project management on ms teams

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The Benefits of Cloud-Based Projects Management Software for Remote Teams

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, remote work has become the new norm. As teams are spread across different locations, it is crucial to have efficient tools and systems in place to ensure seamless collaboration and project management. This is where cloud-based projects management software comes into play. By leveraging this technology, remote teams can streamline their workflows, improve communication, and enhance overall productivity. In this article, we will explore the numerous benefits of using cloud-based projects management software for remote teams.

Streamlined Collaboration

One of the key advantages of cloud-based projects management software is its ability to streamline collaboration among remote teams. With a centralized platform accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, team members can easily access project files, share updates, and collaborate in real-time. This eliminates the need for lengthy email chains or time-consuming meetings, as all relevant information and discussions are readily available within the software.

Efficient Task Management

Effective task management is crucial for any project’s success. Cloud-based projects management software offers robust features that enable remote teams to efficiently manage tasks and deadlines. Team members can assign tasks to specific individuals, set deadlines and priorities, track progress, and receive notifications when tasks are completed or overdue. This level of transparency ensures that everyone stays on track and helps avoid miscommunication or confusion that can arise in a remote work environment.

Improved Communication

Communication plays a vital role in any team’s success, especially when working remotely. Cloud-based projects management software provides various communication channels that allow team members to stay connected effortlessly. From instant messaging to video conferencing capabilities, these tools enable real-time communication regardless of team members’ physical locations. Additionally, many platforms offer integrations with popular communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for seamless collaboration across different channels.

Enhanced Productivity

With streamlined collaboration processes, efficient task management features, and improved communication channels at their disposal, remote teams using cloud-based projects management software can significantly enhance their overall productivity. By centralizing project information and providing real-time updates, these tools eliminate the need for manual data entry or searching through multiple platforms for relevant files. This allows team members to focus on their core tasks, minimizing distractions and maximizing productivity.

In conclusion, cloud-based projects management software offers numerous benefits for remote teams. From streamlined collaboration and efficient task management to improved communication and enhanced productivity, these tools empower teams to work seamlessly across different locations. As remote work continues to grow in popularity, investing in a reliable projects management software becomes increasingly essential. With the right platform in place, remote teams can overcome geographical barriers and achieve their project goals effectively and efficiently.

This text was generated using a large language model, and select text has been reviewed and moderated for purposes such as readability.

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How to Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management

By Shubhangi Pandey | 20 Min Read | Updated April 3, 2023

From real-time chat to video meetings, document management, and more, Microsoft Teams is a powerful platform for project management. This guide covers everything you need to know about using Microsoft Teams for projects and teamwork.

We’ll show you how to create your first Team, leverage chats, and run great video meetings. You’ll also see how the BrightWork Marketing Team combines Teams with a SharePoint project site for communication and collaboration.

Table of Contents

1. getting started with microsoft teams, 2. managing projects with microsoft teams and brightwork 365, 3. chat in microsoft teams, 4. video meetings in microsoft teams, 5. tips and tricks for microsoft teams, what does teams offer, the economic impact of teams, what comes with teams, what are teams made up of, creating your first team, adding your first channel, private vs public channels, tasks in teams, permissions and privacy, governance in microsoft teams, microsoft teams is part of the microsoft 365 suite, which was launched in early 2017. the application offers:.

• Real-time chat and messaging
• Video conferencing and meetings for up to 300 people
• Live events for up to 20,000 people
• Cloud calling
• Document storage
• Real-time co-editing
• Integration with third-party apps and connectors
• Public or private channels
• Task management
• Robust security and privacy capabilities.

A report conducted by Forrester on the economic impact of Microsoft Teams found that:

• Teams reduces the number and duration of meetings and business travel.
• Organizations can easily replace numerous hardware and software communication solutions, like video conferencing and on-premises phones,  with Teams.
• With easy access to information in one place and less time wasted switching between apps, Teams save workers up to four hours per week.
• Teams enables remote working with various collaborative capabilities and shared document storage. In turn, this accelerates decision-making and increases productivity.

Teams is built on the Office 365 Groups framework and the Microsoft Graph, bringing various collaboration tools within the Microsoft ecosystem into one location. The solution creates a single collaborative experience.

Each team comes with:.

• A SharePoint Online site, including a document library.
• A new Office 365 Group.
• An Exchange Online mailbox and calendar.
• A OneNote notebook.

Each Team is made of up:

• Individual teams, a collection of people, conversations, and files, for example, a project.
• Channels within a team. These are typically focused on a particular topic within a project.

If you are accessing Teams via Microsoft 365, you can use the web app or download the software to your desktop. Note – the desktop app includes more functionality than the web app.

Take care with the name of your team and channels as these become the names of the associated SharePoint site, file library, and Outlook email address. You can change the name of a team or channel if needed, but the original name is retained in SharePoint and document links.

It’s also worth checking that a team with the same name does not already exist. In the case of duplicate teams, a random number is simply added to the name of the site collection. A team can be private or public The team owner can switch between these settings as needed. Users must be invited to a private team by the team owner. Anyone within an organization can join a public team.

Complete your team by:

• Adding team members.
• Creating channels – explained in the next section.
• Uploading or creating new files.
• Adding tabs, including Planner and SharePoint.
• Connecting third-party and apps.

Channels are a useful way to facilitate collaboration in key areas of a project, for example, a workstream, within a team. Think of channels as a mini team, with conversations, calls, files, and other capabilities of Teams, within the overall team.

All members in a team can access and use channels in a team, including conversations and files. When creating a channel, update the settings so your team can see the channel! Every team includes a General Channel, which cannot be deleted or renamed. To keep your team engaged with daily work and specific areas of a project, create channels and avoid using General. Users can add 200 public channels and 30 private channels to a team.

To create a channel, click the settings menu within the team, and follow the on-screen steps. The channel appears as a folder within the SharePoint document library for the team. Files stored in a channel are also stored within this folder. Use ‘Meet’ in the top right-hand corner to start or schedule a meeting within the channel.

Managing notifications for a channel is quite straightforward, with options to switch notifications on or off; pin a channel for quick access, or hide a channel. Not sure who has access to content in a Channel? Check the visibility icon on the top menu. Access is noted as ‘Team’, ‘Org’, or ‘Guest’.

There are two types of channels in Teams:

• Public, available to everyone in the team.
• Private, available to invited members only. A private channel is indicated by a lock icon.

Private channels are a relatively new addition to Teams. The aim is to facilitate collaboration on sensitive information, for example, budget, with a small group of people within a team. A private channel uses a separate, lightweight SharePoint site collection for additional security. Users, including team owners, must be invited to a private channel. Non-members will not know the channel exists!

Each private channel has its own settings, which are independent of any settings within the parent team. Unlike a team, a private channel cannot be switched to a public channel and vice versa. Whilst private channels do play a role in controlling important data, they also create silos within a team. In many cases, a private Team may be more suitable.

Tasks in Teams combines tasks from To Do, Planner, Outlook, and Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), allowing teams to manage their work in one place. is part of Microsoft’s unified vision for tasks in Microsoft 365 , based on three principles:

• Coherence : Task management will have a consistent experience across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
• Intelligence : Users can leverage intelligent services like the Microsoft 365 Graph or MyAnalytics to manage and prioritize work.
• Integration: Tasks are connected to one of two task-management apps – To Do or Planner. Tasks for Teams allows users to access both apps in one place.

To add Tasks to Teams, click on the three ellipsis icon on the left side naivation bar or search for the Tasks app in Apps.  The app is available on desktop, mobile and online.

As part of Microsoft 365, Teams delivers a high level of security, uptime, and scalability . As Teams is a single platform for collaboration, document management, and so on, it’s easier to conduct risk audits and enforce policies, for example, data retention.

However, permissions within Teams are somewhat limited, particularly when compared with SharePoint. Unlike SharePoint, you cannot assign a ‘read-only’ role to team members; everyone in the team is a content creator and editor. However, files are subject to the sharing and permission rules of SharePoint.

There are two main end-user roles in Teams: owners and members.

A team owner:.

• Creates the team and has control over settings.
• Can add new members, including external guests.
• Can delete or restore a team.
• Can restore deleted files.
• Has the ability to connect third-party apps to a team.
• Can add tabs to a channel.

Although one individual creates the team, it is advisable to ‘promote’ another team member to owner. This way, an owner is always available to help team members, for example, add a new user. To assign a role, select the team name and click More Options → Manage team . Use the drop-down menu beside the relevant individual’s name to change their role.

Team members:

• Cannot access or change the team settings, or add new team members.
• Can upload and edit files and libraries.
• Can add – but not delete – channels.
• Have the ability to connect third-party apps to a team.

For full details on the capabilities of each role and external guests, see this summary table from Microsoft.  It’s worth noting files shared in a private chat are stored in OneDrive for Business, rather than SharePoint, and are only accessible to participants in that chat. For this reason, it’s best to add files to the main Files tab in a channel and share a link in a chat.

If you do need to manage posts in a channel carefully, switch on the moderation option under settings. Moderators can start new posts in a channel and decide whether team members can reply to messages. Guest access allows anyone who is external to your organization and who has a business or consumer email account to participate as a guest in Teams with full access to team chats, meetings, and files.

However, guest users cannot:

• Create or edit a Team
• Search for a Team
• Share files in a one-to-one chat.

Microsoft Teams has a low learning curve and will quickly become part of your project management process. Depending on administration settings, Teams is easy to get up and running.

This ease of use can also cause problems. Without agreed guidelines on creating teams, you’ll quickly find yourself in multiple ‘ghost’ teams and too many conversations. Like any communication tool,   document protocols  for using Microsoft Teams in the project communication plan. These protocols should be defined within existing IT governance policies within your organization.

Think about:

• Who can create a new team for a project or a new channel within a team?
• Who can add third-party apps to a team or channel?
• Who can create private channels and why?
• Naming conventions for teams, channels, and files.
• When to archive a team, for example, during project closure.

It’s important to balance flexibility with governance. If policies are too strict, your team will use other apps to collaborate – the opposite of what you are trying to achieve! For practical tips on security and governance in Microsoft Teams, check out this   useful article from ShareGate .

In the next section, you’ll read more about how the BrightWork Marketing Team uses Teams. In terms of roll-out and governance, we initially encountered problems such as inactive teams, files in different places, and overlapping chats. Confusion was growing so we took the time to review our teams, move files as needed, and archived unused sites.

