In a hybrid world, Microsoft Teams is one of the most important tools for better collaboration and communication. Solutions like Teams bring individuals together as teams continue to work from a variety of remote environments. Your staff may continue to work productively using video conferencing, chat, and a variety of synchronized tools.
Part of what makes Teams so great is the ability of business executives to use third-party technologies to solve specific problems. You can, for example, use third-party tools and services to boost employee connections and enable remote workers to bond.
So, which Microsoft Teams technologies are ideal for increasing team bonding?
Internal Microsoft Teams bonding solutions
Before you start playing with Microsoft Teams add-ons and connectors, you should have a look at some of the built-in features. In Teams, for example, Microsoft developed the "Viva" environment for employee engagement and incentives.
This platform includes several tools that can be used to improve individual employee efficiency and performance. Viva, on the other hand, can aid in the strengthening of bonds between your employees. Microsoft Viva Connections, for example, helps employees keep track of tales about their coworkers and ensures that everyone feels connected.
When used in conjunction with regular video meetings conducted on Microsoft Teams, Viva may be a powerful tool for keeping your team in sync. Remember that solutions like Microsoft Teams' "Together mode" for immersive video meetings can be extremely useful.
Apps for Microsoft Teams for Bonding
After you've tried out the built-in Microsoft Teams bonding solutions, you should investigate some of the available add-ons for your team. Here are some of the best options for improving collaboration and teamwork.
1. NickNack
NickNack is a one-of-a-kind Microsoft Teams add-on designed to help remote and scattered team members re-create office chemistry. NickNack's assortment of asynchronous activities is a terrific approach to keep teams interested and entertained. Your employees can work together on lip-syncing videos or virtual escape chambers.
Leader boards and prizes are built-in gamification components. This guarantees that you can provide your staff with a fun and engaging experience while keeping the conversation flowing. There's even a challenges area where team members may keep track of how far they've progressed on their challenges.
The following are some of the features:
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Lots of asynchronous games to play with coworkers
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A comprehensive "Challenge" tracking environment
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Easy to track involvement from various members of the team with convenient gamification features to enhance interaction
2. Karma
Recognition is an important component of keeping employees satisfied in a flexible or hybrid setting. Employees need to feel that they are valued no matter where they are. However, excellent outcomes aren't just due to comments from corporate leaders.
Companies can use systems like Karma to enable individual employees to interact and give micro feedback to their coworkers. The capacity for each member of your team to say "well done" to their colleagues more frequently opens the door to deeper, more significant emotional bonds. You can even provide your employees with real-world benefits and prizes.
The following are some of the features:
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Feedback is shared instantly with all members of the team
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Feedback is shared instantly with all members of the team
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Create a system of rewards and incentives
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Keep in touch with your team on a regular basis
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Deliver individual reports to employees to motivate them
3. Trivia
There aren't many possibilities for informal discussion in a hybrid or remote workplace, which is one of the major challenges with preserving team bonding opportunities. Employees must communicate, play games, and interact in ways that are not always relevant to work to feel more deeply connected to their coworkers.
Trivia is a Microsoft Teams application that tries to reintroduce fun and friendship into the workplace. You may use quizzes to start dialogues and create virtual watercooler experiences for your employees. This laid-back atmosphere is ideal for getting your teams to become more friendly with one another.
The following are some of the features:
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Custom quizzes and trivia
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Pictionary and other entertaining games
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Popular themes are discussed at the watercooler
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Activities to Break the Ice
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Meetings with peer-to-peer introductions
4. Health Hero
Team bonding doesn't have to be limited to bringing your employees together around common goals. Giving your employees other goals to work for might sometimes be the most effective method to bring your team together. Health Hero's Employee Wellness app is a great complement to Microsoft Teams for firms that care about their employees' well-being.
This software works by providing a leader board atmosphere for your team to track and participate in health activities. You may motivate your entire team to work toward weight loss or fitness objectives. The software can not only help teams bond, but it can also make your staff happier and healthier.
The following are some of the features:
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Wellness and step challenges that have been pre-programmed
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Screening for mental health and risk assessment
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Options for biometric screening
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Engagement competitions and leaderboards
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For employees, an all-in-one dashboard with chat is available
5. Kudozza
The Kudozza app, like the Karma app for Microsoft Teams, is a tool for improving employee motivation and satisfaction in a digital world. When team members do a good job, the app allows them to provide a virtual "pat on the back" to their colleagues. You can express your gratitude in a variety of ways, including using eye-catching emoticons.
Kudozza is a terrific solution for tracking crucial insights, in addition to allowing your employees an easier way to give feedback and praise to their coworkers. For team leaders, the software includes analytics and reporting options. This allows you to maintain your finger on the pulse of employee happiness and engagement.
The following are some of the features:
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Staff members can express their gratitude and provide feedback in a variety of ways.
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Dedicated emoticons to make providing feedback more enjoyable
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Competition rankings and reports
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Business leaders will benefit from these insights
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Setting a challenge
The Best Microsoft Teams Apps to Download for 2022
Microsoft Teams has taken the world by storm, with 270 million monthly active users and a growing number of devoted followers in the realm of hybrid work. The technology provides a tremendous ecosystem of collaborative and communication tools on its own. Users can share files, hold video conferences, and have real-time chat sessions.
