You open Microsoft Teams and are immediately overwhelmed by unread chats and cluttered channels. Important information gets lost, while appointments are often double-booked or forgotten. This chaos costs you valuable time every day and robs you of focus.
In this article, you will learn how to set up and use Teams to organize your communication clearly and automate recurring processes to automate. This way, you gain up to an extra hour of time back in your day.
This article provides you with 15 practical tips on how to:
Calendar and meetings so coordinated that you save time every day
Content Manager at absentify
Tip 1: Structure channels in a meaningful way
Tip 2: Establish team rules for communication
Tip 3: Separate chats and channels
Tip 4: Use mentions and tags effectively
Tip 5: Fine-tune notifications
Tip 6: Use status and focus times
Tip 7: Set up Quiet Hours on your smartphone
Tip 8: Task management directly in Teams
Tip 9: Plan meetings efficiently
Tip 10: Use Threads and Pins
Tip 11: Workflows with Power Automate and absentify
Tip 12: Use keyboard shortcuts efficiently
Tip 13: Customize favorites and tabs
Tip 14: Use Team Analytics for the Productivity Score
Tip 15: Schedule regular retrospectives
Use Microsoft Teams with clear rules and smart workflows
Microsoft Teams Productivity – Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
If you structure Microsoft Teams and organize channels clearly, you save on search effort and increase your focus.
Mutual agreements prevent misunderstandings and reduce distractions.
Clear differentiation between private conversations and official updates ensures structure.
Targeted notifications reach only those affected and enhance your focus.
Only by keeping up with the most important alerts can you stay informed without being distracted all day.
Your status in Teams controls how and when others can reach you.
If you use Teams on your personal smartphone, you should protect your leisure time.
Keep all to-dos in view where you communicate.
To coordinate calendars and appointments in a way that saves time rather than consuming it.
Conduct discussions where they belong and keep important information at your fingertips. This avoids long searches and promotes high team productivity.
Let recurring tasks run automatically in the background.
Simplify your holiday and absence management and effortlessly keep track within Microsoft 365, Teams, and Outlook.
Reduce mouse clicks and switch between functions in a flash.
Get quick access to your most important areas in Teams.
By analyzing usage data, you get a Microsoft productivity score and identify potential for optimization.
Reflect together for continuous improvement.
As soon as you use Microsoft Teams effectively, it becomes a true productivity aid. For this, clear structures, transparent communication, and automated processes need to interlock. With absentify, you can set up your channels so that:
Your team works more focused, meetings are more purposeful planned and absences are automatically managed through absentify. This way you can measurably increase your daily output and ensure smooth collaboration.
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In the Admin Center, under Teams Analytics, you'll find metrics such as average meeting duration per user and chat activity in channels, which together make up your Teams productivity score. By comparing trends over weeks, you can identify which areas need more attention and where good processes are already established.
In the meeting options, you enable 'Transcription' so that Teams automatically records all spoken content and provides it as a text transcript. This saves you the tedious note-taking, as you can later search for specific sections or copy important quotes.
Enter keywords, @mentions, or filenames into the search field and use filters like "From", "In", or "Date" to immediately narrow down results to relevant conversations or files. With slash commands /goto or /activity, you can also jump quickly to specific channels and unread messages.
In the channel settings, under 'Manage permissions', specify who can post messages, upload files, or add tabs. This ensures that only selected team members can start new content and unnecessary notifications in large channels are eliminated.
Add a OneNote tab to each channel to collect meeting notes right alongside chat and files. Participants can take notes in real-time, structure sections, and all notes remain centrally available without having to switch between multiple apps.
During a Teams meeting, you select the 'Rooms' button and create breakout rooms where subteams can work in parallel – with a set duration and automatic return to the main room. Moderators maintain an overview, can visit rooms, and thus make discussions more focused and time-efficient.
In the meeting options, enable 'Automatically record' so that each session starts upon launch without manual clicking. The recordings are saved in OneDrive or SharePoint and are immediately available to all participants for review after the call ends.
Find out how absentify can optimize your HR processes, save you time, and reduce errors. Easily manage employee absences in Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint.
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