Now, we use one team for Marketing with multiple channels for daily work, projects, and workstreams. We also agreed to store documents in Teams and use BrightWork for project management, task tracking, and reporting. This way, we always know where to find important files or project information.

These simple steps to improve Teams will save time and accelerate collaboration, particularly when working across different locations or time zones.

Microsoft Teams and BrightWork 365

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For the Marketing team at BrightWork, Microsoft Teams has been part of our toolkit since 2017. We use Teams for everything from chat to video calls and file sharing. The solution allows us to work together as a team and on a one-to-one basis as needed. However, Microsoft Teams is not designed for project management.

Whilst you can add various apps to a site, there is no way to track tasks, identity risks, manage resources, or report across projects. It’s also impossible to configure Teams to match the needs of a particular team or project.

BrightWork 365, a PPM solution for Microsoft 365, solves these problems with a direct integration with Microsoft Teams . In BrightWork 365 , every program has a dedicated Microsoft Team. Every project within the program has a channel within that Team, added during project setup. The app is located in the Charter tab in the relevant Team channel. You can rename the tab as needed, for example, Project Site.

Using this seamless integration, our team can manage projects, store deliverables, and collaborate in one place with:

• Project templates
• Task and Work Management
• Interactive Gantt chart
• Status Reports
• Power BI dashboards for projects, programs, and portfolios.

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What Does Teams Chat offer?

3 types of chats in teams, 6 ways to improve chat in teams, chat is the lynchpin of collaboration within teams. the chat is persistent, that is, messages are always available..

Think of chat as an informal communication tool for the team with email serving as a formal channel for stakeholders, vendors, and so on. For the Marketing team at BrightWork, chat has almost replaced emails within the team.

There are three main types of chat within Teams : small groups and one-to-one, a post in a channel, and a conversation about a file. Each type of chat has particular capabilities and use-cases.

There are three main types of chat within Teams :

• Small Groups and One-To-One Chats
• Channel Posts
• Conversations

1. Small Groups and One-To-One Chats

Chat is located on the left-hand menu of the teams application.  use chat to discuss any aspect of your project, daily tasks, ask a question, or to check-in with an individual., to start a chat with a group or individual:.

• Click the New Chat icon.
• Assign a name to the group, an easy way to  track multiple conversations about projects and tasks.
•  Add the relevant team members by entering a name, email address, or group tag. We’ll cover tags later on.

Chats are grouped as Pinned or Recent in your chat pane. A chat is similar to a channel. You can:

• Add documents to the file tab. Note – this action adds the file to OneDrive for Business rather than SharePoint.
• Add tabs for files, website links, apps, and so on.
• Start a video or audio call with the participants.
• Add or remove people.
• Leave the chat. A chat doesn’t need an owner so you can leave chats you no longer need to be in.
• Pin a chat to the top of your chats for quick access.
• Mute a chat. You’ll still be part of the group; you just won’t receive any notifications.
• Temporarily pause incoming notifications by setting your status to ‘Do Not Disturb’.

Group and one-to-one chats are not threaded, that is,  you cannot reply directly to a specific message. For this reason, it’s a good idea to create smaller groups to discuss details about the project with relevant individuals.

2. Channel Posts

A post is a chat within a channel. unlike a group or one-to-one chat, the message is accessible to all members of the channel..

There are two main types of posts: new conversation and announcement. Both formats have the same functionality. However, with the option to add a large heading, background color, and an image, announcements are more prominent in the channel feed.

Posts are threaded. Replies to a conversation are grouped together and individuals can reply to any message at any time. However, maintaining a thread only works if participants use the reply button when posting a message.

Channels can get busy quickly. To draw attention to your post, use @mention to tag the channel or team members.

3. Conversations

Projects and documents go hand-in-hand. to collaborate in real-time on a file, use conversations..

Navigate to the required document and open in Teams. Select ‘Conversation’ and start chatting. The conversation also appears as a post in the relevant channel.

There are 6 main ways to improve chat in Teams

• Delivery Options
• Post in Multiple Channels
• Mange Chats and Post Notifications

1. Formatting

Make any chat, post, or conversation engaging and easier to read with formatting. click the ‘a’ icon, beneath the message, to access a range of formatting options:.

• Bold, italicize, underline, or strikethrough text.
• Add highlighting or change the color of the font.
• Format heading sizes, useful for long messages.
• Create bullet or number lists.
• Add quotes, tables, and links.

Attach a file using the paperclip icon. Don’t forget to add a gif or emoji if you can! Spotted a typo or forgot to include a point in your message? Click the three dots in the top right-hand corner of your message and select ‘Edit’ to amend your content.

2. Delivery Options

When sending a chat to an individual or small group, you can avail of three delivery options by clicking the ‘’ icon underneath the message. the options are:.

• Standard: The message will be sent as usual.
• Important : The message will contain ‘Important’ as the headline, along with an exclamation icon.
• Urgent : In addition to adding ‘Urgent’ as the headline, the recipient will be notified every 2 minutes for 20 minutes.

Delivery options for posts in a channel are limited to ‘Important’ with the same formatting as per chats.

3. Post in Multiple Channels

Need to share important news with several project teams.

You can save time by posting the same message in multiple channels instead of just one. Simply select ‘post in multiple channels’, pick your channels, and post your message.

4. Group Tags

A recently introduced feature allows team owners to create custom tags within a team ..

Imagine you need to collaborate frequently with a small group of testers on a website project. Create a custom tag for this group in the settings of the channel.

Once a tag is added, just @mention it in a channel. Everyone who has been assigned to that tag will receive a notification just as they would if they were @mentioned individually.

5. Manage Chat and Post Notifications

Just like a channel, you can pin, hide, or mute a chat..

If you don’t have time to reply to a message immediately, mark the item as unread. Posts are slightly different. You can mark the message as unread, turn off notifications, or save a message. Saved messages are stored in your profile.

There are a few ways to search through chats for important content.

Firstly, search for the relevant team member into the search bar to view one-to-one messages. Next, search within the chat using ‘CTRL+F’. Note – this option also applies within Channels.

Finally, use the filter options in the Chat pane to search by:

• Keywords used in the message.
• Unread messages.
• Meeting chats.
• Muted chats and posts.

6 Ways to Improve Teams Chat

An overview, scheduling a meeting in teams.

• 4 Must Know Features

Privacy and Control for Meeting Hosts

• Project Meetings Tips With Teams

Video meetings are a powerful way to collaborate with project teams, stakeholders, and vendors.

There are a few ways to create video meetings in Microsoft Teams:

• Schedule meetings for up to 300 people.
• View 49 meeting participants in a gallery view, with breakout rooms for smaller groups and discussions.
• Create a recurring meeting series.
• Use ‘meet now’ to quickly start a meeting.
• Meet one-to-one with individual team members.

Teams meetings use audio and video with options to switch your camera and microphone off as needed. Microsoft continuously announces new Teams features to enhance collaboration during video meetings , including live reactions, camera filters, live captions, transcriptions, and meeting recaps.

Below we will discuss 3 key areas when scheduling a meeting in Teams:

• Calendar Meeting Options
• Inviting Someone Outside Your Organization
• Video Meeting Options

1. Calendar Meeting Options

Navigate to ‘calendar’ in the left-hand menu of the app. there are two meeting options in the right-hand corner: meet now and new meeting. you can also start a call using the video icon in a chat, in a channel, or within the ‘call’ tab on the left-hand menu., there are three ways to start or join a meeting:.

• If using Outlook, click the link in the meeting request.
• If using Teams , open your calendar and find the relevant meeting. The ‘join’ button will appear on the meeting block about five minutes before the start time.
• A notification will also flash on your screen when another attendee starts the meeting. Click ‘join’ to attend the meeting.

When joining a meeting, you can opt to:

• Switch your camera on or off.
• Blur your background.
• Turn your microphone on or off.

To schedule a new meeting, select ‘New Meeting’ in your calendar. Next, complete the meeting invitation, which is similar to Outlook. You can also create a recurring series using the invitation. Use ‘Scheduling Assistant’ to check the availability of team members and save the meeting to send an invitation to the attendees. That’s it! Your meeting is scheduled and will appear in your calendar in both Teams and Outlook. Teams now includes an option to share a link to a meeting without starting the meeting. Simply click ‘Meet Now’.

To add more context, such as an agenda, to your meeting, click on the session in your Teams calendar. Each meeting has options for chat, files, meetings notes, and a whiteboard. This information is accessible before, during, and after a meeting.

The ‘Multi-Window meetings’ feature launches the meeting in a separate window, making it easier to find files or chats in Teams during the call.

2. Inviting Someone Outside Your Organization

Need to   invite someone who is outside of your organization  you can schedule a meeting with anyone who has a valid email address..

The individual will receive a link via email and can attend the meeting using the web app. To maintain privacy, you can decide if external guests need to wait in a   virtual lobby   before the meeting starts.

If you have installed the Teams desktop client, you can also schedule a meeting in Outlook using the Teams add-on.

3. Video Meeting Options

An in-call menu is located at the top of the meeting window, with various ways to manage your video calls..

• Name of the meeting.
• Duration of the meeting.
• Meeting participants.
• Meeting chat, which opens to the right-hand side.
• ‘Raise your hand’ to ask a question. A yellow box is added around the relevant person’s tile on the call, letting others know they wish to speak.
• Breakout rooms.
• Toggle your camera on or off.
• Share your screen. You can share your desktop, the contents of an app, or a document by selecting the relevant screen in the panel below the menu. Users can also request control to share content as needed.
• Leave the meeting. If you have scheduled the meeting, you can choose to end the meeting for all attendees.
• Access ‘more actions’ such as recording the meeting, background settings, and ‘Together Mode’.

4 Must Know Features in Teams

Below we will discuss 4 must know features to make your meeting easier to manage.

• Meeting Recordings and Recap
• Together Mode
• Breakout Rooms
• PowerPoint Live

1. Meeting Recordings and Recap

Meeting recordings   are stored in onedrive and sharepoint. anyone can start a recording at any stage during the meeting. depending on organizational settings,   transcriptions   may also be available on recordings..

Microsoft recently launched a   meeting recap feature , allowing users to access the recording, transcript, chat messages, and notes from either the meeting chat tab or the details tab after each meeting.

