{"id":5715,"date":"2020-11-20T10:57:41","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T09:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nboldapp.com\/?p=2998"},"modified":"2021-12-22T19:30:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-22T18:30:34","slug":"how-to-use-microsoft-teams-effectively-as-a-people-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nboldapp.com\/fr\/how-to-use-microsoft-teams-effectively-as-a-people-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Microsoft Teams Effectively as a People Manager"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leading a team to success and seeing your team members grow professionally are some of the most rewarding experiences of being a manager. This never comes easy, though, as managers face multiple challenges along the way. Knowing how to recognize and deal with these difficulties can help you better understand your team and become a great leader. And Microsoft Teams can help you with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Today we will discuss how to use Microsoft Teams effectively as a manager to increase team\u2019s productivity and improve communication and collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Key challenges faced by managers <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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But before we go to Teams capabilities, let\u2019s have a look at what the key challenges managers are facing these days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Managing remotely<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now that most companies have switched to remote operation, managers are facing a new challenge of how to lead a rem<\/a>ote team<\/a>. The question arises around building trust and nurturing company\u2019s work culture <\/strong>which is usually shaped in the office. Additionally, it\u2019s important to maintain team\u2019s moral and make them feel connected and engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Miscommunication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Finding an approach to every person within a team is not an easy task. Oftentimes miscommunication happens because of differences of personalities and unclear expectations expressed by the management. It’s important to create a workspace in a way that would encourage active engagement of all the team members and where everyone could freely share their thoughts and feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lack of structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ad-hoc meetings with no clear purpose or agenda happen a lot in the office. And, let\u2019s face it, no one likes them. More often that not, it\u2019s a waste of time for the majority of its participants. This time could be otherwise spent more productively on an important project. This happens because of lack of structure in the management process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people may require additional supervision and explanation of the tasks, while others will everything just from a text message. Building an organizational structure will help your employees better understand their tasks and will help you organize your time with the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Time management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the main pains of any manager. Besides handling their own tasks, managers must oversee their team as well as coordinate the work with other departments. Balancing between all these responsibilities can be tricky. It requires prioritizing and allocating specific time throughout the day on a focused work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Productivity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No matter if you\u2019re managing a remote team or you all work in the same office \u2013 issues around productivity will always arise. Finding ways to motivate employees and make them feel \u2018connected\u2019 is the first step to address this challenge. Reorganizing work meetings can also help as it will allow to spend time more productively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hiring a new team member<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hiring a new employee is always challenging. Finding the right fit that will complement your team and make a valuable contribution is only one side of it. Afterwards, you need to make sure the new hire is successfully onboarded. They should have a clear understanding of their duties and the company\u2019s work culture and know how to \u2018click\u2019 with the rest of the team. Doing it remotely poses even more difficulties.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Establishing the right way to communicate with potential candidates and then new employees is key to addressing this challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Burnout<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Burnout has become a scourge of the modern world. According to the survey conducted by Gallup, 76% of employees experience burnout at least sometimes, while 7% say they are always(!) burnt out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same study suggests that it not always has to do with long working hours \u2013 although it contributes a lot \u2013 no doubt about that. Unfair treatment at work, unmanageable workload, unclear communication with the manager and their lack of support as well as unreasonable time pressure are top causes of burnouts among employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data shows that it\u2019s in managers\u2019 power to help employees improve their wellbeing. By checking up on their team members and tracking their wellbeing they can prevent them from feeling burnt out as well as increase the whole team\u2019s productivity.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Keeping employees motivated and engaged<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keeping employees motivated and engaged can be challenging. The manager\u2019s job here will be to oversee possible conflicts, encourage healthy work relationships, nurture work culture, and offer some perks and benefits for highly achieving employees.  It\u2019s a great way to improve your staff\u2019s productivity and make them feel motivated to achieve the common goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in pursuit of great results managers risk losing the focus and shifting the priorities from a happy team to high performance. The challenge arises around how to keep the balance and seeing the bigger picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coordinating with other departments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In many companies there are no written rules on communication<\/a> between departments. As a result, internally, they don\u2019t bother to share information which can cause poor performance and overlooked deadlines.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communicating with the heads of other departments is one of key responsibilities of people managers, and with the lack of written rules it becomes a challenge. In addition to overcoming competition that may exist between departments due to disproportionate budget allocating, managers need to make sure they pick the right time to schedule meetings and coordinate work between all the players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These are by far not the only challenges managers are facing. If you are one, you can probably name a few more from your personal experience. We just highlighted the most common ones related to collaboration and communication in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of these challenges can be partially addressed by improving people skills and emotional intelligence, as well as getting professional training, others can be solved by adopting effective digital collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How to use Microsoft Teams effectively to address these challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Set up regular meetings with clear agenda<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the best ways to improve communication and increase your team\u2019s productivity is to organize regular meetings dedicated to discussing a specific topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This will allow you to avoid or at least decrease the number of ad-hoc meetings and better structure the working process of the whole team. When there\u2019s a certain rhythm of work meetings, everyone can prepare in advance all the questions and projects that they need to follow up on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To use Microsoft Teams effectively you resort to Scheduling Assistant when creating a meeting. It will let you choose the time slot that will suit all your team members and heads of other departments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With MyAnalytics insights you can see how much time you and your team are multitasking during Teams calls. If you do it too often, maybe the meeting wasn\u2019t really necessary?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can also try having smaller meetings by not involving those members whose participation isn\u2019t necessary. Later on, you can share notes or a recording with the rest of the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pro tips:<\/p>\n\n\n\n