Companies are discovering that every one of their employees has their own distinct needs when it comes to collaboration tool functionality as the workplace continues to grow. As a result, Microsoft has released several apps and add-on tools that businesses can use to personalize their Teams experience.
Of course, with over 700 apps to choose from, Microsoft Teams app users may find it difficult to decide where to begin. Fortunately, we've compiled a list of top recommendations to get you started.
1. Decisions
Meetings and conferences are more vital than ever in this age of mixed work. Unfortunately, as many firms discovered during the pandemic, poorly managed meetings can lead to employee confusion and squander valuable time.
Decisions is a Microsoft-awarded tool that uses an agenda builder in Teams to help you improve the quality of your meetings. By posting your agenda on a Teams channel, keeping track of time in the meeting, and even running polls and votes in the middle of the chat, you can get your team ready for the meeting. There's also the option of creating tasks for staff to complete after the meeting.
The following are some of the features:
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Meeting agenda builder
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One-click meeting minutes for OneNote and Word
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Custom templates
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Time tracking
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Secure voting
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Tasks and decision syncing to To Do and Planner
2. Polly
Polly is one of the most popular Microsoft Teams apps because it allows users to conduct surveys, polls, and quizzes during meetings. Even with regular video conferences, it can be challenging to keep your employees aligned and interested in a distant workplace.
Polly is a technology that uses live Q&A, quizzes, and assistance for collecting rapid feedback to improve interactions amongst employees. You may assess your workplace's level of team involvement and improve the quality of meeting agendas. Polly also includes built-in real-time analytics.
The following are some of the features:
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Remote team check-ins and engagement tracking
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Microsoft Teams deployment follow-up
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Engagement pulse checking
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Quizzes and instant feedback
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Trivia rounds
3. Trello
More than just video meetings and chats are required for effective collaborative work. You must also ensure that your staff completes their tasks on time. Trello is a great solution for this, as it allows teams to organize their projects in a more convenient and flexible manner.
Trello is a workflow management tool that allows businesses to create boards with task lists that can be distributed to their employees. Projects can be allocated to each person with varied completion deadlines. Within Teams, you can also set up notifications and reminders to keep individuals informed about future deadlines.
The following are some of the features:
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Tracking tasks and important projects
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Assigning tasks to individual users
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Notifications and reminders
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Deadlines and calendar synchronization
4. Clickup
Clickup is another useful productivity tool that helps keep your team on track and motivated as you move into the age of hybrid work. Everything from reminders and goal setting to calendar syncing, scheduling, and notes are included in the Microsoft Teams solution.
Clickup for Microsoft Teams enables a deeper integration via "ClickApps," which allows you to personalize the experience for each team separately. The app is currently one of the most popular among Microsoft users on the App Store. Clickup also allows you to assign specific tasks and deadlines to your team.
The following are some of the features:
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Notifications and reminders about upcoming tasks
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Deadlines and calendar management
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Specific experiences for different groups
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Dashboards and list task tracking
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Comments for each task
5. Health Hero
A focus on enhancing employee health was one of the most significant workplace trends that began during the pandemic and continues to make ripples today. Employees today want an employer who is concerned about their well-being (both mental and physical). While Microsoft provides built-in tools like Viva to help with this, there are also some excellent add-ons to get your team started.
Health Hero is one of the most popular Microsoft Teams apps currently available. It allows modern business owners to develop one-of-a-kind experiences for their customers that focus on enhancing their health and well-being. There are gamification components in Health Hero, as well as a dashboard for measuring performance.
The following are some of the features:
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Employee leaderboards and tracking
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Biometric screenings
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Mental health screenings
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Wellness and step challenges
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Chat interactions
6. AttendanceBot
It's becoming more difficult to keep track of how much time teams spend "at work" as more individuals work on the go, remotely, and in different locations around the world. This is something that AttendanceBot for Microsoft teams can help with. Business leaders can use the tool to assess paid time off, shift planning, sick days, and remote working hours.
Simple in and out messaging, clock-in and clock-out features, and the ability to log work hours and timesheets within Microsoft Teams are all included in this app. Users can also send a message to @AttendanceBot if they need modifications to their schedule authorized.
The following are some of the features:
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PTO, vacations, and sick days
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Remote work and work from home tracking
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Reminders and alerts
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Complete holiday calendars
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Multi-level approvals
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Timesheets and payroll reports
7. Power BI
Microsoft Teams customers will struggle to find anything more insightful than Power BI when it comes to analytical software to download. Power BI, a Microsoft product, works seamlessly with Teams to help you capture and use data more effectively. The Power BI for Microsoft Teams app allows you to pin reports to tabs in Microsoft Teams channels and interact with data without having to leave the app.
You can discuss the most recent data from your reports and make decisions about the next-best steps depending on what you've discovered. This app is a fantastic method to maximize your Microsoft ecosystem investment.
The following are some of the features:
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Report pinning in Teams channels
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Data interactions without leaving teams
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Shareable URLs for reports
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Easy to access information throughout Teams
If your firm is using or contemplating using Microsoft Teams, or to purchase Microsoft through Office 365 contact RCS Professional Services. As a Microsoft Partner, we provide premier pricing and support on Microsoft products and licensing. You can also visit our youtube channel for Microsoft Teams Training.