This update makes it easier for anyone who missed the meeting to catch up and removes the need to take notes during the meeting!

2. Together Mode

Together Mode   aims to increase collaboration by creating an avatar of each participant and placing these avatars in a shared background, such as an auditorium.

This helps individuals to interact with more social cues and makes it easier to see who is talking in the meeting.

3. Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms   are ideal for brainstorms and collaboration within a larger meeting, for example, a training session with your team.

Meeting hosts can create up to 50 rooms, choosing to automatically or randomly assign participants to each group. Each breakout room has the same functionality as a regular Teams meeting.

4. PowerPoint Live

Powerpoint live in microsoft teams   is a new remote presenting experience. instead of sharing your screen, you can present your deck from within teams itself.  select the sharing option and look for powerpoint live..

As a presenter, you’ll have access to your notes and chats on a single screen, which also allows you to see your audience. Attendees will only see the active slide and can interact with your content with emoji reactions.

PowerPoint Live will make online presentations a little more fun and engaging!

Just like an in-person meeting, meeting hosts need to facilitate virtual meetings to create an enjoyable environment for attendees. Virtual sessions also require additional privacy and control settings.

When using  microsoft teams  for meetings, you can:.

• Mute all attendees.
• Invite external users and use a virtual waiting lobby to check who wants to join your meeting.
• Remove participants during a meeting.
• Designate presenters and attendees to control who can and cannot share content.

Meeting recordings are available only to those who were invited to or attended the meeting. Likewise, meeting notes are only available to internal users. Now you know how to schedule and run a meeting in Teams, let’s take a closer look at using video meetings for your projects.

Project Meeting Tips for Teams

Before you start scheduling video meetings, consider if you need to update your project communication plan. make sure your team and stakeholders are aware of:.

• The use of video meetings.
• Software and hardware requirements, for example, Microsoft Teams and headphones.
• Where to find training videos and support if needed, for example,   free Microsoft resources .
• The back-up plan in case of technical difficulties, for example, issues connecting to your broadband network.

With a little tweaking, you can replace any face-to-face meeting with a video call in Teams. The key is preparation. This includes:

• Creating and sharing an agenda in advance using Meeting Notes as explained above.
• Assigning times to agenda items – and sticking to those times!
• Sharing required reading, such as presentations or reports, beforehand.
• Asking members of your team to prepare contributions or updates.
• Starting and ending meetings on time.
• Using breakout rooms for discussion and feedback.
• Circulating action items afterward. The BrightWork Marketing Team adds tasks to our project site during meetings so nothing falls between the cracks.

Meeting etiquette is also important. Try these ideas for adapting in-person meetings to virtual video calls.

• If possible,   switch on cameras   during the meeting. Just like a face-to-face meeting, the ability to see your team and gauge their reactions is key.
• That said, video can reduce call quality on occasion. In the place of video, ask team members to   say their name before speaking   so everyone knows who is talking.
• Some microphones can pick up background noise. It may be a good idea to   place yourself on mute   when you are not talking.
• Make time for ‘small talk’   at the start of the meeting. Give people a chance to catch up and share what’s happening.
• At the start of a meeting,   ask if anyone needs to leave early   and if so, allow them to share any updates early on.
• As the meeting host,   ask questions   during the session to ensure everyone has a chance to speak up and is paying attention!
• Stay   focused on the meeting   – that means no emails or browsing online.
• Turn off   other applications and notifications.
• Share a summary of   actions and follow-ups , with owners and due dates, after the meeting. Not only will this keep your project on track – it increases accountability within the team.

Add these tips to your communication plan, share it with the team, and store the document an easy-to-access place. As you become more familiar with video meetings, ask your team and stakeholders for feedback to improve these sessions.

Privacy and Control for Hosts

Managing notifications, finding people and information quickly, document management, bots and apps, the fun stuff, the stream of notifications in teams can feel a little overwhelming, especially when you need to focus on an important task. there are a few simple ways to reduce interruptions:.

• Update Your Team-wide Notifications
• Turn off Notifications for a channel or chat
• Change Your Availability to “Do Not Disturb”

1. Update Your Team-wide Notifications

Start by updating your  Teams-wide notifications in you settings , accessed by clicking your profile picture. I recommend turning off emails for ‘missed activity’ to reduce email volume – and pressure to check what is happening in Teams!

2. Turn off Notifications for a Channel or Chat

As mentioned above, you can also turn notifications off for a particular  channel or chat .

3. Change Y our Availability to “Do Not Disturb”

Looking for a quicker way to  block incoming calls and notifications ? Change your availability to ‘Do Not Disturb’ under your profile picture or by typing /dnd into the search bar. You can grant priority access to your team or stakeholders under Privacy (Settings). This means you’ll still receive notifications from these individuals when your status is set to ‘Do Not Disturb’.

If you want to receive notifications without the pressure to reply instantly, try setting your status to ‘Appear Away’.

As user adoption grows, you may suddenly find yourself creating or participating in multiple teams! Try these quick tips to track key conversations and find information.

The menu located on the left-hand side of Teams has a feed for activity, teams, and chat.

1. Activity

The Activity Feed displays your interactions on Teams and how people interact with you, for example, if someone replies to your chat. Use the filter option to narrow results to:

• Unread chats or messages.
• @mentions, i.e. if a team member has tagged you in a chat.
• Reactions to your messages.
• Missed calls.

To focus on important teams, such as a busy project, pin the relevant channel to the top of the list of teams. Click the three-dots beside the channel and select ‘Pin’. You can also hide a team using the same menu. You’ll still be a member of the team but the team will be removed from view.

Likewise, it’s possible to pin or hide a chat. You can also opt to leave a chat using the same menu. There are multiple ways to manage chats such as:

• Marking an item as unread.
• Renaming a group chat.
• Saving a message to your bookmarks.

A file library is created in the   underlying SharePoint site   for a new team, with a folder created for each channel.

Microsoft is working towards bringing the full power and experience of document management in SharePoint into Teams. This means your project team can work seamlessly in either platform.

As such, the Files Tab in a Team site is increasingly similar to the documents view in SharePoint Online.

With Teams, you can:

• Upload existing files and folders.
• Create a new folder or file (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote).
• Sync files to your desktop for quick access.
• Open and work with files in SharePoint.
• Move or copy files between folders, channels, or Teams.
• Copy and share documents links for Teams or SharePoint.
• Open, edit, and save a file in Teams, in your browser, or on your desktop.
• Co-edit documents in real-time.
• Start a conversation about a document.
• Add comments to a document.
• Bookmark important files within a library with the ‘Pin to Top’ option.
• List documents as a tab within a channel so they are easier to find.
• Add existing SharePoint document libraries to a team.

There are a few ways to find files in Teams:

• Click ‘Files’ in the left-hand navigation for recently accessed files.
• Filter search results by file. Refine results further by team, file type, and modified by.

Commands   are shortcuts for performing tasks in Microsoft Teams more efficiently. Simply type the below commands into the search bar to find what you need!

• /Files : Find files shared with you on Teams.
• /GoTo : Go straight to a channel
• /Call : Starts a call with someone else on Teams
• /Help : Access the Teams Bot, T-bot, for help.
• /Saved:   View your saved messages
• /Join:   Join a team.
• /Mentions : See all your @mentions.
• /Whatsnew : See what’s new in Teams.

For a full list of commands, type / into the search bar or see   this list   from Microsoft.

Bots and apps   are an easy way to add extra functionality to Teams.

Select ‘Apps’ in the left-hand menu for a full list of options, including solutions from Microsoft and third-party vendors. Before installing an app, check the pricing options. Some apps offer a short free trial or a limited free tier. Bots and apps can be added to a particular team or channel or used just within your own Teams environment. This way, you can customize your experience to match your needs.

Here are a few ideas to help you get started:

• Who : Search for anyone in your organization based on what they’re working on and who they work with.
• Polly : Useful for creating simple polls.
• Forms : Another option for surveys, quizzes, and polls.
• Praise:   Share your appreciation with a team member!
• How-to:   A series of training videos for Teams. Add as a tab in a channel to improve user adoption.
• Remember This : Use to create time-based reminders to reply to a conversation.

Approvals is an easy way to  create, manage, and share approvals  from a conversation in a chat or channel, or by using the Approvals app. Use the Approvals app to track previous and pending requests, including status, requester, and approver.

Like any messaging tool, Teams makes it easy to add some lighthearted fun or share your thoughts with emojis, gifs, polls, photos, and so on!

The various options are located on the editing bar underneath a message. Add some personality to individual teams and channels by uploading a team profile picture or adding emojis to channels.

• To add a team picture, click ‘manage team’ and settings. Select ‘team picture’ and upload the new image.
• To add an emoji to a channel, find and copy the relevant   Unicode . Select ‘Edit this channel’ and paste the code into the title.

Using an app such as Polly or Forms, you can create fun (or serious) polls, surveys, or quizzes about any topic.

You can find these apps in the app section in Microsoft Teams and download them to use in your chats and channels.

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Get Started with Microsoft Teams: Top 5 Tips for Project Managers!

“Are there any resources on using Microsoft Teams for Project Managers?”

With a large number of the population working remotely, we’ve been receiving questions, similar to the above, about whether or not Microsoft Teams can be used for Project Managers. This blog covers 5 tips you need to know to get started using Microsoft Teams as your project management tool.

In this blog, you will find: 

❓ Why use Microsoft Teams for Project Management?

⭐ Microsoft Teams Top Features

💡 Top 5 tips for Project Managers

🎯 Final Thoughts on Microsoft Teams   

Why Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management in the First Place?

Most people know Microsoft Teams as the communication tool that it is – they know that they can use Microsoft Teams to be able to connect with their colleagues and their project team members via chat and voice and video calling capabilities. Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of end users’ knowledge of Microsoft Teams ends. They’re not always aware that it can do so much more than just provide a way to stay in touch. In fact, it can be a powerful project management tool.

Microsoft Teams Top Features

📝 Document Collaboration : Microsoft Teams allows for seamless document collaboration. You can easily share, access, and edit Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations, all while keeping every member of the team in sync.

📊 Integrated White-boarding : The platform provides interactive white-boarding capabilities. This feature allows team members to brainstorm, map out plans, and visualize ideas together, making your team's online meetings more engaging and productive.

