Microsoft will upgrade customers to Teams as Skype for Business is no longer supported. But Teams isn’t simply a replacement calling and messaging service. Users will be moving to a robust collaboration platform that’s already changing the way people around the world work.

Adopting Microsoft Teams

If your organization isn’t yet using the full capabilities of Microsoft Teams, you’ll want to be thoughtful with your transition plan. In general, users have adopted Teams eagerly, and the platform has solved many collaboration issues resulted from remote work. That’s no doubt why Teams exploded from 32 million active users pre-pandemic to the latest count of 145 million users. Nonetheless, users will be able to get up and running with Teams more quickly if you prepare and communicate throughout the process.

Microsoft Teams is a whole new way to collaborate, and users will need support as they fundamentally shift the way they think about work. You can speed Teams adoption by implementing a multi-pronged transition plan, including:

• Disseminate tips for getting the most out of Teams
• Recruit Teams champions willing to help co-workers and provide feedback
• Establish a regular cadence of town hall meetings to answer questions and share ideas
• Celebrate employee groups who are quick to embrace the full functionality of Teams

Check out these for more guidance.

Track Teams uptake

Change can feel hard for many reasons. Some people may fear it. Others may feel they don’t have the time or brain space, so they put it off for another day. You might also be surprised how many employees don’t feel empowered to try out new processes because they’ve been doing things a certain way for so long.

One way to encourage Teams uptake is to track usage and identify groups who could use a little more encouragement or training. Voleer from BitTitan offers a tool you can deploy to monitor your Teams environment. Using this assessment, you can track activity and provide insights that will help the organization increase productivity through communication and training.

Goodbye Skype for Business

Microsoft has invested considerable resources into developing and continually upgrading Teams, so users of Skype for Business won’t miss out on any functionality when the switch is made. The opportunity lies in helping users transition their processes and delighting them with a more satisfying work environment.

Employees will soon learn that Teams is more than just calling and meetings, it’s a continually evolving platform that integrates all of Microsoft 365, plus document storage and sharing, collaboration and conversations – all securely in the cloud. Like the smart phone that long ago replaced your old flip phone, Teams promises to keep changing as we change the way of work.