for Duke Health Technology Solutions.

To get the most out of Teams, here are a few recommendations from Teams lovers like McDaniel and Bencke for the best ways to use it.

Integrate Everything

Becca McDaniel headshot
Becca McDaniel

The best way to get the most out of Teams is to get the most out of Duke’s Microsoft Office 365 partnership. That means using Microsoft applications instead of similar products from other vendors.

Meet can be used for online meetings. OneNote can be a place where you take notes. Planner can be used to assign tasks and organize projects. OneDrive can store shared documents.

“Those are all Microsoft apps that integrate really well with Teams,” McDaniel said. “If you're not using other Microsoft products, Teams is just another thing that's been thrown on your IT pile.” 

One lesser-known application that is easy to access via Teams is Planner, which can be useful for running team meetings by allowing collaboration on agendas and to-do lists.

“It’s this very nimble, simple crowd-sourced way to run a team meeting,” McDaniel said.

Make Teams Easier to Manage

McDaniel suggests adjusting various Teams settings to make it easier to navigate by making it more user-friendly to view at a glance. Among the top suggestions are:

  • Choose “List View.” Configure your view to show teams as “lists” rather than in a “grid.” This makes it easier to view new messages posted in each team you are a member of. To do this, go to Settings -> Appearance -> Chats and channels -> choose “List” layout.
  • Reorder Teams. Reorder your teams within Teams so that your most-used are on top. Simply drag and drop the team in “List” view.
  • Set your default to “Open Files in Browser.” Configure your documents to open in a browser rather than within the Teams app. This allows you to open multiple files from Teams at one time, and changes are still saved back to Teams. Go to Settings -> Files and Links ->  “Always open Word, PowerPoint and Excel files in” and choose “Browser.”
A PowerPoint slide gives six suggestions fro how to make Microsoft Teams easier to manage
A slide from Becca McDaniel's presentation on how to make Microsoft Teams work for you. Courtesy of Becca McDaniel

Get Instant AI Help

Microsoft Copilot, the artificial intelligence tool, is integrated within Teams and can automatically assist with giving an Intelligent Recap of a call or meeting or taking notes and replying to individual questions with the Facilitator function.  

All of the meeting summaries are compiled in one place that’s easier to navigate than clicking through several items in an Outlook or Zoom calendar.

“For me, the simplicity benefits over trying to find the absolute best tool for every single use case outweighs all else,” McDaniel said. “Teams is sort of like a hub for everything.”

Join a Team about Teams

If some of Teams’ features don’t feel like the right fit, just wait a bit. Bencke says Microsoft rolls out updates on nearly a weekly basis.

To hear the latest updates and tips about all the Microsoft tools to use, Duke staff and faculty can join the Teams learning community, Microsoft Partnership Program. 

It can make Teams easier to use and turn hesitant users into Teams lovers.

“Whenever someone schedules a meeting in Zoom now, I’m like, ‘Oh, but it’s not going to show up where I need it to,’” Bencke said. “I would just encourage folks to give it a try. It’s useful to have familiarity with the tools to see what works best for you.”

Get Microsoft Office for Free

Duke staff, faculty and students can download the full Microsoft Office 365 suite for free here.

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