🎥 Dynamic Presentation Tools : Microsoft Teams enhances your presentations with dynamic tools, allowing for live annotations, screen sharing, and PowerPoint Live, which provides a unique presenting experience.

💬  In-App Chat and Calling : Teams offers in-app chat and calling features, making it a centralized hub for all your communication needs. With high-quality audio and video calling, it simplifies meetings, whether you're connecting with your colleagues, clients, or partners.

🔗  Integration with Microsoft and Third-Party Apps : Microsoft Teams integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft applications like SharePoint, OneNote, and Planner. You can also incorporate a myriad of third-party applications, making it a customizable and versatile tool that adapts to your team's workflow.

🔍 Powerful Search Capabilities : Microsoft Teams offers powerful search capabilities, allowing you to easily locate files, conversations, and other content within the platform.

🗂️ Task Management : Teams also offers task management capabilities, which lets you assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor progress right within the platform, keeping your projects on track.

Top 5 Tips for Project Managers

#1 keep everyone informed with teams and channels..

Project collaboration in Microsoft Teams can make your management work a lot easier.

A Project Manager needs open and transparent communication throughout every aspect of the projects they’re overseeing, and Microsoft Teams has the capability to provide that!

By utilizing the Teams tab, you could create a team for each customer, then create channels within those teams for each of the three projects you need to oversee. Then, it’s a simple matter of adding the relevant people and/or resources from your staff to each of these teams and channels (as easy as a few clicks of the mouse)!

Struggling to Maximize the Full Potential of Microsoft Teams?

At ProServeIT, we help enterprises seamlessly integrate and utilize Microsoft Teams to boost collaboration, streamline communication, and enhance productivity.

#2 Don't miss another deadline!

#3 Use the Planner function to assign tasks & keep track of what's important.

If your team is also using Microsoft Planner to help organize your projects, that can also be integrated into your Teams platform, giving you another efficient way to keep track of tasks for each project and its corresponding deadlines.

To integrate Microsoft Planner, follow these four simple & easy steps:

1.- Navigate to team that you want to add Microsoft Planner to. 2.- Click on the + sign to add a tab to the group:

3.- Click on “Planner”.

4.- Either create a new plan, or choose an existing plan that you’ve already saved (choose from the drop-down menu), and click “save”.

Your new plan will be added to your team!

How to effectively use Microsoft Planner for Project Management

Managing multiple deadlines and tasks? Planner in Microsoft Teams is a simple-to-use project management tool. This tutorial below will show you how to create a board with Planner to keep you and your team organized.

Want to learn more about Microsoft Teams? Register below to access our informative webinar series on how this unique Microsoft solution can help your organization today. 

#4 Keep work accessible to everyone.

It’s probably safe to say that, when managing a project, time is of the essence. Is your team wasting valuable time on trying to locate and work on the vital documents from various repositories or folders?

Microsoft Teams can help save time instead! Simply utilize Teams in tandem with SharePoint to be able to access and co-author Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and more – all from the Teams platform!

Plus, with the mobile capabilities of Microsoft Teams, this means that access to all company documents can be done from wherever your team is and whatever device they’re using – all you need is a data plan or an Internet connection!

#5 Don't be afraid to make Teams your own!

As we’ve alluded to in this blog, Teams is highly customizable with many various integrations that can be incorporated into it to make it more efficient and more effective for your Project Management team to use. So, don’t be afraid to explore those integrations and make Teams your own. The Apps tab in Teams provides you with the option to browse the vast list of third-party apps and services that are available to you.

It seems, as well, that new integrations are being developed on a fairly regular basis, so keep your eye on this area of Teams so that you’re up to date on what’s new and exciting and what could be used to help you work more efficiently and effectively as a Project Management team.

Some Final Thoughts on Microsoft Teams for Project Managers

There’s no doubt in our mind that, with the right integrations in place, and with a little customization, Microsoft Teams can be a very viable and effective project management solution for your organization. From being able to track tasks, collaborate on documents, host meetings and white-boarding sessions, and keep all the project files in one convenient place that’s accessible to everyone on the team, Microsoft Teams has the capability to become your new project management secret weapon of sorts!

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From Chaos to Success: How to Use Microsoft Teams to manage projects

Project management can be a daunting task. Microsoft Teams, a part from being an excellent chat/virtual meeting software, can be used as a project management hub.

Let's find out!

Common challenges in project management

Even the most experienced, seasoned project managers will run into some hurdles at one point. Managing projects, tasks, deadlines, and assignments , is no easy feat - especially if you juggle multiple projects at the same time .

From the beginning, project managers have to visualize all the steps needed to bring the project to completion, and create, plan, and assign tasks accordingly. It's crucial to understand the scope of the project, and its constraints, and assign the workload.

Not to mention, project managers have to make sure they keep tasks, deadlines, and project updates all centralized in one place . Scattering the work across multiple boards, email threads, and spreadsheets is a guarantee of losing focus at some point.

Scope creep can derail a project, and cause it to go out of control with unforeseen delays and increased costs. Missing deadlines are also a big problem for project managers, because not only do they cause the whole project to be delayed, but can also strain the relationship with clients.

Enter Microsoft Teams .

Why Microsoft Teams? Pros and Cons

Microsoft Teams is a powerful Microsoft collaboration platform that brings together chat, video calls, file sharing, and project management into one tool. The biggest benefit of this tool is that it integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft Office 365 applications, making it the perfect choice for teams that already use Microsoft products.

Microsoft Teams has also evolved from a simple chat/video call application to a true centralized collaboration hub , where you can keep documents and tasks in the same space. Everything is organized in channels to avoid confusion or information spilling to the wrong recipients.

There are downsides to using Microsoft Teams for project management too, such as the availability of other lighter, cheaper tools serving the same purpose. Microsoft Teams also lacks flexibility compared to other tools, as all functionalities are condensed into multiple tabs, limiting complexity, structure, and dependency, which are crucial for larger projects.

Is it the right tool for you? If you're a Microsoft user, probably .

Best MS Teams features for project management

• Instant Chats and team channels ;
• Video calls and virtual meetings ;
• Screen and File sharing ;
• Task management;
• A variety of complementary apps in the app store.

Step 1: Set up a team

First of all, you'll need a Microsoft account , and log in. For Microsoft Teams, there's a web version available but we recommend downloading the desktop app. This is where you do it:

In addition, you can also download mobile apps for iOS and Android.

Time to create a team! Just use the "Join or create a team" option and follow the required steps.

Start by creating a new team for your project . Give it a descriptive name that reflects the project's purpose or client. You can also add a detailed description and choose the privacy settings for your team. Lastly, add people to the team, letting your colleagues join.

Step 2: Create channels

Within your team, create dedicated channels for different aspects of your project: this helps keep conversations and files organized. You only have to click the "Add channel" option:

Step 3: Set up the tabs

Customize each channel by adding tabs : tabs are used to embed content in each channel, to grant easy access to documents, conversations, and posts. Tabs allows you to bring all project-related information and updates directly into Microsoft Teams, saving you time and effort.

The default tabs in a channel are "Files", "Posts", "Wiki". 

Apart from those, one of the most common tabs usually is dedicated to tasks : either use the Tasks by Planner app or add a Microsoft Planner plan and tasks directly in the tab. With this addition, project managers can create and assign tags, manage labels, and keep an eye on deadlines.

Step 4: Starting channel meetings

The video calls and meetings feature in Microsoft Teams allows your team to communicate face-to-face, regardless of where members are located. You can also organize client meetings and project updates.

You can s chedule and join meetings directly within Teams . You can start a team meeting for the whole channel, or you can schedule one with specific team members. This not only fosters a sense of connection and collaboration, but it is especially beneficial for remote work and teams spread across different locations.

External guests (like clients, contractors, and other collaborators) can participate in the meetings by following a shareable link .

Notable features for team meetings are the ability to take and share meeting notes, and of course share your screen.

Step 5: Track time for your Projects in Teams

Tracking time in projects is crucial for effective project management. It allows project managers to keep a close eye on the progress of the project, ensuring that it stays on track and meets deadlines. 

Tracking time also helps in managing project budgets, by monitoring the time spent across the different activities.

Microsoft Teams doesn't have a built-in function to do that. Luckily, there's Timeneye !

You can add Timeneye as an app inside Teams.

After that, you'll find a complete time and project tracking software , directly inside Microsoft Teams. Team members can track time, and allocate it to the different project phases, making sure that all activities are accounted for. Project managers can always keep an eye on project progression with reports and progress bars, and run visually beautiful project reports, to show proof of work to clients as the project progresses.

To create timesheets easily in any Microsoft tool , Timeneye is your best bet.

Case study: Timeneye (how we do it)

You may have guessed it: here at Timeneye we are avid users of Microsoft Teams. It's simply the best way for us, a hybrid remote and in-office team, to centralize our activity and communicate effectively.

Whether we're working from home or in the office, Microsoft Teams allows us to stay connected and collaborate seamlessly. We regularly use features like chats, team channels, video calls, and file sharing, so we can easily share ideas, discuss Timeneye's updates, and work together on tasks.

We have our meetings every day in Teams, for our daily scrum but also any other meetings that we need to take. We screen-share a lot during our virtual meetings, to showcase our work and share with the whole team what we're working on.

We also have specific channels, one for our Development, team, one of Marketing/Design, and a General channel for company-wide communications.

As a marketer, I added a Marketing tab to our channel, that actually embeds our MS Planner board , to manage all the tasks.

Of course, we track our time using the app we built.

Overall, Microsoft Teams has become an essential tool for our team. 

Conclusions

Project management can be a complex task , but with the right tools, it becomes much more manageable.

Microsoft Teams offers a powerful collaboration platform that integrates with other Microsoft Office 365 applications, making it a great choice for teams already using Microsoft products.

While there are some downsides to consider, the benefits of Teams (instant chats, video calls, file sharing, and task management) make it a valuable tool for project management. By integrating Timeneye into Teams , project managers can easily track time, allocate it to different project phases, and generate comprehensive reports.

If you want to enhance the efficiency of your project management and foster better teamwork, try Timeneye in Microsoft Teams . Don't let project management challenges hold you back - and take your project management to the next level.

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• Microsoft Teams

A Guide to Microsoft Teams Project Management [Features & FAQ]

• January 3, 2023
• A Guide to Microsoft Teams Project Management...
• Share this article

Table of Contents

Most people are aware of Microsoft Teams as a tool that allows business users to chat, make calls, and even share files back and forth-but it's also a valuable tool for project management.

