- Walk the talk<\/a>
- Teams channels<\/a><\/li>
- Yammer communities<\/a><\/li>
- Live events<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Offer training<\/a>
- Microsoft Stream<\/a><\/li>
- 3rd party courses<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Encourage knowledge sharing<\/a>
- SharePoint sites and hubs<\/a><\/li>
- Communities in Yammer<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Ask the right questions<\/a>
- Have regular check-ins<\/a><\/li>
- Find out their ambitions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Recognize the good job<\/a>
- 1:1 meetings<\/a><\/li>
- Team achievements channel<\/a><\/li>
- Recognition apps<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nWalk the talk<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nLeadership\u2019s involvement in any initiative run in the organization is one of the key contributors to its success. Leaders create and communicate a powerful vision that unites all the employees in the organization. Their authority inspires and motivates the staff to take action and work to achieve the common goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Therefore, leaders play a vital role in creating engagement among employees. To do so, however, it is important to change the default mindset and make an effort to be more open with the staff. Employees are a company\u2019s most valuable asset and great leaders treat them accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a leader or a manager, you may want to show that you trust your staff and your teams, value their opinion, and care about their wellbeing. Even if you have a crazy schedule, these days you\u2019ve got many tools at your disposal that allow you to communicate with the staff even on the go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Knowing that your voice is heard, and your opinion is valued by the leadership and management is crucial for increasing individual\u2019s engagement at work<\/a>. Here are a few examples of how you can engage your employees using Teams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nTeams channels<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you have an org-wide team in your channels in your company, you can create a specific channel dedicated to communication between the leaders and the staff. Use this channel for idea and thought sharing, creating polls to ask employees\u2019 opinion on specific subjects, asking for suggestions for improvements, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This could be your platform where any employee could express their opinion on a specific matter with the leader, hence increasing organizational engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, if you\u2019re a manager you can create such a channel for the team you\u2019re in charge of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nYammer communities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
For the same purpose, you can use Yammer<\/a> communities. It\u2019s a great option if you work in a large corporation \u2013 too big to have an org-wide team. CEO connection community is a perfect platform to share important corporate news and announcements and communicate with the staff across the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nLive events<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You may also want to organize Microsoft Teams live events dedicated to a specific event in a company. It may as well feature an important discussion and include Questions & Answers session to create a genuine bond between leaders and employees. Prepare fun activities, quizzes, and corporate anecdotes to establish a stronger connection with the staff even if you\u2019re operating remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Find out how to connect global teams with Microsoft Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nOffer training<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nProviding the staff with opportunities for learning and development is a key step to setting up your company for success. By doing so, you help your employees become better professionals and explore their potential. This inevitably increases their engagement and overall job satisfaction as they become better at what they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or they could try to expand their knowledge beyond their working areas and learn something they haven\u2019t done before. This will allow them to explore their potential and bring higher value to their teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, there\u2019s a myriad of ways you can provide training for your employees. That can be in-office training on specific topics given by hired professionals or by experts within your company. These days, however, the most adequate option is to organize online training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nMicrosoft Stream<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft Stream can be your knowledge base where you upload and share with your employees all the training videos. Additionally, your employees can engage with each other through the platform, ask questions, and leave comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n3,<\/sup> party courses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There are numerous platforms out there that offer amazing courses on literally everything. For instance, LinkedIn learning, HubSpot Academy, Coursera, edX, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.salestim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/LinkedIn-learning.png\")
LinkedIn Learning<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n If you find some useful courses online, you can add the website as a tab in a dedicated channel in Microsoft Teams. This way your employees can access them quickly right from their Teams environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nEncourage knowledge sharing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nBesides providing additional training to your employees, you may want to make sure they can apply their existing knowledge and talents and share them with the rest of the company. Offer them a platform that will encourage them to share interests, ideas, knowledge, and expertise. This can also be your company\u2019s knowledge base that your workers may refer to when they seek advice from fellow colleagues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nSharePoint sites and hubs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can create your company\u2019s knowledge space with SharePoint sites and then organize related content through SharePoint hubs. Hubs connect sites based on project, department, region, etc. This facilitates navigation through organizational documents, and discovery of news and company\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nCommunities in Yammer<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The great thing about Yammer is that you can create communities around any topic of interest. Unite your project managers across all the offices and departments under Project Management community. This way, even when your employees are based in different parts of the world and may not even know each other, they can still share their expertise and help each other succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.salestim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Project-Management-Community-in-MS-Teams.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBesides, you can build social communities unrelated to business. Make your organization the best place to work by allowing your employees to create communities of interests, for example #Vegan #Knitting #Hiking or any other topic! This will help your employees develop the feeling of belonging and create stronger bond with people they work with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAsk the right questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAnother crucial factor impacting employee engagement is their attitude towards the work they do. We\u2019re most engaged when we feel our job is meaningful, that we actually make a difference, and our work contributes to the company\u2019s success. We need to understand the purpose of what we\u2019re doing and feel that we have all the opportunities to do our best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To understand how your employees really feel about their job and the role they play in the firm, you need to build relationships of trust and ask timely questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nHave regular check-ins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Make sure you check in regularly with your team. Ask them directly about their engagement and encourage them to feel free to share their concerns, wishes, and general feedback. Set up recurring meetings in Microsoft Teams<\/a> \u2013 once a week or bi-weekly, depending on your availability, and make it a frequent practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nFind out their ambitions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You may also want to ask about their plans, how they\u2019d like to grow in the company. Perhaps, some of your employees can perform much better in a different role. For example, your average-performing sales rep might be an excellent HR manager. Putting everyone in their right role is crucial to achieving high employee engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nRecognize the good job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nGiving regular feedback can work wonders when it comes to increasing employee engagement. Receiving recognition and praise can be a more powerful motivator than financial gain. Even criticism, when delivered in a constructive way, can help a person understand how to improve and guide them in the right direction, fostering their desire to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n1:1 meetings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You may want to consider having 1:1 meetings with each of your team members where you will discuss their performance, core priorities, and share feedback. Use these meetings to recognize the work they\u2019ve done and their contribution to the team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nTeam achievements channel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can also create a specific channel dedicated to sharing all team achievements, big or small, and give praise to everyone individually. This way, employees will also feel recognition of their peers and become more engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nRecognition apps<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, there\u2019s a variety of apps you can use to praise your team members virtually. Praise app<\/a> allows you to choose a badge for the person you wish to praise, for example achiever, and choose the right user among your team members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoftteams\/media\/default-set-praise.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n - Team achievements channel<\/a><\/li>
- Find out their ambitions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Communities in Yammer<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- 3rd party courses<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Yammer communities<\/a><\/li>
- Teams channels<\/a><\/li>