Most people use Microsoft Teams for chat and video calls. That is a small fraction of what the platform can do. If your team is only using Teams as a messaging app, you are leaving significant value on the table.
Here are five ways organizations use Teams that go well beyond basic communication.
1. Project and Task Management
At Regroove, our entire project management workflow lives in Teams. We create a dedicated Team for each client, use channels to organize project discussions and initiatives, link OneNote for meeting notes and solution wireframes, and manage tasks through Planner tabs. The service delivery team can see project status in real time without switching applications.
This approach works better for us than Microsoft's dedicated project management software for most client engagements. Teams keeps everything in one place and reduces the overhead of maintaining separate systems.
2. Teams Phone
Teams Phone replaces traditional business phone systems with a cloud-based calling solution. Team members use the same phone number regardless of whether they are working from home, the office, or elsewhere. All that is required is a device with a microphone and speaker, though dedicated headsets improve the experience significantly. Existing business numbers can be retained during the migration.
3. Live Events and Broadcasts
Teams Live Events supports broadcasts to up to 20,000 viewers. Organizations use this for public council meetings, town halls, conferences, workshops, and internal all-hands sessions. Events can be configured as public or private, with Q&A features for audience engagement.
4. File Management and Collaboration
Teams integrates directly with SharePoint, which stores files behind every Teams channel. This means teams can upload and share documents, tag colleagues for review, collaborate in real time, and discuss document-related questions, all without leaving Teams. Version history is maintained automatically.
5. Customization and Integration
Teams channels can be extended with tabs that integrate applications directly into the workspace. Planner, OneNote, Power BI dashboards, and third-party tools can all be added as tabs so team members can access what they need without navigating away. Power Automate can trigger actions based on Teams activity, connecting Teams to broader business workflows.
The Bigger Picture
You can run most of your daily business operations through Microsoft Teams. Communication, project management, calls, file collaboration, and broadcasts can all live in one platform. The uses continue to expand as Microsoft adds capabilities. If your team is only scratching the surface of what Teams can do, a coaching session focused on your specific use cases is usually the fastest way to close that gap.