Tech Tips from the Tech Team: Microsoft Teams a great way to collaborate
After working with many faculty and staff, Mike Cote, the Harrell Health Sciences Library’s Multimedia Specialist and a member of the library’s Tech Team, has heard a lot of similar thoughts on Microsoft Teams – a part of the institution’s Office 365 subscription. Many have said it does not compare with Zoom for meeting with peers or instructing students. Others have said it is too cumbersome to work with and learn, and is just another new piece of software everyone is being asked to learn. He understand these concerns, but think Teams might just be the key to simplifying a lot of workflows.
Teams is built for fostering collaboration. It is not strictly a video conferencing program, like many believe it is. In fact, video conferencing is only a small part of it. At its core, Teams allows co-workers to create a “team” that will provide a space to quickly communicate, share files and work simultaneously on the same documents, if necessary.
To give an example, the Library Tech Team created a team to work on 3D prints. This team is made up of the 3 people at the Harrell Library that start, stop and track 3D print requests. In this team, they can message back and forth about what is going on with the printers, what needs to be taken care of that day, and how they can improve services. On other tabs, they have posted an Excel spreadsheet for tracking the details of orders, a Word document with a running print queue, and several word documents, PDFs and URLs that all give “how-to” information, troubleshooting help and the maintenance requirements for all machines. Furthermore, tasks can be assigned with due dates to any team member, and sub tasks can be created, if necessary.
Teams is a great way to create a shared folder of documents and resources, record communications and hold quick meetings with the group. Many users have tried to do all of this in SharePoint, and while that is possible, Teams does all of this by creating everything in SharePoint. Essentially, Teams is an interface for using some of the notable features of SharePoint, but is a lot easier to learn and get others to actually use.
The Library Tech Team can help you with learning the details of this great tool. They are available by appointment, and hold workshops, which are posted on the library website. To schedule an appointment with them or to ask for help with any questions regarding Teams or other Office 365 programs, email librarytech@pennstatehealth.psu.edu or message Mike Cote on Teams!
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