3 Using the Teams Tab

The central collaborative function of MS Teams is the Teams tab.  This is where a team is created, managed, and accessed by its members.  A team is a group of individuals collaborating on a common topic or working toward a common goal.  In this area a team is created, its members are added, and files, communication channels, and other information is stored and shared by the team members.

Creating a team

Creating a team is an easy process.  Watch this video or review Appendix: Creating a Team for step-by-step instructions showing how to create a team.

Within each team there is information relating to the specific team which members can access at any point in time.

Posts

The first link is for posts made by team members as a means of sharing information with each other. This might be asking a question, collaborating on a topic, making suggestions, sharing a file or several other reason members of a team might need to communication with each other.  Think of this as a communication feed; at any time a member can scroll through the conversation to get updates on team activity.

Files

The second link is for file sharing among the team members. Any team member can upload files to this directory and all team members are able to view and edit the files.  This is a great tool for group collaboration.  Instead of having to email a document to the group, ask the group make changes and then one person in the group creating a final version of the document with all changes, each member can make changes the rest of the team is able to review.  Using the track changes functionality of Word and Excel might also be helpful in this area.

For each file stored in the Files area there are several regularly used options on the menu bar – create a new file, upload a file, copy the link of a file, and download a file.  This screen is also customizable for each user by selecting “All Documents” on the far right end of the menu bar and selecting the view desired.

Wiki 

The third link is where miscellaneous notes and information can be stored for the team. Think of it as a “post-it” wall, where team members might add a note about a topic and then others are able to view the note and add additional notes.  This also can be a great collaboration tool and works well for keeping information that the team doesn’t want to forget about throughout the project.  This option was added by a team member by clicking the plus sign icon and selecting the Wiki app from the available options (shown below).