Employees working on a project often ask the same questions:

• Where can I find the tasks that I've been assigned?
• When is this due?
• Where can I find updates?
• Where can I find documentation?

Being able to have all this information in one place that provides a single source of truth for everyone, regardless of their role in a project, not only saves the project manager from having to answer the same questions over and over but also ensures that every stakeholder in a project can find what they need when they need it.

In other words, project managers and employees alike can take advantage of inherent Microsoft Teams features to stay connected with teams and channels and ensure projects stay on track with the ability to monitor progress in one place, even though work is completed using multiple applications. Those are good project management practices, and they are especially useful for modern organizations that support remote and hybrid work enablement .

With Microsoft Teams, communication and collaboration are king. Being able to emphasize the robust communication and collaboration features that Teams offers by integrating it with the applications that employees and managers use to complete their work allows projects to hum along seamlessly. It also allows people to use the applications and tools to accomplish their best work without hindrance.

Let's take a closer look at Microsoft Teams and how it can be used effectively as an essential part of your project management tech stack.

Microsoft Teams Management Tools

Essentially, every aspect of project management touches Microsoft Teams. The platform is uniquely positioned to give project managers a bird's eye view of every project, with the ability to see progress on project milestones as well as granular tasks. This is accomplished through document management, task management, effective communication tools (such as the Teams phone system ), integration with Microsoft 365 apps, and third-party apps and tools to keep information accessible in one place. The greatest advantage of using Microsoft Teams for project management is that team members don't have to leave Teams to collaborate; they can do it within the app itself.

Read More: 3 Key Benefits of Microsoft Teams for Business

Microsoft Teams Document Management

Be default, when a new channel is created under a team, a SharePoint document repository will automatically be created for that channel under the “files” tab (tabs are extremely useful in Microsoft teams, but we'll talk more about tabs later on in this article), but you can also click the Add cloud storage option and link to third-party cloud storage providers. This ensures that every file related to a project, whether it's a Microsoft Word document in SharePoint or PDF file in Adobe Document Cloud, is available in one place and can be accessed without having to leave Microsoft Teams.

All the files that are accessible in the “files” tab can also be co-authored, which means that multiple people can work on the same file without the need for multiple versions of the file to be created.

On the same note, any file under the “files” tab for your channel can be shared in posts, so if team members need to discuss a file or ask specific questions outside of leaving a comment directly in the file itself, this can be done in Teams as well.

Task Management in Microsoft Teams

Following the thread of keeping everything in one place, Teams can connect with dedicated project management apps and tools using the Tab functionality.

Tabs that can be added include Microsoft's own Project and Planner dedicated project management apps, but also numerous third-party options. This allows project managers to use the tools that work best for their teams while at the same time taking full advantage of Microsoft Teams' collaborative environment. It also means that you don't have to compromise and switch to a different tool; instead, the functionality of the project management tool that works for your team is maintained, but there's still a single source of truth for your project.

Resources and Communication Management in Microsoft Teams

Ensuring that important communications about a project don't get lost in the shuffle is extremely important. By default, a Microsoft Teams environment has the chat feature, but it's more for small group discussions or leaving notes for yourself. For effective communication for a project, more focused communication is needed.

Microsoft Teams Chat versus Channels

Let's say that you run a marketing agency and need to create a new website for a client. There are several stakeholders involved in this project, and they are going to be working on different aspects of the project simultaneously, and the client themselves will need to be able to weigh in on the project's progress as different milestones are completed. This means that communications from multiple stakeholders will need to be organized effectively.

That's where Channels come in. Once an overarching Team is created in Microsoft Teams, more granular channels can be created. Going back to the marketing agency example, when creating a website, there will be copywriters, designers, developers, project managers, and at least one, if not more, stakeholders on the client's side that will need to be involved.

Instead of using email, phone calls, or social media to communicate, relevant stakeholders for every aspect of the project can be organized into specific Teams channels. In other words, designers and copywriters could be in one channel, development in another, and project managers in every channel. Standard, public, and private channels can also be created to ensure that people can be added as the project progresses, but also prevents people from being bombarded with messages that don't apply to them.

How to Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management

Understanding the different tools and functionality available in Microsoft Teams is the first step to visualizing how this platform would perform in your organization's work environment. Next, you'll need to create a basic setup so you can start customizing your Teams environment.

1. Create Channels within your Team Environment

While Chat is a great function for private discussions or to save personal notes, Channels allow more organized discussions to take place between specific team members and external clients. Once you create your Team, a general channel will automatically be created. This is where general discussion between all team members can occur. You can add specific channels to keep conversations organized as you go.

There are two main roles within Teams:

• Team owner , which is the person who created the team. This individual can add co-owners so more people can share in the responsibility of managing the Team, inviting new team members, and managing general settings.
• Team members , which are the people who the Team owners invite to the Team.

With regards to your Team, if your organization already uses Microsoft 365 and has an existing group, you can securely add those team members to your Team, and the same roles and access permissions will be reflected automatically. In addition, if changes are made to the group's membership, it will automatically be synced with Microsoft Teams.

Standard, Public, and Private Channels

An important feature for project management in Microsoft Teams with regard to channels is the ability to create standard, public, or private channels. These different types of channels make it easy to have control over certain conversations without having to keep creating different overarching Teams.

Channels fall into one of three categories:

A standard channel is useful when:

• General discussion between all team members is needed, such as general project updates, policy changes, announcements, and more
• Resources that are applicable to all team members need to be shared in one location

A private channel is useful when:

• A group wants to collaborate in a separate space without needing to create another team
• A group of people (such as executives or managers) within a team want to discuss sensitive information like budgeting, strategy, etc.

A shared channel is useful when:

• Different people who are not part of the same Team want to collaborate with each other (e.g., individuals from customer support, marketing, and development need to collaborate on a project)
• You need to collaborate with an external party, such as a client, for a project

2. Customize Notifications for Each Channel

Team owners and members alike will want to customize their notifications to match their workflow. By default, anyone in the channel will get notifications for every activity that happens in that channel, including new posts, replies, and channel mentions (when someone uses the @mention function to tag a specific person's name).

Changing these notifications is easy. Clicking the ellipsis button (three dots) beside the channel name brings up a menu with the option to change channel notifications . Select the “custom” option to control whether or not you want to see notifications for all new posts, all replies, or channel mentions.

3. Add Channel Tabs to your Team

The tabs functionality in Microsoft Teams is vast, allowing you to choose from hundreds of different productivity, execution, and management applications to add to a channel. The thought process behind tabs is to ensure that everything related to a project is accessible from one location to make collaboration easier and workflow more efficient. Once you've created your channel, it's important to immediately add tabs so that a single source of truth can be established from the beginning of your project for all team members.

Remember that if you use Microsoft applications, the security and permissions settings that have already been established for those applications will transfer to Microsoft Teams. You'll have to manage security manually and permissions if you're using apps outside of the Microsoft environment.

4. Use Applications to Assign Tasks

With your channels, notifications, and tabs set up, it's time to assign tasks. You have several options for assigning tasks, including To Do or using something more robust like Microsoft Project, Planner, or a third-party project management application.

The Tasks app in Teams acts like a hub for Microsoft project management applications, showing information from Project, Planner, and To Do in one location . This makes it easy for team members and owners to see everything going on with a project without opening multiple applications.

Depending on the project and who is involved, it might be better to integrate one dedicated project management app into Microsoft Teams over another. For instance:

• If it's a solo project, then using To Do will suffice . It can also integrate with Microsoft Outlook so that your tasks can be viewable from there as well.
• For simpler team projects that only require basic planning and task assignment and where team members already have a working Microsoft 365 Business subscription, Planner is a good choice . It also provides a chart to track the progress of a project and can be used within Microsoft SharePoint as well.
• For more complex projects with dependencies, costs, and more, Project is the best choice . It's simple to get started with but has powerful functionality, such as automated workflows, to keep all the moving parts with big projects humming along.

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Drop us a line, microsoft teams project management best practices.

Using Microsoft Teams for project management can help your organization's projects run more efficiently, but only if you follow best practices to ensure you're taking full advantage of what the platform offers. Here are several tips that contribute to effective Microsoft Teams project management:

1. Use Microsoft Apps to Ensure Set Security & Permissions are Observed in Teams

If you connect Microsoft applications to your Teams environment, the security and access permissions that were set out within those applications automatically transfer to your Teams environment. This means that team members and owners who don't have permission to access certain information in these applications will also not be able to access that information as it's displayed in the Tasks app in Teams.

This takes the pressure off of your organization's IT department with managing security and access, ensuring that security and permissions remain static throughout your organization's entire Microsoft ecosystem.

2. Keep Work Accessible by Connecting with SharePoint

By default, the files tab under a Channel in your Team environment will show the option to open a file using SharePoint. This allows everyone in that Channel to access documents, edit them, leave comments, and more. Instead of dealing with multiple versions of a document, everyone can work on one copy where changes and updates are accurately reflected in the document's edit history. Since Microsoft Teams seamlessly syncs with SharePoint, all relevant documents are displayed without having to leave Teams.

3. Customize your Teams Experience with Channel Integrations

Using the tab functionality in each Teams Channel allows you to customize how Microsoft Teams works for your project management needs. If there is a specific application that has helped your team be more productive and efficient in the past, chances are that you can add it to Teams.

Further, administrators can modify the appearance of some Microsoft Teams applications, so it provides a seamless branded experience to the end user. This includes names, app icons, colors, descriptions, and more. Taking advantage of this option isn't just about optics but can also contribute to a more effective user experience as well. Specific metadata properties of an application help users understand its specific use case and make it easy for users to identify it as an application that belongs to the organization.

4. Use Templates to Save Time

Specific Channel setups (including tabs within those channels) can be saved as templates for future use, saving Team owners a ton of time when they need to create a new Channel for a project. Team members will also already know where to access certain information if a template they are familiar with is used.

There are default templates within Teams that can be accessed from the Dashboard in the Admin center that is already set up with different use cases in mind. But you can also create your own templates that work for your team by clicking on the “Add” button just above the list of default templates.

Overall, using Microsoft Teams for project management allows organizations that are already taking advantage of the Microsoft ecosystem to marry communication and collaboration with administrative project management tools.

