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Unproductive meetings are a problem! Recent surveys suggest that around 70% of company executives fear meetings are hampering their productivity. This is backed up by a recent survey conducted this year that found that over 50% of remote workers would prefer to spend less time in video calls, with 42% claiming they’re more productive when allowed to work for long periods of time uninterrupted.

However, if you operate with a remote workforce you’ll understand the value of virtual meetings in terms of improving staff morale, developing corporate culture and keeping remote employees up-to-date with the latest company-wide developments.

Fortunately for users of Microsoft Teams, the platforms come packed with features designed to make virtual meetings more fruitful. Let’s explore a few of these, so that you can make your meetings worthwhile.

Recording Meetings

The ability to record a meeting is extremely beneficial in situations where someone is unable to attend or where the meeting conveys a lot of important information. Meeting recordings can be saved to a Teams channel for future reference or review purposes.

Here’s how you can go about recording your next meeting…

First, schedule or launch a meeting by navigating to the calendar tab on the left of the Teams window. Now from here you can either hold a private meeting immediately or schedule a meeting; both allow the option to record, but we’d recommend scheduling a meeting within a channel so that the recording gets posted to conversation thread of a specific teams channel. To do this, select ‘New Meeting’ and enter the relevant channel name into the form that appears as shown below.

Once your meeting has been set up, its details will appear in the chosen channel’s conversation thread.

Once your meeting is underway you can start recording. To do so, navigate to ‘more actions’ located among the meeting control buttons, and then select ‘start recording’ from the drop-down menu.

To stop recording, either ‘hang up’ or click ‘stop recording’ from the ‘more actions’ menu. When the meeting is over you’ll be able to retrieve the recording from the channel conversation feed. At first, the recording will be unavailable, as Microsoft Stream will need time to process the file. Once the recording has been processed, everyone with channel access will be able to view it, and it will appear in the channel feed like this…

Meeting Notes

Sometimes rather than a recording, all you need is an abridged record of a meetings’ core information. Meeting Notes are a great way to note down that vital information for future reference. Taking meeting notes is simple…

First, schedule a meeting and add this meeting to the relevant channel. This is important, as this channel is where your meeting notes will be saved.

Then navigate to the ‘more actions’ menu as before, and select ‘meeting notes.’

Following a recent update to the meetings experience in Teams, the note-feature now opens in the Teams app window. You’ll notice that a new tab entitled ‘meeting notes’ has automatically been created in the chosen channel; this is where all meting notes pertinent to this channel will be stored in the future.

As with recordings, meeting notes will also appear in the channel’s conversation feed as shown below.

Background Effects feature

When working remotely, seeing the faces of our colleagues in a virtual meeting helps provide that human connection we all crave. While many employees enjoy being on camera, for others, having their home on display for all to see can be an anxiety-inducing experience. A busy background can also distract meeting participants, and in certain situations, an attendee may want to obscure a background for privacy or data security reasons. Thankfully Teams’ ‘Background Effects‘ feature can blur background details while keeping the subject matter (you) in focus! Alternatively, the feature can now replace your background with a number of computer-generated alternatives.

To activate, turn on your camera and select ‘show background effects’ from the ‘more actions’ menu as shown.

A menu will then appear on the right, displaying a number of different background settings, the first of which is an option to simply blur your background. To use one of these settings, click one and select ‘apply.’ You can also preview the effects before applying them.

We’re Elixis Technology

In the ever-changing, technology-centric world we live in, it’s vital to have an I.T. solution source you can count on. At Elixis Technology, it is our mission to help businesses — big and small — produce the results their customers demand, with technology that actually works.

Microsoft Teams

Working from home has been somewhat of a shock to the system for many.  Prior to the pandemic, only around 1 in 20 Americans were working from home on a full-time basis and only around 40% had ever occasionally worked remotely as part of their job.  The Covid-19 pandemic saw around a third of the American workforce working from home – accelerating a slow trend away from strictly office-based working practices. 

