As a business grows, it becomes more complex to manage. It’s hard to juggle all tasks and monitor productivity all year round. Yet, there are ways to keep the work efficient.
Microsoft services are available for small businesses to large enterprises that help in enhancing collaboration, monitoring workflows, and automating tasks. Read and discover how they help unlock the full potential of any team.
Different Business Needs With The Right Microsoft Productivity Services
There are three major categories that businesses must cultivate to enhance productivity. Microsoft recognized these and developed suites to help companies pursue success.
1. Enhance Collaboration And Well-Being
Microsoft application eases and clarifies employee interactions, from basic communication to sharing projects.
Here are productivity services from Microsoft Office 365 suite and their functions:
Microsoft Teams
All companies need a chat-based collaboration tool. It will enable teams to communicate and collaborate in real-time, even in spaces or cities apart.
MS Teams allow users to create chat channels for specific projects or topics. It also provides space for video conferences, screen sharing, and document collaboration.
Businesses can integrate Teams with productivity platforms like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Power BI. That is why it is a one-stop shop for collaboration.
Microsoft Yammer
Microsoft Yammer is a social networking tool for larger groups or organizations. Employees can post updates and announcements to groups, departments, or the entire company.
Yammer supports open communication. It also encourages knowledge sharing across a larger scope of the organization.
SharePoint
SharePoint is a document management and collaboration platform. Use it to share files, manage workflows, and collaborate on projects in this space.
It also has version control, document approvals, and task management.
OneDrive
OneDrive is a cloud-based file storage and sharing service. It helps team members to access and share files from anywhere. It has features like version control and co-authoring.
2. Streamline Workflow And Management
Besides communicating and sharing files, other platforms can help streamline business operations. E.g., enhancing marketing and customer relationship management.
To do it best, consider the following services:
Power Automate
It allows workers to automate workflows across many applications and services. They can use it to send emails, create files, and update records.
For example, teams can use Power Automate for repetitive tasks like data entry. It will free up time for more strategic work.
Microsoft Power Virtual Agents
Microsoft Power Virtual Agents is a chatbot development platform. Businesses use it to create and deploy chatbots without coding or AI expertise.
It only uses a visual editor and natural language processing (NLP) to build and train chatbots. The bots can interact with customers across websites, social media, and messaging apps.
Power Apps
Power Apps is a low-code/no-code tool. It is for building custom apps for the company without extensive coding knowledge.
Aside from that, it can automate certain workflows. For instance, it is usable for tracking customer orders or managing inventory.
Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 is a cloud-based suite of applications. It functions for enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). Thus, it has sales, marketing, customer service, and finance tools.
Businesses can use it to enhance their workflows and processes in a single platform. It will reduce the need for manual data entry and streamline business operations.
To illustrate, a sales team might use Dynamics 365 to:
- Manage their sales pipeline
- Track leads
- Automate follow-up tasks
3. Monitoring Progress And Quality
You can both use time efficiently and meet high-quality work with proper monitoring. Businesses may avoid challenges like substandard output, underperforming staff, missed deadlines, and lack of follow-up. To mitigate those issues, explore the following services:
Power BI
Power BI is a tool for analyzing and visualizing data. It helps teams to create custom dashboards and reports to share with others. It also supports AI-powered features like natural language processing and machine learning.
Use it to make informed decisions based on the acquired data. For example, empower the marketing team by using Power BI to do the following:
- Analyze their social media performance
- Track website traffic
- Identify opportunities for improvement.
Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planner is a task management tool. It helps create and assign tasks, track progress, and collaborate on projects. It also indicates the assignment names, due dates, and status tracking.
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Project is more comprehensive than MS planner. Use it for complex projects requiring detailed planning, scheduling, and resource management. It also includes features for creating tasks and monitoring progress.
Microsoft Forms
Monitoring quality needs a survey and quiz creation tool. MS Forms helps gather feedback and information from employees or customers.
It has simple features for creating and distributing surveys, quizzes, and polls. Moreover, it provides analysis tools for monitoring progress and identifying areas for improvement.
Synthesizing Productivity
Technology comes with a high demand for efficiency. To cater to that, Microsoft made productivity tools available for all businesses. What’s more exciting is the ability to integrate these tools. So, it will allow for even more productivity gains and efficiency. These services can lead to success in today’s ever-evolving industries.
