After years of working in Operations, I’ve always preferred the old-fashioned pen and paper method of keeping track of my assignments, responsibilities, and progress.
During this time, I did give a chance to e-options – from keeping track in Kanban boards and different apps and programs, but they always lacked at least one of the following and essential aspects of a task tracking software. Sometimes it was about being unable to access the task list from all the devices I was using, or I couldn’t share them with all the project parties.
Still, the apps often did not allow me to quickly add my tasks in the (easy to get to, use, or understand) category, which often must happen during the meetings and conversations. The first time I started using Microsoft teams was after joining Infotechtion as an Operations Manager. Besides having Teams as the first (and the most important) means of communication with my fellow workers located on three different continents, I have learned that it also allows adding external work partners with limited access to the channels related to them. Such a setup created the opportunity to develop a tasks list for every channel. I could easily tag all the channel members in any job connected with or related to that individual. Installing Teams on my mobile phone also, Tasks has beautifully bridged one of the main reasons that stopped me from using a planner in an electronic form for years.
© Microsoft
The speed with which tasks were added was also critical — Teams allow for the creation of primary criteria, or Buckets, which hold relevant tasks. I’ve made Buckets as per the time criteria (daily, weekly, and monthly tasks) because I am a time-oriented person. From here, the user can click “add task” under the bucket’s name and assign the title to the card.
Having this in mind, the three criteria, which absence that kept me away from similar products, have been successfully met by Teams:
1. Accessibility from different devices
2. Collaboration through sharing the planner with the team
3. Speed of access
The user’s wellbeing, which was considered at every step of developing M365 a functional unit, is another aspect of the Teams that made me abandon my pen and paper. Teams, where Tasks is located, connect with the rest of M365; as a result, it sends an email reminder to all outstanding tasks near the due date. Teams also provides you a summary email of all the tasks and meetings that have been accomplished in the preceding period, thanks to its integration with the Outlook calendar.
It also includes advice on how to increase your productivity and where in your schedule you should incorporate breaks to maintain and improve your physical and mental health.
Whether you’re in charge of operations or project management, Teams has a solution for you. With so much flexibility, it has the potential to be a game-changer in terms of operations.
The Infotechtion team can assist you and your team in maximizing the benefits of M365 within your business by assisting in utilizing this excellent technology to boost productivity, streamline communication, and get the most out of M365. Please contact us if you require additional information.