 A late 2019 Linkedin survey found that the vast majority (82%) would like the option to work remotely at least one day per week, and a substantial proportion (57%) said they’d like to do it more than 3 days per week.  Various studies have found working remotely to bring many benefits, such as:

• Increased productivity
• Lower Absence rates
• Better employee retention
• Improved employee work-life balance
• Lower overheads (less office floorspace required)
• Improved Physical and mental health

Working remotely can bring many benefits to businesses and employees alike, however, to get the most out of your remote team you have to make sure the right structures and productivity aids are in place.

Many of our clients use Microsoft 365, a powerful suite of products that combines the traditional Microsoft Office apps and many new services with the power of ‘the cloud.’

365 incorporates a number of platforms designed to allow seamless collaboration and intelligent workflow management – perfect for coordinating teams and keeping your remote workforce productive.  Let’s look at a few of these platforms in further detail.

Microsoft Teams – getting the Team together just got a whole lot simpler

Teams have only been around since 2017 (not long by Microsoft standards), but since then it has made a name for itself as one of the world’s most popular and effective collaboration platforms.  If your business is a heavy user of the Office Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc.) then Teams really is the logical choice when it comes to collaboration platforms as it’s deeply embedded in the core Microsoft product line.

A single interface, many features

Teams roll a variety of communication media into a single, intuitive interface.   Video/audio conferencing, instant messaging, file sharing/real-time document editing and the option to add telephony capabilities…Teams can do all this and much more.  Teams is perfect for document-heavy collaboration thanks to SharePoint and OneDrive integration.  Need to quickly edit that important file?  Get it done in minutes by allowing multiple team members to work on it at the same time within the Teams window.

Keep the conversation focussed with ‘Team’ and ‘Channels’

A ‘Team’ is an online space where you gather a group of employees to work towards a common goal or collaborate on a particular body of work.

A ‘Channel’ is a branch within a Team where the conversation actually happens and work gets done around a more specific aim – it acts a subfolder.  Channels might be accessible to all members of a Team or only a select few.

‘Teams’ and ‘Channels’ are simple devices that keep conversations on-topic.

It’s Easy to Use

Existing Microsoft 365 users will feel right at home using Teams.  The interface is pleasingly intuitive and your employees will probably master the fundamentals in a couple of hours.

Add your favourite apps for a unique, tailored experience

You can launch most Microsoft Apps within the Teams interface.  The like of Planner, Forms, Lists (new), OneNote, Stream, PowerBI, SharePoint and all the core Office apps can all be launched within Teams by adding them as an app or pinning them to individual channels.

Teams also allow for the integration of hundreds of third-party apps; so the likes of Asana, Trello, Zoom, Polly, Hive and many more can also be launched within Teams.

Teams have security and compliance at its core

Subscribers to 365 benefit from  Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility and Security platform.  This platform gives you the tools you need to enable flexible, remote working practices while keeping your digital assets tightly managed. 

Manage access to devices and applications with Azure active directory; enforce multi-factor authentication so that only your trusted employees can access your sensitive data.

Control file access and classify sensitive files with Microsoft Information Protection.

Spot and counter cyber threats before they do damage with a range of advanced threat protection tools including ‘Microsoft Cloud App Security’ designed to ensure security across your cloud services.

Conclusion

When it comes to collaboration in the Microsoft 365 environment, Teams is the app around which all other revolve.  However, 365 features many other platforms which complement Teams and help tackle many of the challenges remote workforces face.  Stay tuned as we explore these platforms in future articles.

We’re Elixis Technology

Equipping your staff with the hardware needed to work remotely is often easier said than done. The concept of ‘Enterprise Mobility’ – allowing employees to work remotely and flexibly – was growing in popularity long before the Covid-19 crisis arrived.  This meant that many ‘tech-savvy’ workplaces already had structures in place to enable effective, secure remote working in some form; but for many other businesses knowing where to start has been a bit of a struggle.

