Introduction to Microsoft Teams

Jason Moore

This is my introduction to Microsoft Teams.

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With Teams on your machine, you can pull together a team, use chat instead of email, securely edit files at the same time, see likes and mentions with just a single tap, and customize it by adding notes, websites, and apps.

 

Getting Started

The first thing to do is sign in to get started with Teams. Open up Teams by selecting it from the start menu or double clicking it on your desktop. Sign in with your Microsoft 365 username and password.

 

Pick a team and channel to work in now. A team is a collection of people, conversations, files, and tools. A channel is a discussion in a team, dedicated to a department, project, or topic. The best way to get familiar with teams and channels is to pick a team and channel and start exploring. Select Teams on the left side of the app and then pick a team. If you are not on a team you can create one. Select a channel and explore Posts, Files, and other tabs.

 

Chatting and sharing files are fun things to do. Start a conversation in Teams through channel posts and chat to share files, start discussions, and more. To Create a channel post, select Teams. Then select a channel. Select Start a post. Type your message in the compose box and select Send.

 

Sometimes you need to Reply to a channel post. Channel conversations are organized by date and then threaded. The replies in threads are organized under the initial post so it is easier to follow multiple conversations. In Teams, select Teams. Select a channel. Find the conversation thread you want to reply to. Select Reply. Type your message in the compose box and select Send.

 

To Start a chat, select Chat in the Teams window. Select New Chat. In the To field, type the name of who you want to chat with. Type your message in the compose box and select Send.

 

To Share a file, select Teams. Select a channel. Find the conversation thread you want to reply to. Select Reply. In the compose box, select Actions and apps + . Attach file. Choose the file you want to attach, then select Send.

 

Collaborating With Others

Collaborating can be very useful. First, @name someone to get their attention. An @name is like a tap on the shoulder, a way to get their attention in a channel conversation or chat. In the box where you type your message, type @, then type the first few letters of the person's name. You can also @name entire Teams and channels. Select the person. Repeat for as many as you want to @name. Each person you @name gets a notification in their activity feed. Check for a red circle next to Activity.

 

Start a call from chat any time you want to talk in voice. Go to your chat list, then select New Chat to start a new conversation. Type the name into the To field at the top of your new chat. Select Video Call or Audio call to start a call.

 

Creating Teams

Creating a team from a template can save you time. Select Teams, Join or Create a team, Create Team. Select a team template based on the team scenario you want. Each team template comes with added channels and apps to enhance your chosen scenario or industry. You can also select From Scratch to build a team from scratch, or select From a group or Team to build one from an existing Microsoft 365 group. Choose a privacy level: Private or Public. Add details about your team such as a team name and description. If you chose a team template, edit the channel names to further customize your team. Now select Create. After a few minutes your team will be created.

 

You can also create a team from scratch. That means you get to choose how your team is organized and set up. When your team is created, you will get a corresponding SharePoint Site and OneNote. To Create a team from scratch: on the left side of the app, Select Chat. If using the separate view, select Teams. Then Select New Items from above your list of chats and channels. Now, Select New Team. Name your Team and add an optional description. Decide what kind of team you want this to be. To limit content and talk to a certain group of people, choose Private. For a community or topic that anyone in the organization can join, choose Public. If your organization uses data classification, select your team's sensitivity label as well. Teams are automatically private. Default sensitivity, if set by the organization, will appear automatically. Name your first channel. When you are done, select Create.

 

Every team has at least one channel. The first one is created for you but you must provide a name to get started. Its description is the same as your team's description. If needed, you can add more channels but you will always have this channel. Your first channel cannot be archived or deleted. As the creator of the team, you are the owner. Invite people to your team and create more channels. Feel free to create more teams, you can own up to 250 teams per account.

 

Apps

Find your apps and use them in channels, chats, and meetings. Apps can show up in several places depending on what they do and how they are built. To Add an app to a tab in a channel or chat: Select Add a tab + at the top of a channel or chat. Search for or select the app you want to add. Add information if needed and select Save. The app will appear at the top of your channel or chat.

 

You can add apps in messages too. In the message box, select Actions and apps +. If you do not see the app you want, select More Options…, find the one you want, and select Add.

 

Apps let you do more in Teams. Think about the tools, files, and dashboards your organization already uses. Many of them can be added right into Teams. You can find new ones by going to Apps on the left of Teams. Here are the first things to know about the app.

 

You can use apps in tabs, chats, channels, and meetings. When you work with different people, you want different information and tools on hand. You can add relevant files and apps to tabs at any chat or channel. You can also add apps to meetings to help you collaborate better with attendees. For example, your team might meet every morning to look at a list of tasks. You might also create new tasks throughout the day based on information you get in chat. Or, you might want to create a PowerPoint deck with others in a channel. Apps can help you stay organized and get all kinds of work done without leaving Teams. To get started, select Add a tab+ at the top of a chant, channel, or calendar event. Then select or search for an app to add.

 

Messages can be more than just text, thanks to apps. Some apps insert content from the app directly into Teams messages. To use one, select Actions and apps…next to the box where you type a message. Search for an app, or choose one from the menu.

 

Some apps answer questions and follow commands. A well-known benefit of Teams is collaborating with colleagues, a lesser known perk is working with bots. You can interact with bots by @name them in chats, channels, or search. For example, you can chat with Survey Monkey to create a new poll right from within a message. Or @name Wikipedia in the search box to find and share articles. Bots may not give you the same warm, fuzzy feelings as your colleagues, but they can save you time by handling certain tasks.

