10 things to consider when relying on Microsoft Teams for the remote worker

Remote working is here to stay (for a while). While most of us are adapting to video calls, pictures of unique workspaces and commuting down the hall, we need to remember that there are organizations that are still adapting to this remote world.

Below are 10 tips that I share with all clients when we begin this journey.

1. Work enthusiastic Champions who can commit time and effort.
   • Look in the IT department, internal social networks, get recommendations from other “super users” and recruit vocal disrupters so they can put their enthusiasm for change to good use.
   • Build a solution (Microsoft Team) for Champions to share updates and successes.
   • Provide materials ready to support their work on the group with teams and individuals.
   • Ensure a regular rhythm for discussions with the Champions on what’s working and what’s not.
   • Communicate to individuals about the Champions role and where they can be found – remember, they are not an IT support function but business representatives.
2. Don’t make employees use VPN to access Teams. Just don’t.
3. Review security. Use MFA and conditional access.
4. Configure Teams policies before deployment.
   • See number 3. Use MFA to protect the accounts.
5. Teams Only mode (not islands) will always allow for an external chat with other organizations.
6. Guest (not external) access policies rely on SharePoint and Azure AD – not just Teams
7. Teams works on all devices (phones, tablets, computers). Spend the money on quality to headsets, not all headsets are the same.
8. If your mail is in Office 365, you are in a good place. If not, encourage meeting scheduling from Outlook.
9. Microsoft 365 Learning pathways can be added as an app within Teams. You are able to customize the playlists to only providing training for tools and scenarios that you support as an organization.
10. Teams is a collaboration tool, if your organization isn’t ready for an open workplace, focus on the communications and limit the creation of teams.

Microsoft Teams has chat functionality, meeting functionality, live events (town halls), collaboration and calling. With all these features, just turning it on can cause a lot of confusion for users as they adjust to working remotely.

Stay safe.

Pat Petersen

Pat is a Director in the Modern Work Practice, leading the Collaboration and Voice team. Throughout Pat’s 20 years of Microsoft training, he has focused on ensuring that technology is adopted, and organizations realize their full potential. Pat often speaks at community events and is a champion of technology to improve processes, communication, collaboration, and culture.