Whether your business falls into the latter category or you’re an Enterprise mobility pro, let’s review some common approaches to Enterprise mobility so you can decide on the best strategy for your businesses.

Should I provide my team with desktops, laptops and other devices?

There is no right and wrong answer to this question. The approach you take to devise provision will depend on factors such as your budget and the level of oversight you feel you need. In our opinion, it’s best to provide work-dedicated devices if possible and devise a comprehensive device policy that sets out guidelines and rules for the secure use of devices so that your business’ data is never put at risk.  Let’s take a look at some of the more common enterprise mobility strategies.

BYOD

This is the practice of allowing employees to use their own devices for work purposes. It has grown in popularity in recent years and it’s estimated that around 67% of businesses permit BYOD in some capacity.

Advantages

• Increased Productivity. There is some data to suggest that employees are more productive on devices they are familiar with – there is less of a learning curve. Personal devices are usually of a higher specification than employer-provided alternatives too, meaning BYOD devices are often faster and more responsive.
• Your Team will enjoy having the ability to work and manage their personal lives from a single device. BYOD eliminates the need for separate devices for work and personal use.
• Cost savings. With BYOD there are no upfront costs (usually) in terms of device acquisition for employers. This represents potentially massive savings at the organisation level. With potentially lower maintenance obligations and a reduced need for support and training, BYOD may also reduce your IT team’s workload. As an employer, you may want to cover some of the costs such as a data plan or insurance, but overall BYOD is the lowest-cost enterprise mobility strategy.

Disadvantages

• BYOD is inherently less secure than other options. If an employee leaves your company bear in mind that they own that device and will take it with them to their next job. Do you have a mechanism to remove corporate data from the device in that situation or would you rely on the individual acting in good faith? You could deploy a mobile device management solution to manage security, but employees may be resistant to this. Alternatively, you could require that employees surrender their devices to your IT team for routine check-ups but again some employees may consider this an invasion of their privacy. Ultimately a BYOD policy means employers giving up some degree of control.
• Compatibility issues. If your business uses niche software, then a BYOD policy may result in incompatibility issues. Installation issues may be encountered, and device limitations may compromise functionality.
• Support could be a challenge. IT support is harder when your team have a huge number of different devices to contend with. Staying up to speed with many different operating systems will be tough, and with an increased likelihood of compatibility issues, your tech team will have quite a job on their hands.

BYOD can work…with a comprehensive BYOD policy

A BYOD policy sets out the responsibilities of both employers and employees in relation to the safe use of the personal device. It’s a vital component of a BYOD strategy; here are some things to consider when creating one:

• The Employee’s responsibilities – costs they are responsible for, what should happen if a device is lost/stolen, compliance obligations, security settings that should be implemented and ‘acceptable use’ guidelines.
• Any device management/ technical support required. Be upfront and honest about the level of access your IT team may need to personal devices. Transparency is vital; if device management or coordination with your IT team is required then it’s important to make this clear in the BYOD policy.
• Include a list of approved devices. You may have to exclude certain devices for compatibility reasons.
• Draw a line between ‘personal’ and ‘private.’ Define ‘company-owned data’ and explain the rules for the management of this data and the rights of your company to remove it from the device if necessary.
• Include a list of prohibited apps. Some mobile apps are notorious for introducing malware to mobile devices – these could compromise the security of your data.

Need greater control? The alternatives to BYOD

CYOD

Some of the perks of BYOD, with reduced risk for employers, a ‘choose your own device policy’ involves employees choosing a device from a pre-approved list. The employer then purchases the device while retaining ownership and ultimate control. Employees get to choose a shiny new device and employers get MDM peace of mind. However, this is a costly route to go down.