Although multiple tools may be used to execute a project, Teams provides a centralized location where everyone can find the information they need to continue executing the role in the project. The increase in productivity and efficiency with having information in one place not only allows projects to be completed faster and more effectively, it can also prevent situations like crunch time, where employees work a large amount of overtime near the end of the project to complete it.

A major part of effective project management is having the right tools, but navigating the different licensing options for the Microsoft products you use to ensure that your organization is only paying for what it needs can be challenging. Amaxra removes that burden and helps you with Microsoft licensing optimization so your organization can not only save money but simplify its tech stack as well.

Contact Amaxra today to get started.

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How to Utilize Teams for Project Management

Ashley Jolman, CSM

Features in Microsoft Teams can be channeled to support specific purposes, such as project management. Let’s dive into how Teams can be used as a powerful project management tool.

Microsoft Teams has become the hub of the workday. It’s an all-encompassing solution to an array of business needs. Users can store files, collaborate on documents, view and save files, and communicate with team members all without leaving the Teams app. We can channel the benefits of Teams in a way that covers all aspects of project management, from communication, collaboration, task management, status reporting, and even integrating with any outside applications your team uses. Let’s get into some key features of Teams that enable project managers to ensure success on any sized project.

A Central Source of Truth

How often in projects are people wondering where documentation is, what tasks are assigned to them or when those tasks are due? Creating a central source of truth that is easy and intuitive for team members to access is critical to running a successful project. Microsoft Teams’ ability to integrate with so many other applications is a huge advantage. Users don’t need to leave theTeams interface to access anything needed for the project, from schedules to to-do lists, to project notes or conversations. I can eliminate the need for anyone to ask where documents, notes, or tasks are.

Organization

Keep projects organized by utilizing Teams, Channels, and Tabs. Well-run projects have open and transparent communication and information flow amongst the project team. This keeps the team on the same page and moving forward, together, while swiftly eliminating impediments. Teams and Channels provide the ability to categorize your project and store documents and conversations accordingly.

Additionally, organizing your project in teams automatically resolves any security concerns. When you create a Team, Microsoft also automatically creates an associated SharePoint team site, a Microsoft365 group, OneNote Notebook, and other M365 Applications. All of these resources take on the permissions you created when creating the team, so you can utilize any applications while maintaining the organization and security you’ve established for your project.

To demonstrate the organization's capabilities, let’s walk through a basic project setup. One of my favorite ways to set up Teams and Channels for project management is to create a Team for each client and set up each project as a new Channel under that Team. This keeps all communication, files, and artifacts for each project easily located within the project channel.

Next, I use Tabs to separate the different aspects of a project – in this example, I have the tabs set up as follows:

I’ll walk through each of these tabs and highlight the advantages.

Here is where we can communicate about the project or specific project artifacts. This area supports everything from quick chats, collaboration on files, or full announcements. Conversations are transparent to the rest of the team who may find them valuable in their work, as well as easily referenced later.

Whenever you create a new channel in Teams, a SharePoint site is automatically created, along with the 'files' tab in your channel. Each channel is a different document library which can be organized however you want. This allows you to store all documents related to your project directly in the associated Team’s Channel. Documents stored here can be co-authored by anyone who has access to the channel. You can store, access, and co-author Word documents, PowerPoint decks, Excel spreadsheets, and more, all without leaving the project’s channel in Teams. Your team will always have access to the most current version of any document related to your project, with no saving and no emailing back and forth. Documents can also be discussed in the posts tab of the channel so that teams can communicate about documents, again, without leaving Teams and without storing documents in separate places.

This is a location for meeting minutes and any other documentation related to the project. Mine is connected to a OneNote Notebook which takes on the same permissions as the project. This happens automatically when you add a new tab and select OneNote, but you can use whatever note-taking tool you prefer.

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Task management is a huge aspect of project management. It’s important to keep tasks visible, updated, and tracked. I always add a 'tasks' tab that is linked to the task management tool that specific project is using. Teams integrates with several popular project management applications from the web, which can be added as a tab within your channel so that your team can seamlessly view an outside app from within Teams. For basic projects, I like to use Planner for task management. Because creating a team automatically creates an M365 group, I can set up a new project in Planner and associate it with my project group.That way, it’s automatically included the same members of my project team. A new board can be created right from teams when you add Planner as a tab. First, click the `+` sign to add a new tab, and find Planner:

Then create a new plan:

From here, I can create, assign, and track tasks, all within Teams. Everyone on the project will always know where to find their tasks or to check on the status of important items.

I can also quickly change the view to see dashboard-type updates on my projector a calendar view of the schedule:

Adding a tab for the Whiteboard app provides teams an easily accessible place to collaborate on ideas or thought exercises. This can be shared during a Teams call, and the project team can work on boards together. When finished, these boards are stored right along with the rest of the project and can be easily referenced later. If you don’t like Microsoft Whiteboard, you can add a tab to pretty much any popular tool.

Teams are highly customizable. Once you explore the integrations and the different ways you can set up the tabs, you’ll discover what works best for your team or a certain type of project. Once you have a preferred way to run projects, you can save the channel and tab set-up as a template, making your next project set-up that much easier.

We have a whole video and blog article on that if you’d like to learn more about how to set up templates. Templates make it quick and easy to start a project, in a way that is organized and effective for your team.

Microsoft Teams has great potential as a project management tool. The ability to have so many tools and collaboration capabilities in one central place sets it apart. Above all, Teams keep work visible and accessible to everyone while providing a central source of truth of all aspects of the project. When project managers find the right integrations and simple customizations that work best for their project, Teams can be a one-stop-shop super tool for project management.

Recommended Reading

Basic permissions configuration for sharepoint – a how to guide, stop entering data in two places — here's why, aligning change to your business goals, whenever you're ready, there are 3 ways we can help you:.

• The Via Internal Communication Guidebook: Empower your leadership with expert strategies, systemic shifts, and practical tools. This guidebook will help you communicate clearly, make informed decisions, and lead your organization through change.
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• Book a 1:1 Private Coaching Session here .

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Microsoft Teams for Project Management

The ultimate guide.

All you need to know for a successful project management in Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams is changing the game for project managers. Considering the involvement of multiple players in the project management process, and its complexity that especially increased in recent years due to the rise of remote work, project management teams now more than ever require a solution that will allow them to:  

• Align all the stakeholders involved in the project
• Create synergies among all the processes
• Connect the tools they use into a single platform

Microsoft Team has numerous capabilities that enable them to achieve just that and more. Its tech team is constantly working on upgrading its products, answering new needs of its customers.  

To help you better understand how you can use the platform for project management to its full capacity we have prepared for you Microsoft Teams for Project Management: Ultimate Guide, where we put together all you need to know to successfully manage projects and your team.  

Table of Contents

Project management challenges that microsoft teams can solve.

Project management comes with its challenges, and the project manager’s job is to successfully overcome them and deliver the best result. Luckily, there are various tools and methodologies out there that can help you address most of them.  

Let’s walk through the key project management challenges that Microsoft Teams can help you with.  

Challenge #1 Stakeholder alignment

Project management always involves a lot of people. Besides internal stakeholders that include the project team, managers, and executives, you also have external stakeholders. These are your customers, suppliers, contractors, investors, vendors, etc.   

Aligning all of these different stakeholders can be a real challenge. You don´t want to play the broken telephone and send the same message separately to everyone involved in the project. You need to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding the project’s progress without having to mediate between different parties.  

Microsoft Teams allows you to do just that. You can bring together different teams, departments, and even third-party members and create a single workspace for them where you can communicate and collaborate together.  

Challenge #2 Lack of communication

Lack of communication is always at the top of the challenges faced by project managers. It comes as no surprise since poor communication can cause major project delays and cost overruns.   

It often happens that different stakeholders involved in a project work in silos – i.e., without sharing important updates and results of their work with the entire team.  

To address this challenge, you can leverage several Microsoft Teams capabilities that foster working in the open. By following best practices of the use of Teams you will make sure your team will always have the right information available to them at any moment for further reference.  

Challenge #3 Knowledge management 

Oftentimes, there’s not enough knowledge sharing after the project has been completed. Meanwhile, all the insights – both victories and failures – can be lessons to learn from for future projects.   

Knowledge management is key for efficient project management as it allows to develop best practices and reference points for project teams. With Microsoft Teams you can address this challenge and create a knowledge library where you can keep all important documentation.  

Challenge #4 Data Management

Project teams work with tons of different data and keeping it structured and organized can be tricky. If not handled properly, it can lead to a total mess in your data storage. As a result, navigating and searching for the right documentation can turn into Mission Impossible. Due to these inefficiencies, you lose precious time that is of key importance in project management. And then, the productivity goes down along with team efficiency.  

Microsoft Teams and its seamless integration with SharePoint, OneDrive and other Microsoft products can help you better manage your data while ensuring its security.  

Challenge #5 Adherence to project management guidelines

Any team that works on projects has a set of project management guidelines with detailed instructions and steps to follow. You collect all the best practices, build the guidelines, and share them with your team, provide them with all the necessary tools that automate certain process and administrative tasks to make sure they focus entirely on the project.   

Still, the guidelines are not always followed, and you get stuck with old practices that slow down the project management process.  

You can solve this challenge with Microsoft Teams that allows you to translate your project management guidelines into an actionable plan that your team can easily follow.  

Challenge #6 On budget, on time

This is the goal of any project manager – complete the project on budget, on time. There are many reasons why things can go wrong and cause project delays and additional costs. However, if the reasons lie in silo working, miscommunication, lack of accountability and collaboration failure – this is something Microsoft Teams can help you solve.   

Due to its seamless integration with other native and 3 rd party tools you can use Microsoft Teams to communicate and collaborate with absolutely anyone, no matter what platform they use – even if they are not Teams users themselves. You can connect task management apps to make sure everyone knows what they are assigned to do. Additionally, with Teams all the conversations stay documented, allowing to enforce accountability of everyone involved in the project.   

How to use Microsoft Teams for project management

Now let’s delve deeper into  Microsoft Teams use cases for project management and some of the pla tform’s capabilities that can help you solve aforementioned challenges .  

Align your project team with all the parties involved

Depending on the type of the organization you’re working at and the projects you run, there’s a variety of different teams you can have.  

You may want to have an org-wide team, a team per department, a team for all the people involved in project management, teams per client and teams per project.  

