Office 365: 7 Tools for Business Productivity

Take advantage of the full potential of the 365 suite. You can find here a list of the most underappreciated Office 365 tools and how they can be beneficial to your business.

Millions of organizations use Office 365 to streamline their operations. Kohler, a manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom fixtures, is one of the most famous examples.   

During the Coronavirus pandemic, most of their team had to work remotely, making it difficult to manage operations. To stay true to its values, the company had to adjust its activities.

Enter stage right “Office 365”.

They were able to deliver personalized training in a short time. Employees gained access to curated podcasts, Q&A sessions, microlearning videos, and expert speakers. As a result, they became more comfortable with their new suite of apps. 

With time, the platform also enabled them to overcome the limitations of culture, language, and time zone through different tools.

Teams, for instance, mobilized professionals who shared insights into worldwide markets. Furthermore, SharePoint facilitated the movement of over 400 terabytes of directories, expediting customer communication and support. Security and device deployment were also enhanced, creating a seamless culture of agility and productivity. 

Kohler isn’t the only large company who can utilize Office 365. Business leaders can benefit from this productivity suite. Many of these tools go largely unutilized and underappreciated. 

Here are a few of the top Office 365 tools you should implement in your business.

The Tools

Microsoft Power Automate enables you to automate your workflow across various applications. You can connect it to instant message and email alerts, synchronize files from different apps or copy them from one platform to another.
For example, if you fill out a SharePoint form, you can use Flow to develop a lead in Dynamics 365.
Best of all, the tool isn’t limited to Microsoft Services. It lets you extract data from Facebook or upload files to Dropbox. The result is higher productivity through improved connections.

Interesting in finding out how your business could benefit from such automated workflows? Speak to us today and ask us about our Cloud Platform Service.

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Teams is a meeting, sharing, and chatting hub for your team. This cloud-based platform combines notes, files, conferences, and several apps in real-time. 

The program has dramatically improved collaboration and productivity, bringing people, content, and conversations together into a single hub. It integrates effortlessly with Office 365 apps and features a secure global cloud. 

Another tremendous benefit is real-time communication. It lets all members watch edits in PowerPoint presentations, ensuring input from the entire team. Users can also provide feedback using the chat window to streamline productivity. 

 

In addition, Teams supports cross-platform cooperation, allowing you to work on your phone, tablet, or computer. 

Microsoft To-Do is a smart task management
platform that facilitates planning throughout your day. Not to mention it
delivers a personalized and intuitive way to help users stay organized. 

It comes with a robust algorithm that lets you
create lists for nearly anything, such as your home projects, work, and grocery
shopping.

Keeping track of reminders is effortless with To-Do. You can add reminders, notes, and due dates while personalizing them with vivid themes. Aside from viewing them on the web, these lists are also accessible on most devices, including Android phones, iPhones, and Windows 10 devices. 

This is a nifty visualization tool that incorporates social media elements and social learning. It utilizes content from four platforms: Exchange, SharePoint, Yammer, and OneDrive, 

However, it doesn’t aggregate your data points only. Instead, it detects relevant information like user activity and past interactions. 

This is a nifty visualization tool that incorporates social media elements and social learning. It utilizes content from four platforms: Exchange, SharePoint, Yammer, and OneDrive, 

However, it doesn’t aggregate your data points only. Instead, it detects relevant information like user activity and past interactions. 

Microsoft Planner is an excellent choice for companies with team members all over the globe and multiple simultaneous projects. The tool can rapidly digitize your task management processes. 

It gives users access to visual organization tools and four key functions: information hub, insights, communication, and flexible categorizations. Also, it enables team members to share files, create plans, assign and assemble tasks, and converse with co-workers while receiving progress updates. 

Although teams spend much of their time in meetings, talking on the phone, and sending emails, they still may not be very productive. To overcome this obstacle, Office 365 introduced MyAnalytics. 

This tool increases employee efficiency by analyzing two productivity factors: who users spend their time with and how they spend it. 

Using robust analytics, the tool suggests how you can be more productive by working less after-hours and reducing idle meeting time. There’s also AI that flags your Outlook commitments to remind you of your daily duties. 

MyAnalytics consists of four components: 

  • Digests – Your Outlook inbox stores weekly digests to highlight the previous week. 
  • Dashboard – The dashboard displays various statistics like productivity insights, work habits, and suggestions on improving them. 
  • Insights Outlook – This feature presents cards that show your work experience and allow you to respond in many ways. 
  • Inline Suggestions – These suggestions are available in your Outlook to help boost productivity.

Also, Microsoft considered your privacy when designing this tool. That’s why you’re the only one who can access your personal insights and data.

Reinvigorate your business’s work enviroment

Taking your operations to new heights is all about creating an agile and productive workplace. And Office 365 can help you achieve this with a wide range of communication and collaboration tools. 

Whether your team works remotely or in-office, this suite of apps can dramatically improve project management. And Kohler’s example is proof of this.

That said, a subpar IT provider can impede your integration with Office 365. 

If you feel your vendor isn’t delivering the necessary results, give us a call. We can schedule a quick chat and come up with the perfect solution to your business’s IT difficulties to save you from a lot of stress.