COPE (Corporately owned, personally enabled)

Like CYOD in some ways only this model usually involves employers more tightly controlling the devices issued – the IT department works with selected vendors resulting in a smaller range of devices in the company’s network. COPE issued devices are extensively managed and controlled by the employer but are permitted for personal use, so employees won’t feel the need to carry multiple devices.

COBO (Corporately owned, business only)

This option affords maximum control for employers. COBO issued devices feature extensive device management and may be configured to run only the applications and services needed for the job role – this could, in theory, mean a laptop or tablet running a single application. While secure, a COBO strategy could result in the risky use of shadow IT if employees find the device too restrictive.

We’re Elixis Technology

Maximise value and improve efficiency with the Cloud

To say that 2020 has been a challenging year for businesses across our state would be an understatement. Lockdown enforcement has at times shut down entire industries and forced others to adopt often difficult and unwelcome changes to the ways they do business.

With schools returning and the state moving away from ‘phase-based’ lockdown arrangements, it feels like there is a little light at the end of the tunnel. However, there remains the possibility that further restrictions will be imposed on an outbreak-by-outbreak basis, with the prospect of zip-code level restrictions to target the worst affected areas.

For businesses, this means remaining vigilant and being ready for the possibility of further upheaval.

Working with clients over the past 5 or 6 months it’s also become clear that value for money is at the top of their agenda. More than ever our customers are looking for agile, cost-effective, flexible, and low-commitment solutions that empower productivity while providing a great return on investments. It’s a balancing act; your team need no-compromise, empowering solutions that enable them to do a great job, but you don’t want those tools to cost the earth.

Fortunately, small to medium-sized businesses can now gain affordable access to technology that was once the preserve of huge corporations with massive IT budgets. Let’s take a look at some of these solutions.

The Cloud

For small and medium-sized businesses, in particular, the cloud offers access to computing resources that would previously have been well out of reach. We’re all familiar with cloud services in some form; from dropbox and google drive accounts to cloud-hosted software from the likes of salesforce – it’s everywhere.

The Cloud’s ‘x as a service’ concept allows businesses to pay for services or computing resources on a subscription basis. These subscriptions can usually be scaled up or scaled down depending on user demand and avoid the costly capital expenditure of fixed, physical infrastructure. There are 3 main ways the Cloud can benefit your business:

• IaaS (Infrastructure as a service). Pay for virtualised computing resources on a subscription basis. Virtual machines, networking infrastructure, virtual servers and storage can all be acquired on a pay-as-you-go basis without the hassle and cost of setting up and maintaining on-site hardware. Of all the cloud computing models, IaaS offers businesses the most flexibility and control. Capacity can be scaled up or down as required and you retain control over things like server architecture and middleware.
• PaaS (Platform as a service). Pay for a cloud-hosted platform to develop applications. The service provide will give you the tools, infrastructure and operating system necessary for your business to develop its own applications – simplifying the app building process by removing much of the backend management burden. Windows Azure and Amazon Web Services are familiar examples of PaaS providers.
• SaaS (Software as a service). We’re all familiar with this one. In the past, running a software programme meant paying for a license and then downloading the software onto your PC.

Now, companies are increasingly offering cloud-hosted programmes on a subscription basis – the essence of the SaaS model. SaaS has several main advantages compared to the traditional software model: 

• • Access the service from anywhere – all you need is an internet connection.
  • Updates are taken care of – Because SaaS applications are centrally-hosted, the provider takes care of any updates for you – maintenance is not your problem!
  • No hardware investment required
  • Subscriptions are scalable. Subscriptions are often on a per-user/per-month basis – pay only for what you need, not what you don’t.

Office 365, Salesforce, Zendesk, Shopify and HubSpot are some high-profile examples of SaaS offerings.

With flexible subscriptions, the elimination of upfront costs reduced maintenance overheads and the ability to access the services you need remotely, there’s never been a better time to explore the transformative potential of Cloud services.

We’re Elixis Technology