Break down the 5 barriers to good teamwork

Microsoft’s modern workplace solutions

help teams overcome 5 key productivity challenges.

Barrier 1: No shared purpose or goals

Teams run into trouble when individual members are unsure about their own responsibilities and how these relate to overall project goals.

This leads to confusion and doubling up on tasks.

Microsoft Office 365 offers a range of integrated project management tools to ensure that everyone stays aligned and on task – from initial brainstorm to final delivery.

Solution

Microsoft Planner

  • Provides a central platform to create and share timelines, tasks and project status.

Microsoft Teams

  • Connects the team in a shared workspace, wherever they are.
  • Ensures all critical information is accessible, all the time.
  • Provides seamless in-built access to Office 365 apps, including Microsoft Planner, for optimised project management and execution.

Get to know Microsoft Planner

Barrier 2: Lack of trust

Trust is the cornerstone of productive teamwork. However, as mobile and remote working make face-to-face meetings less common, the lack of physical proximity can translate into lower levels of trust and accountability.

Microsoft’s modern workplace solutions incorporate advanced communication features that enable teams to share content, context and personality.

Solution

Microsoft Teams

  • Delivers high-quality video conferencing and screen sharing.
  • Includes supporting features such as note taking, recording and instant messaging.
  • Enables users to engage in all types of meetings: spontaneous, scheduled, external, and large-scale live and on-demand events.
  • Users can join meetings from a wide range of platforms and devices, including desktops, browsers, mobile, and meeting room devices.
  • By leveraging cloud recordings and automatic transcription and translation functions, Teams provides an intuitive search function that helps users find meeting content fast.

Get to know Microsoft Teams

Barrier 3: Slow communication

Regularly waiting for input, group feedback or management decisions can deplete team morale and reduce workflow momentum.

With instant communication tools bundled in, Office 365 empowers people to check in, provide answers, and problem solve together – in real time.

Solution

Microsoft Teams

  • Combines instant messaging and app integration for faster workflows and sign offs.
  • Features like co-authoring, version control, and information searching and sharing enable users to collaborate more effectively in real time, saving up to four hours per week.*

* The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft Teams, A Forrester Total Economic Impact™ Study Commissioned by Microsoft (2019)

Microsoft Yammer

  • Supports immediate, cross-organisational knowledge sharing and networking

Barrier 4: Revision confusion

Nothing frustrates collaboration like multiple document versions with conflicting edits and confusing filenames. Poor version control results in lost work, overwritten files and wasted time.

By enabling real-time document collaboration across locations and devices, Office 365 empowers teams to co-author, access, edit and save work as a single file in a single location. Every change is tracked, so everyone stays on the same page.

Solution

Microsoft OneDrive

  • Offers secure access, sharing and files storage, from anywhere.

Microsoft SharePoint

  • Connects teams around content for seamless collaboration.
  • Enables secure file sharing and teamwork inside and outside the organisation.

Microsoft Teams

  • E-mail integration and notifications keep the whole team informed and up to date.
  • Reduced context switching with built in access to Office 365 apps.
  • Share and co-author Office documents from within Teams.

Get to know Microsoft OneDrive

Barrier 5: Lack of involvement

Team members who don’t get a chance to share knowledge or voice their opinion on important decisions are less likely to be engaged.

By facilitating opportunities to network across departments and functions, Microsoft modern workplace solutions encourage a more open, innovative and collaborative environment.

Solution

Microsoft Yammer

  • Drives inclusion and faster decision making
  • Enables faster knowledge sharing

Microsoft Teams

  • Centralised interface facilitates accelerated decision making and engagement by keeping files, chats, and content in one place.
  • Users are empowered to work their way with customisable channels and third-party solutions.

Get to know Microsoft Yammer

Need an IT partner to help support your team?

As one of Europe’s largest end-to-end IT service providers, ALSO partners have the experience to deliver tailored Microsoft teamwork solutions for all types of enterprise, matching business needs and budget in every solution.