Microsoft Office 365 Explained

Best Practice Use of 365 Scaled to Organisational Needs

Microsoft 365 offers various tools and services that can be tailored to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes. For effective scaling you need to :

• Assess Needs: Identify organizational requirements for communication, collaboration, security, and compliance.
• Choose Appropriate Plans: Select plans that offer the necessary features. Enterprise plans provide more advanced security and compliance features.
• Adopt Best Practices: Implement governance policies, ensure proper training, and encourage best practice usage to maximize the benefits of Microsoft 365.

365 for Efficient Communication and Collaboration Using Teams as a Hub

Overview of Teams as a Collaboration Hub

Microsoft Teams serves as the central platform for teamwork in Microsoft 365. It integrates chat, video meetings, file storage, and an integration of a wide variety of applications (or apps) offering a seamless experience for users to collaborate in real time.

Using Other 365 Apps within Teams

Teams integrates with various Microsoft 365 apps:

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint: Users can create, share, and co-author documents directly within Teams.
• Planner: This extremely useful tool helps to integrate task management within Teams channels.
• Power BI: Report users can embed interactive reports for data analysis within Teams.

Document Storage and Collaboration Tools for Live Co-Authoring

Teams uses SharePoint and OneDrive for Business for document storage:

• Real-Time Co-Authoring: Multiple users can edit documents simultaneously, seeing changes in real-time.
• Version History: End users can access previous versions of documents to track changes and revert to original documents if necessary.

Teams as a Communication Hub

Best Practice Use of Teams and Channels

• Organize by Teams and Channels: Teams can be created for specific departments or projects and channels for specific topics or tasks within those teams.
• Naming Conventions: Use clear and consistent naming conventions for easy navigation. Best practice is to stick with the same Teams names as they are embedded within the URL pathway and therefore any changes can break linking and updates
• Governance: Implement policies for creating and managing teams and channels to avoid clutter and confusion.

Comparing Chat vs Posts

• Chat: This is best for quick, informal conversations and direct messages.
• Posts: These are ideal for formal communication within channels where information needs to be accessible to the entire team.

Making Calls through Teams

• Teams Calls: Provides VoIP calling, enabling users to make voice and video calls directly through Teams.

Setting up Meetings vs Webinars

• Meetings: Suitable for interactive sessions with team members, supporting up to 1,000 participants.
• Webinars: Designed for larger, more structured events with up to 10,000 attendees, offering registration, attendee reporting, and enhanced presentation tools.

Screensharing and Presentation Tools for Improved Facilitation and Participation

• Screensharing: Facilitates real-time collaboration by allowing users to share their screen during calls and meetings.
• Presentation Tools: Utilize PowerPoint Live for immersive presentations, enabling interactive features like polls and Q&A sessions to enhance participation.

OneDrive & SharePoint

External Sharing - Link Permissions

• OneDrive: This major feature allows for the efficient sharing of files and folders with external users using secure links with customizable permissions (view, edit, expiration dates).
• SharePoint: This document staorage app provides similar sharing capabilities to OneDrive with more control over permissions and access levels.

Organizing Documents and Collaborating

• OneDrive: Best for personal document storage and sharing.
• SharePoint: Ideal for team and project-based document storage, offering advanced collaboration features like metadata, versioning, and workflow automation.

OneDrive for Business versus SharePoint/Teams for Document Management

• OneDrive for Business: Personal document storage with easy sharing capabilities.
• SharePoint/Teams: Collaborative document management with advanced features for team-based work.

Working with Office Desktop and Web Apps

Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Using the Office Web Apps vs Desktop

• Office Web Apps: Accessible from any device with an internet connection, offering essential features for editing and collaboration.
• Desktop Apps: Provides full functionality and advanced features for complex tasks and offline access.

Outlook Desktop App vs Outlook Web Access

• Outlook Desktop App: Offers robust features for email management, calendar, and task integration.
• Outlook Web Access: Provides essential email and calendar functionalities with the convenience of web access.

Setting Up Teams Meetings in Outlook vs Teams

• Outlook: This can be used to schedule Teams meetings directly from the calendar, integrating seamlessly with Outlook's scheduling and email features.
• Teams: This app offers a straightforward way to schedule and manage meetings within the Teams environment.

Other 365 Apps such as Microsoft To Do

• Microsoft To Do: A task management app for organizing personal and professional tasks. It integrates with Outlook tasks and can be accessed from within Teams.

Use of OneNote for Personal and Shared Notes (Via Teams) or Tasks by Planner

• OneNote: Ideal for note-taking, both personal and shared within Teams. Users can create notebooks, sections, and pages to organize information effectively.
• Tasks by Planner: Integrated within Teams for managing and tracking team tasks and projects. It provides a visual way to organize work, set deadlines, and assign tasks.

By leveraging the comprehensive suite of tools in Microsoft 365, organizations can optimize communication, enhance collaboration, and streamline workflows, ensuring a productive and efficient work environment.