 

Some apps offer a personal view. Any app with a personal view will appear on the left side of Teams. From here you can get a bird's eye look at your tasks or just have a place to do your own thing. From View more apps…on the left side of Teams, you can right click any app icon to Pin it for easy access. To unpin, right click and select Unpin.

 

Live Events

Now, let us talk about planning and scheduling a live event. Teams live events is an extension of Teams meetings, enabling you to produce events for large online audiences with more control over video, audience interaction, and reporting. Live events are currently only available for Teams for web.

 

  1. To create a live event in Teams, select Meetings on the left side of the app and then New Meeting
  2. At the top of the dialogue box, select New Meeting then New Live Event.
  3. Add the meeting title, date, and time information.
  4. Invite the people to your event group box, add the names of the people who will be presenting the event.
  5. Select Next
  6. Under Live event permissions, choose who can attend your live event.
  7. Make selections under How do you plan to produce your event?
  8. Select Schedule
  9. Select the Get attendee link to copy the unique code. This is what you post or send to anyone attending the event. Once the event is scheduled, be sure to make any changes in Teams. Do not edit this event in outlook.

 

If you are an attendee to a meeting, you will want to know how to join a meeting or live event. Join a Teams meeting from your calendar or sign in as a guest on the web. To join a Teams meeting from the app, select Calendar in Teams. Select a meeting and select Join. From the pre-join screen: you can adjust your camera and mic settings. You can also select Effects and avatars to choose a background effect. Select Join Now.

 

If you do not have the app, you can join a meeting from the web. In your email invite, select Join the meeting now. You can also use a dial-in number and conference ID from the email to call in. Type your name, adjust your audio and video settings, and Select Join Now. Depending on meeting settings, you will get in right away or join the lobby until someone in the meeting admits you.

 

Activity Feed

There is also the Activity Feed you will want to pay attention to. Your activity feed will be on the left hand side of your app, on the side bar, probably at the top. The activity feed is a summary of everything that is happening across Teams, from chat and channel @names to meeting invites and cancellations.

 

  1. Select activity in the top left of Teams to view your Activity Feed
  2. Select More Filers at the top right corner of the feed. Enter names or keywords to find specific messages.
  3. Select the unread button to view only unread messages and items.
  4. Select More Options…to mark all notifications as read, or to access notification settings.

 

When a red circle appears next to Activity, you have a notification in your feed. These notifications remain in your feed for 30 days. After that they expire and no longer show in your feed.

 

Notification Settings

In Teams, you can decide what notifications to receive, where to receive them, and how often to get them. Choose your notification settings.

  1. Select Settings and more… in the top right corner of Teams, then select settings.
  2. Select Notifications and activity
  3. To modify your notification sounds, go to Sound
  4. To change how and when your notifications are shown, go to Display
  5. Under Chats and Channels, choose how you receive chat notifications, @names, and replies to channel posts.
  6. Scroll down to Meetings to adjust settings for meeting start, meeting chat, and meet now notifications
  7. Under People, you can set up notifications that will alert you when someone appears available or offline
  8. In the Calendar section, choose how you will see new invites, updates, cancellations, and forwarded meetings.
  9. Finally, turn notifications on or off for the Apps you have installed.

 

Using the Mobile app

If you are using the mobile app, you can start a meeting to talk privately or collaborate with a group. To start a chat:

  1. Tap Chat then New Chat
  2. Add a contact to talk to
  3. Type a message and hit Send

 

The Shifts App

The Shifts app in Teams is a schedule management and time tracking tool that helps you create, update, and manage schedules for your team.

 

Schedules-Create, edit, and manage a schedule for your team. A Shifts schedule displays at the top, team members on the left, and assigned shifts appear in the calendar.

 

Schedule Settings-In Shifts settings, define the schedule options and choose the Shifts capabilities that you want to make available to your team.

 

Groups-Add schedule groups to organize team members in the schedule by job type or location.

 

Shifts-Assign shifts to team members. Create a shift from scratch or copy an existing one.

 

Open Shifts-Each group in the schedule has an Open shifts row. Add open shifts to your schedule that anyone can request.

 

Time Clock-Turn on Time Clock in settings to let your team clock in and out of shifts.

 

Requests-Review and respond to requests for time off, open shifts, shift swaps, and offers.

 

Tags-Use shift-based tags to quickly communicate with anyone currently on shift.

 

Publish Your Schedule-When you are done making changes to the schedule, share it with your team so everyone is up to date.

 

Approvals

Approvals in Microsoft Teams is a way to streamline all of your requests and processes with your team or partners. You will be able to create new approvals, view the ones sent your way, and see all of your previous approvals in one place.

 

The Approvals Hub is where you will see all of your approvals that you have sent or received, including the ones that are already complete. Approvals show up across all of your systems, including Power Automate, SharePoint, and Dynamics 365.

 

When in chat, send an approval right from your Teams conversation. Set it up from the compose box, then see the approvals card in your chat. Note that only people in the conversation can be added as approvers.

 

With templates in Approvals, you and your team can create and send approval requests. Use preset fields for templates like discount requests or expense reports.

 

The Approval Card gives a real time summary of the approval's status. See who has responded, and who still needs a little more time.

 

A basic approval is what you will typically use when you start from the hub or a chat. You can decide the approval order when submitting the request. All approvals are stored in the Common Data Service, where only people on the approval and a tenant admin can access them.

 

When you create an approval through Power Automate, it will appear in your list of approvals in the app. This is considered a workflow approval, as you can create a new flow and select a trigger such as a system driven event from one of the 350+ connectors provided, or your own LOB connector.

 

Customize your notification settings in the Notification page within Teams.

 

Whether you need approval to file an expense report, give a discount to a customer, or request time off, use Approvals to get it all done within Teams. 

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