{"id":5161,"date":"2024-07-15T09:00:11","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T16:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/?p=5161"},"modified":"2024-10-28T10:57:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T17:57:12","slug":"how-microsoft-enables-its-employees-to-work-remotely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/insidetrack\/blog\/how-microsoft-enables-its-employees-to-work-remotely\/","title":{"rendered":"How Microsoft enables its employees to work remotely with Microsoft Teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MicrosoftWhen Microsoft employees choose to work remotely, they are empowered to stay productive and connected by using Microsoft Teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past few years, employees have embraced hybrid work and enjoy the balance that it brings to their lives,” says Claire Sisson, who leads the internal deployment of Teams at Microsoft in her role as a principal group product manager. \u201cMicrosoft Teams has been key to enable that empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Combined
Claire Sisson and Chanda Jensen help lead the effort with the Employee Productivity Engineering team to increase inclusivity across Microsoft to empower everyone to achieve their best.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s empowering your employees to do their best work no matter where they’re working.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the right tool to enable boundaryless collaboration, asynchronous work and meetings that scale from 1:1 to large events make all the difference for our employees,\u201d Sisson says. \u201cWith the recent Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities added to Teams, the AI infused experiences will make hybrid work even more seamless. We\u2019re very excited about the journey we\u2019re on to enable everyone to reach their goals however they wish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Microsoft relied on Teams to support remote working during the COVID-19 pandemic, including in China, where company employees were among the first to work from home. To learn more, read this blog post from Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, and Lily Zheng, director of Microsoft China<\/a>. You can also go here to read Spataro\u2019s post on the company\u2019s commitment to customers during COVID-19.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sisson says there are many other examples of how Teams helps employees tackle all the different types of work they need to do in a day, including this one on a snowstorm that hit company headquarters in Redmond, Washington, shortly after Microsoft upgraded from Skype for Business to Teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNinety-five percent of our Redmond-area employees worked from home during that massive snowstorm,\u201d she says. \u201cWe were interested to see how Teams would hold up, and it did so with flying colors.\u201d<\/p>\n

The larger Employee Productivity Engineering team also used Teams to hold a 500-person live global meeting that connected employees from 48 different countries<\/a>. \u201cThat one also went very smoothly,\u201d Sisson says.<\/p>\n

[Discover how Microsoft uses Signature Microsoft Teams Rooms.<\/a> Explore how Microsoft is rethinking the hybrid meeting room experience with Microsoft Teams.<\/a> Learn more about advancing your meetings with the Microsoft Teams Meeting Guide.<\/a><\/em>]<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"A<\/a>
Click through to get a sample communication message that you can use to show employees at your company how to get the most out of using Microsoft Teams while working remotely.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Guidance for working remotely<\/h2>\n

Microsoft wants employees working in Teams to feel like they\u2019re not losing anything from working away from their office.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Microsoft\u2019s commitment to flexible work<\/a> (and teams spread across the world), face-to-face connection isn\u2019t always possible. We want everyone to feel heard and included,\u201d says Sarah Lundy, senior content program manager in MDEE in charge of communicating to employees about how to get the most out of Teams. \u201cWe have a set of tips that we share with employees when they need to work remotely in large numbers\u2014things like turn on video to help everyone feel connected, pause to give people on the call a chance to speak, and remind people to mute themselves when they\u2019re talking to cut down on distracting background noise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sisson added to that list, saying remote meetings are much more effective when you record them for people who are not present if that\u2019s acceptable to the team. Also helpful, she says, is to send an agenda in advance, and to identify a facilitator for the meeting that can monitor questions and make sure everyone’s voice is heard.<\/p>\n

Check out the devices that can improve your meeting room experience with the help of Microsoft Teams.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen everyone remembers to make a few adjustments, remote meetings can be as effective as being in person,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Features designed to help<\/h2>\n

In some ways, remote meetings can be more additive than meeting in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you make it a Teams channel meeting, then everything is captured in a single channel conversation for your reference,\u201d Sisson says. \u201cAll the documents, all the chats, and of course, the recording of everything everyone said is in one place, and much of it is searchable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Channel meetings are highly effective for reoccurring meetings, where keeping track of a project over time is crucial, she says.<\/p>\n

\"Headshot
Sara Bush, a principal program manager, helped pave the way for inclusive services and culture on the Healthy Teamwork team.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Teams channels themselves offer a great way for groups of employees to work together asynchronously, Lundy says. Collaborating in a channel ensures that the interactions employees have are transparent and open. Files, applications, and conversations are easily accessible to every team member.<\/p>\n

Microsoft Teams launched the AI-infused intelligent meeting Recap feature to further support asynchronous workstyles. By collecting information shared in recorded and transcribed Teams calls, employees can view a video summary of the call and quickly jump to the highlighted chapters and topics that were discussed, read AI-generated notes and tasks from the call, and even see where their name was mentioned in the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a hybrid workplace, effective teamwork habits that keep everyone informed and connected become more important than ever,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

When teams across Microsoft hold meetings larger than 1,000 people, they are asked to use live events in Microsoft 365 in conjunction with Viva Engage to broadcast the meeting while allowing the audience to engage via chat.<\/p>\n

Teams pays attention to the strength of the network and adapts as needed, which helps make sure the experience is optimized. When employees work remotely in large numbers, their use of chat in Teams shoots up, Lundy says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you chat with a person or group frequently, you can pin the chat so it always shows up at the top of your chat list,\u201d she says. \u201cWe suggest that you name your group chats to keep them organized and easy to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when deeper-level collaboration is needed, employees are encouraged to move their chats into a channel.<\/p>\n

Lundy urges employees to ask themselves a few key questions:<\/p>\n