Since our main focus is managing projects with Microsoft Teams, we’ll stop at the project team. This is a separate workspace that you create for a specific project and where you and your team are working on.   

You might want to have specific naming rules for your teams to make it easy for your users to navigate through them. The name can include your project’s location, name of the client, name of the project manager, etc.   

For this example, let’s call our team Project – Alpha – Austin . 

Example of a project management team

Here are some channels that we can build for this team:

Steering Committee 🔗 Create a shared channel where you would invite the members of the steering committee, including your client, partners, and other external stakeholders to communicate on project strategy, the course of the project and its progress.  

Budget 🔒 You can also build a private channel accessible only to certain team members where you can discuss sensitive information such as budget, legal matters, and others.  

Planning . You may want to dedicate one channel to all the planning work. Here you will discuss project milestones, add tasks, and coordinate activities among the project team for timely project completion.  

Quality . Have focused discussions about quality control, audit, compliance, and regulations. You can make this a shared channel, if needed, where you can talk with your suppliers and contractors.  

Resources . Create a separate space for communicating around all the resources required for the project: building materials, equipment, vehicles, immovables, etc.   

Execution . You can have a channel dedicated entirely to the execution process as well as other stages of the project management.  

Reporting . It can be a good idea to have a channel where you will collaborate and communicate with your team about reports. This way, you will have a dedicated space around this subject, making it easier for everyone to store and search for the right files.  

Closure . Use this channel to work on the project close and the follow-up actions such as getting and analyzing feedback, preparing best practices, etc.  

Hold video meetings

One of the great ways to stay in touch with the project team is through video calling. You can use Teams mobile app to hold meetings even on the go so that you’re always up to date.  

With Teams meetings you can organize brainstorming sessions with Whiteboard. This app allows the entire team to add their notes and ideas in real-time while having a meeting just like an actual white board. Share the results of your work later on with the entire team through channel posts.  

You can also turn on live captions during meetings. This can be especially useful if there’s some language barrier between the participants. Additionally, you may record your meetings and then share them, for example, with those who couldn’t attend but would like to stay up to date with the course of the meeting.  

To keep all your meetings organized and let your team see all the upcoming meetings, you can add Channel calendar tab to your team’s channels – f or example, in Steering Comm ittee . Add recurring weekly meetings and the members of the channel will always know when a new meeting is coming.  

Promote knowledge and expertise sharing

Microsoft offers a variety of products that allow effective knowledge sharing and interactive communication within an organization. Even if you have branches all over the planet, you can still connect all your employees working in the same field who would otherwise never know about each other.  

With Yammer you can create a Project Management Community that will bring together all the experts as well as newly hired project managers. 

They can use this space to share their experience and ask for advice. This way, you can leverage internal knowledge and even save resources on consulting services.  

Viva Connections

Another way of keeping everyone informed and engaged is through Viva Connections . It gathers all the information employees need in the dashboard: internal news, resources, and data from other applications they use daily. In this way, they won’t need to switch between apps and will always have all the information they need ready at hand. Viva Connections allows to connect content and conversations across the company. All the information relevant to your employees is easily accessible.

A team for knowledge sharing

Additionally, you can create a dedicated team for knowledge and expertise sharing. You can do it just for project management where you will invite only those employees working in the field or it can be open to anyone in the company.

Note that currently the number of people in a team cannot exceed 25,000 users.

This team can be your knowledge depository. Like this, everyone has a space where they can share anything they have to say, find useful information, and ask for advice. Here are some channel name examples for this team:

• Best Practices
• Customer Feedback
• Case Studies
• Useful Resources

Safely store and share your data

With Microsoft Teams and its seamless integration with SharePoint you can safely store, share, and collaborate on documents while keeping them structured and easily accessible.

By default, each time you create a team in Microsoft Teams, its own SharePoint site is created as well. This is where all the information you share through channel conversations and upload in Files tab is stored.

Let’s see how you can effectively work on documents for project management.

A library per project

You can use your team’s own SharePoint site as your project’s library. Each channel within your team has a dedicated folder in that site. Make sure to create relevant folders in each channel and upload or create new files accordingly so that all data is stored in a structured way. Whenever you need to share a specific file with other, you can simply copy the link to it and paste it in a conversation.

Here are some examples of files and folders that you can share and work on together with your team in Teams.

• Project status reports
• Project closure
• Business case
• Project proposal
• Project charter
• Risk management plan
• Project scope statement
• Cost management plan

Learn more about how to effectively collaborate on documents here .

A communication site for project management

At the same time, you can create a knowledge repository for all of your projects that each project team will have access to. You can do that through Communication sites in SharePoint. Your Project Management Communication site can gather all the finalized documentation from each project team created in Microsoft Teams. It may also contain other information such as company news, articles, useful resources, etc.  

Create the site and add it as a tab in the relevant channel of each project team. Everyone who has access to it can equally contribute, upload documentation, and share updates.

You may also want to create a form in Microsoft Forms and ask you project team to submit finalized documentation and corresponding details in the form directly. With a Power Automate flow you can make sure it’ll end up in your Communication site. You can learn how to do it here .

Translate your project management playbook into Microsoft Teams

Adherence to project management guidelines and lack of accountability are some of the key project management challenges we outlined in the first chapter.

Microsoft Teams allows you to digitalize your playbook, make it easily accessible and visible to everyone as well as translate it into actionable tasks assigned to your team.

Project guidelines in SharePoint

SharePoint can be your organizational knowledge repository. Use it to translate your written guidelines into a digital playbook. Then, add it as a tab in the right channel to all your project management teams. Adding it as a tab increases its visibility and ensures easy access to essential information.

Project management tasks in Microsoft Planner

You can also create tasks for your project teams that correspond to the steps outlined in the playbook. Planner is a perfect tool for that. Separate the tasks into project stages – these would be your buckets in the plan, for example:

• Conception and Initiation
• Definition and Planning
• Launch and Execution
• Performance and Control
• Project close

White Paper: Microsoft Teams for Project Management

Learn how to successfully manage projects in Teams. Each time you start a new project, get a new team with the same structure, pre-built set of tasks, and all essential content

Then, add required steps for each stage of the project implementation and specify details. For instance, you can add checklists, timeframe, and level of priority; attach links and files, leave notes, and assign tasks to the right people in your team. In this way, no task will be abandoned, and everyone will be clear about their responsibilities.

Organizing projects with Lists

Another way to organize your projects and encourage your team to adhere to project management guidelines is by leveraging Microsoft Lists. This tool allows you to structure all your data and processes. There are various templates you can choose from: issue tracker, event itinerary, asset manager, work progress tracker, and others.

Let’s take Work progress tracker list to organize project management activities. This way, you can use Lists as a task management tool. There you can list all the tasks your team should complete and customize it with necessary fields such as:

• Description
• Start and due dates
• Assigned to

You can also add other fields that correspond to the needs of your projects. Then, add this list as a tab in your team and have conversations around specific list items right in Teams.

Connect all your project management tools

Project teams collaborate with various stakeholders throughout the day through multiple platforms. Oftentimes they need to switch from one platform to another, depending on who they’re communicating with, and then pass the same information through all these platforms to different people.

The good thing about handling project management in Microsoft Teams is that you can integrate your everyday apps in it and collaborate with everyone from a single location without the need to juggle between apps.

You can connect native Microsoft products, third party tools, and your own internal apps with Microsoft Teams and synchronize your process. Additionally, with Power Automate you can create advanced flows to automate some repetitive tasks such as issue tracking, request processing, approvals workflows, notification settings and other .

While Microsoft Teams integration with third party apps can offer limited capabilities, you may opt to adopt additional solutions that can create customized integrations according to your business needs.

Project management in Microsoft Teams at scale

You created a new team for your project, uploaded all the right documentation for your team to work on, added tabs with important files and apps, including project tasks, and invited the right people to this team. The preparation part is done, you can now start working on the project implementation.

But then a new project comes, and you need to do it all over again. To increase your team efficiency and save time on performing repetitive tasks, you can use Collaboration Templates.

Collaboration Templates allow you to:

• Execute more efficiently in structured teams with all the right tools ready in place;
• Successfully manage all projects with a ready-to-go framework;
• Ensure the high level of security through advanced Governance Policies.

The latter includes naming rules for your teams. This capability makes sure the right people get immediately involved in the project as soon as it appears. Thus, you limit access to project management teams only to specific people in the organization.

Here’s how it looks like.

Go to the Template Catalog that contains templates for key business processes in your organization.

Select the Project Management template that was pre-built beforehand. Give it a name, add a description as well as owners and members. Then, click send.

After your request is processed, you project management team will be created within a few moments.

All the channels added at the template level, including its content such as files, folders, tabs with apps, guidelines, and tasks are already there. Additionally, the owners and members assigned while creating the template will be automatically added to new teams.

In this way, you and your team no longer need to start from scratch. You have all the right structure, content, and framework to start working on your new project straight away.

Apps for project management in Microsoft Teams

What makes Microsoft Teams an excellent platform for project management is its capability to seamlessly integrate other tools into its interface.

You can use multiple apps to handle different types of tasks without having to leave your Teams environment.

Here’s a list of apps that can be particularly useful for project management teams.

Microsoft 365 apps for project management

This is a great tool to manage and collaborate on tasks with your team. Assign them to the right team members and separate them into different buckets that can represent your project stages. With Planner you can set up the priority level for each task, define the timeline, modify its progress status, leave notes and comments and attach links and files. You can also connect your Planner with Outlook so that you always receive notifications about upcoming tasks. 

This relatively new Microsoft app helps you keep track of all your data and better organize your work. Lists is a system of records: you can use it to organize your contact base, prepare events, track issues, record all your equipment and hardware, create project management checklists, etc. Through its integration with Teams, you can have conversations around list items, leave comments, @mention team members and even visualize any list with the date column in a calendar view.

Approvals app can save you a lot of time and nerve on the approval process. This is something you can’t do without in project management. All the requests will be properly documented and easily accessible for further reference. You no longer need to send back-and-forth emails requesting a signature or approval, especially if it requires multiple approvers. The app perfectly structures the entire process. You can use it for requesting approvals from anyone in your team. That also includes guest members such as your contractors, partners, or clients.

