Understanding Microsoft 365 collaboration tools

Microsoft 365 collaboration tools unlock the modern ways of working.  No matter if you’re working from home or if there’s an emergency while you’re away, you can have the peace of mind that you’ve got the collaboration tools to help you adapt from wherever you are. Whether you’re using a laptop or your mobile device, you can easily attend meetings online, share Office files, co-author in real time, and be productive from anywhere.

There are three communication and collaboration tools in Microsoft 365 that provide basically similar solutions for the same problem: SharePoint, Yammer, and Microsoft Teams. However, they all have subtle differences that set them apart from one another. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Sharepoint

We know how frustrating it is to email a document to several people asking each to add their thoughts. Think how many versions of the document you will get back. Here, SharePoint has a big role to play. It allows you to work on a single document/presentation at the same time helping to work quicker, providing visibility on the approach others are taking.

Moreover, in the last few years, Microsoft has turned SharePoint into a backend repository and container with front end applications like Exchange and Teams. In my experience, the most logical workloads for SharePoint now are Intranet and historical sites migrated from other systems.

Some organizations may not want to invest in Microsoft Teams, or they may have other tools like Slack for collaboration. For them, it is better to continue with SharePoint for collaboration purposes.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams, a chat-based collaboration platform similar to Slack, works with Skype for Business so you can text, call, video chat, and share files with colleagues. Thanks to its seamless integrations with other Microsoft 365 programs, you can even work on shared files without leaving the app.

If you are considering collaboration using the following use cases, I recommend using Microsoft Teams:

• Program Level Collaboration
• Project Level Collaboration
• Department Level Collaboration
• General Collaboration
• External Collaboration

Yammer

Say you want to give a shout out to a major achievement on project completion; or want to put up a question to the whole organization to solve a problem; or want to consider communities of a larger group of people to spread a single message, I recommend using Yammer.

Much like Sharepoint and Teams, Yammer works well with other Microsoft 365 tools like Outlook and OneDrive. However, Yammer is a professional social media app designed to foster open communication and break down barriers between teams.

With Yammer, important files and announcements can be shared with the entire company like an office bulletin board. Users can also see the most popular post on their feeds, follow it, and even comment.

Although we’ve discussed the fundamental differences between Groups, Teams, and Yammer, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what each app can do. To figure out which apps you need, you must understand how your employees work, how they prefer to collaborate, and what you want to achieve from such collaborations.

But there’s another way to find the right app for your business: ask the experts. Contact us today for an IT assessment!

Beringer Technology Group, a leading Microsoft Gold Certified Partner specializing in Microsoft Dynamics 365 and CRM for Distribution, also provides expert Managed IT Services, Backup and Disaster Recovery, Cloud Based Computing, Email Security Implementation and Training,  Unified Communication Solutions, and Cybersecurity Risk Assessment.