In our changing work environment, workspaces are moving into spare rooms and corners of our homes. In our technology-driven world, the new norm is digital meetings and home offices. Because there’s less in-person interaction in offices, it can be difficult to keep up with your team and improve team productivity. You might need some help improving team productivity while working remotely.

Luckily, Microsoft offers a full suite of tools to help stay connected. We’ve laid out the following tips to help improve team productivity and collaboration in your business using the Microsoft web apps. Good team communication is the first step to improving team productivity and performance.

Utilizing Microsoft Team

The first tip, and arguably the most important, is to start using Microsoft Teams to chat. The Microsoft Suite offers instant messaging, video conferences, and voice calls, all in one easy-to-use app. Microsoft Teams is a one-stop shop for maintaining effective communication and collaboration among your team.

text: Microsoft Teams is a one-stop shop for maintaining effective communication and collaboration among your team to Improve Team Productivity. Image: a woman wearing headphones laughs at an offscreen computer screen, presumably in a virtual meeting

Microsoft offers ways for you to meet with your team, even if you’re doing remote work. We offer a full package of email services, the Microsoft web app suites, and unlimited online meetings and HD videos to stay connected.

Create a shared calendar 

Making sure your team is up to date on current events and tasks can be daunting. When your team is working remotely, you need to work even harder to keep everyone organized and on task. Thankfully, there are plenty of tools at our disposal to help us stay on track.

Creating a shared calendar with Outlook is extremely easy. You can see when everyone is available and schedule meetings to share with your entire team, or select individuals. Microsoft explains how to create a shared calendar and answers more questions you may have on their website. We offer a complete bundle on our website.

Assign specific days for team members to work on specific tasks

If you have multiple clients or multiple tasks for your employees, then set a calendar for them to use. This will help everyone stay organized and on track. Second, set time limits for each task and enforce them. This will help ensure that each task is given the appropriate amount of attention and that no one gets bogged down.

Hold team meetings regularly to update everyone on their progress

Meeting in an office space allows for workplace collaboration and banter. The go-to image of office banter is a group of coworkers gathered around the water cooler. With everyone working from home, this image no longer represents our idea of coworkers getting to know each other. There are still ways to ensure your team gets to know each other and can keep up communications.

Holding regularly scheduled video conferences with Microsoft Team allows you to check in with your team and give important updates. This is also a great opportunity to share special projects, discuss accomplishments, and reward team members. You want to ensure these meetings are a positive experience for the entire team. Just having simple weekly meetings can help improve employee productivity and communication.

Celebrate successes together

It’s important that your team feels appreciated for all of their hard work, even during the busiest times in your business. This can be as simple as a congratulatory email or statement on a group call, or it can be more elaborate. If you are in the office you can try to drop off donuts, bagels, or lunch to your team as a thank you. If you are more remote you can congratulate team members for successes and milestones on Linkedin or other social media platforms. You can also congratulate employees on success in newsletters or on your website.

Some companies give out different rewards for performance monthly, quarterly, or yearly. You can make an event out of this one and get lunch for your team while you give out rewards. You don’t need to go full Dunder Mifflin, though.

Along with celebrating success together, rewarding individual success is a great incentive for continued hard work. This can be something as simple as recognition for a job well done or a gift card for hitting a milestone. Whatever you choose, make sure it motivates your team to keep up the good work.

Listen to how your employees like to be rewarded. You can make the most of a reward just by ensuring it’ll be appreciated. For instance, I keep a Google Doc of some of the things my teammates say they enjoy for birthdays, thank-yous, and other celebratory occasions.

Encourage creativity and new ideas

Listening to your team is one of the best qualities a leader can have. Allow your team to suggest different ways to improve their office experience. The happier your employees are, the more productive they’ll be. Your team could also find new ways to increase productivity as a whole or ways to improve your product or service that you have missed. Your team will not only feel heard but also be encouraged to work harder on their ideas.

Send out a daily positive team email

Sending a daily motivational or encouraging email to your team shows that you’re invested in more than just their numbers and stats. It shows that you care about your team and their well-being. Starting with a simple “good morning” email is a great way to spread positivity.

In a digital world, it can be hard to keep the team morale up, but these tips can help you. As you work to improve productivity you might discover you’re struggling to keep employees engaged, we have tips for that too. It is crucial that you take the necessary steps to improve your team’s productivity and cohesiveness while working remotely. Microsoft offers all of the tools you need to accomplish these easy steps, you can purchase the complete bundle here.

Cultural Impact LLC