As Steve Jobs once said, “Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
He was right. All good managers understand the importance of finding a group of individuals who aren’t just skilled and motivated, but who work well together too.
Teamwork has been a core component of staff training courses and management programs since the term “Professional Development” was first coined back in 1857. Since then it’s been the subject of countless training videos, staff away days and flipchart brainstorming sessions.
Even those who roll their eyes at the idea of team building exercises usually come away with something positive. When we form bonds and find common ground with the people we work with, we achieve more.
It’s human nature to want to share ideas and work together. Some of best loved movies, from Th e Wizard of Oz to Top Gun, have revelled in the importance of finding great buddies who can help us achieve mutual goals. We’re a social species who have depended on co-operation and task sharing ever since we invented the first tools and learnt how to make fire.
The trouble is, as humans have evolved, we’ve become more isolated in the process. Our current reliance on mobile devices means we can work, shop and communicate without ever having to leave the house.
The modern team doesn’t have to be based in the same office – or even the same country. Flexible working is now an expectation rather than a perk, and 77% of workers say they actually get more done when they’re out of the office.
This new, digital way of life is brilliant in lots of ways, but with so many people working remotely it can be a challenge to keep track of who’s doing what.
Enter Microsoft Teams, a chat and collaboration platform that’s part of the wildly popular Office 365 suite (120 million subscribers and counting).
Teams was created to embrace all the wonderful things about the digital revolution and make it easier than ever for groups of people to collaborate on tasks. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft services and comes free with an Office 365 subscription package, so there’s no need to worry about additional costs.
It’s full of features that appeal to millennials who have grown up with social networking and smart technology, along with plenty of sensible tools to help the rest of us keep up.
We’ve just written a brand new FREE guide to Microsoft Teams, to help you get the most out of it.