Use forms to create polls, quizzes, and questionnaires to collect your team’s or client’s feedback, measure their level of satisfaction, share ideas for improvements, etc. You can also use Forms to ask your project team to submit finalized project documentation. With a Power Automate flow you can connect Forms with the right SharePoint library so that all submissions land there directly.

Third-party apps for project management

Depending on the level of complexity of the projects your organization handles, you may require third-party project management tools. The good news is that you can connect them with Microsoft Teams so that all you can collaborate with your teams on different projects without having to juggle between platforms.

Here are some apps that can help you manage your projects more efficiently with Teams integration.

Trello allows you to create project boards and cards with all the details required to duly complete tasks: checklists, notes, comments, attachments, timeframes, and assigned team members. To connect it with Teams, just add your Trello board as a new tab in the right channel. You can also set up a flow to receive notifications in Teams each time changes are made in Trello.

You can see all Asana  projects, status updates and Portfolios as well as search for the right information directly in Teams without having to leave the platform. You can also create, assign, and view Asana tasks during Teams meeting so you don’t need to switch to your browser.

This visual platform allows you to centralize all your work, processes, tools, and files into one workspace. With Monday.com you can align teams, reduce silos, and keep everyone on the same page across your organization.

You can embed its boards as channel tabs in Microsoft Teams, share and receive updates, and have channel conversations around specific tasks.

With nBold you can build an entire structure for the project management process that you can templatize and then replicate as many times as you need. Translate your Project Management Playbook into a digital workspace with already pre-built spaces for focused discussions, guidelines, tasks, document libraries, and other necessary content and tools. No more starting a new project from scratch – get everything you need to successfully run a project in a few clicks.

You can build a Project Management template with standard, private and shared channels, tabs with apps, uploaded files and folders, and more. In this way, you, as a project manager, can quickly create fully provisioned teams from the Project Management Template with all the required data already in place.

Microsoft Teams for project management: best practices

On top of handling projects, as a manager you also have to manage your team. You need to coordinate their activities, make sure everyone is on the same page, give and receive feedback as well as watch out for burnouts and team conflicts.

Microsoft Teams has numerous capabilities that make it much easier for managers to work with their team. In this chapter we’ll be sharing with you some best practices in Microsoft Teams for project management that you can apply straight away.

Scheduling Assistant

Use this tool to make sure your meeting participants are available for the time slot you choose. It allows you to see other team members’ agenda and select the time that suits everyone.

If many people should attend the meeting and you need to agree on the best time slot, you can use Forms to create a survey. Just post it in a channel and let your team members vote. Then, add it to the team’s calendar and share the link.

Alternatively, some meetings can easily be emails instead. Or, since we’re working in Teams, a detailed channel post or announcement. Mention the right groups of people, deliver your message, and ask your team to share their thoughts and ideas.

Use OneNote during meetings to record important information. OneNote is great for taking meeting minutes and then sharing them with the entire team. Hence no task or decision that you agreed on during the meeting will be forgotten. 

Brainstorming

If you need to have a virtual brainstorming session, Whiteboard is an excellent tool that can help you with that. Use it the same way you would use a regular whiteboard: draw, write, add stickers, and record your ideas. Everyone can contribute in real-time – the tool is as interactive as it can get. 

Meeting alternatives

Many will agree that we’re often overwhelmed with meetings. And sometimes they are not even necessary, at least for some of the participants. To make sure this doesn’t happen, have a clear meeting agenda, keep your meetings as short as possible and make sure only required participants are involved.

If needed, you can record the meeting and then share the recording and transcripts with the rest of the team who didn’t participate.

Stay organized

Personal tasks.

On top of your responsibilities as a manager, you have lots of other duties. So, without a clear agenda for the day/week/month you can easily get lost with all the tasks you need to complete.

We recommend using OneNote as a personal organizer. Make a list of daily tasks or things you need to complete during the week. There’s nothing more satisfying than being able to ‘check’ all the things you have planned.

For team task management you can use Planner or 3 rd party project management tools listed above. Add the app as a tab in the right channel, prepare tasks and assign them to your team members. Thus, no task will be abandoned, and everyone will be on the same page regarding the next steps.

Translate your Project Management Playbook into guidelines that you can build in a SharePoint site. Then, pin it as a tab to a relevant channel in your team to make sure everyone has an easy and quick access to it.

Useful resources

To facilitate information search and make sure everyone in your team has easy access to key information, consider creating a space where you can share it with your team. For example, it can be a Wiki tab in the General channel of your team. Use it to add FAQs, share best practices, instructions, links to useful resources, etc.

Onboarding new hires

A team per new hire.

One of the key responsibilities of a manager is to help a new hire successfully onboard and form a part of the team. It helps when the onboarding process is structured and pre-defined. We recommend creating a team for each new hire where you’ll be able to share all the necessary information and communicate.

Onboarding tasks

Use Planner to organize the onboarding process. Think of all the aspects of work new hires need to master – these will be the buckets for your tasks. Then, create all the needed tasks, add checklists, and attach files and links to each task.

Training resources

Provide your new team members with all the resources they need to onboard as quickly as possible. You can share useful web pages, training videos, articles, handbooks, and other content.

Maintaining work-life balance

There are times when we feel overwhelmed with work. And when the project deadline is coming up and there’s still lots to do, we all stay till late to finish everything in time. However, when it’s not critical, it is important to disconnect and not to bring work home to avoid burnouts.

To keep track of your employees’ wellbeing you can leverage Viva Insights. They will give you an idea about how well your team is doing and give recommendations if you need to take action.

You can also encourage your team to set up quiet hours and quiet days in your notifications settings in order not to get disturbed after work.

Being the hub for teamwork in Office 365, Microsoft Teams is a perfect collaboration and communication platform. It offers multiple capabilities that help project teams be more efficient, organized and coordinated as well as empower them to drive better business results.

Talk to our team to find out how you can streamline your project management with Microsoft Teams and achieve operational excellence on every project. 

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Microsoft Teams Project Management: Successfully control and manage projects

In the constantly evolving world of business, project management has become a critical component to the success of companies in all industries. As professionals, we’re constantly looking for ways to improve our project management skills and leverage technology to maximize efficiency. That’s where Microsoft Teams comes in, a powerful, unified platform for streamlining project management and collaboration.

In this in-depth blog article, we’ll dive deep into project management and focus specifically on how Microsoft Teams can transform the way you manage projects. We’ll explore the key features and benefits of using Microsoft Teams for project management, including improved collaboration, support for agile project management, and easy-to-use tools for smaller teams. We also discuss the competitive advantages and efficiency gains of Microsoft Teams compared to traditional project management tools and methods.

This blog article is intended to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the project management principles and unique capabilities of Microsoft Teams, and how you can leverage the platform’s features to make your projects a success. Whether you’re an experienced project manager or a newcomer to the field, this guide will provide you with valuable insights and practical tips to improve your project management skills and empower your team to achieve their goals.

Why project management with MS Teams? The advantages of MS Teams for project management at a glance Which projects can Microsoft Teams help with? Integrate Microsoft Teams in project management: Tools, Apps and Software Functions and the use of MS Teams for project management Set up and organize Microsoft Teams for project management Success factors in project management: best practices and practical experience with Teams Case Study: GEBRÜDER PETERS Gebäudetechnik AG The essentials for successful project management with MS Teams FAQ about project management in Microsoft Teams

Why project management with MS Teams?

The importance of project management.

Project management is crucial to the success of projects. To name just a few benefits, project management is about clearly defining goals, efficiently allocating resources, and fostering communication and collaboration within and outside the project team. It also helps to minimize risks, manage time and costs, maintain quality, and adapt to changing conditions.

Effective project management ensures the successful completion of projects, continuous improvement through constant learning processes and, last but not least, a competitive advantage for the company.

Necessity of project management tools

Microsoft Teams is already a comprehensive tool for organizing team collaboration and therefore also covers the basic functions for project management. However, for complex projects or special requirements and processes, there are numerous tools that can support collaboration even better.

Optimize your Microsoft Teams project management with Teams Manager . With its ability to set up, manage and organize your team structures, it makes project coordination a breeze.

Success factors for project management with Microsoft Teams

How do you lead a project to success? What factors are necessary in project management with Microsoft Teams to achieve the project goals?

• realistic planing
• measurable goals
• Clear breakdown of roles and tasks
• qualified employees and project managers
• regular review of the specifications
• good communication

The central factor is realistic planning, in which a clear definition of measurable goals and the clear distribution of roles and tasks are clearly in the foreground. The “SMART” formula should always apply to goals, i.e. goals should be formulated specifically, measurably, attractively, realistically and with a deadline. Time planning in particular must be unadorned and realistic, otherwise there is a high risk of delays due to interdependencies between the individual project components.

The first step for the project team is to select a team leader and employees with the required competencies. These must also be given the necessary time and space for the project.

A delicate hand is required for project management. Micro-management should be avoided, as should a laissez-faire attitude. A constant, regular review of goals, tasks and milestones can identify any hurdles at an early stage. Especially for projects that run over a longer period of time, a constant review of the requirements is also useful. Do the definitions and goals that were made months ago still apply, or should they be adapted to new circumstances?

Finally, every project stands and falls with communication. It must be ensured that all project members are always up to date and have all the information they need for their work. Documents should always be kept up to date. The communication of the project outside the project team, e.g. to stakeholders, also plays an important role.

Microsoft Teams as a project management solution

As a communication and collaboration platform, Microsoft Teams offers excellent conditions for project management.

Even on its own, MS Teams covers the requirements for smaller projects well. The most important functions, such as sharing files and chat to coordinate the project team, are natively covered.

For more complex projects, additional specialized project management tools for task distribution, scheduling and time tracking, such as Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Project, Asana, Monday, Clickup etc. can be used.

The integration of SharePoint and OneDrive also facilitates the consolidation of information and project files within Microsoft Teams.

In addition, Microsoft Teams already plays a central role in many companies and users are experienced in using it. Adoption hurdles are therefore significantly lower here than with other, newly introduced project management solutions.

Collaborating with external contributors is no longer a problem thanks to External User Manager . Seamlessly manage access permissions, keep track of external contributors, and ensure the right people have the right access at the right time. With External User Manager, you can say goodbye to the risks and worries of external collaboration in your project management.

The advantages of MS Teams for project management at a glance

Which projects can microsoft teams help with.

• Small projects with low complexity and no scheduling can be managed practically exclusively via Microsoft Teams. The integrated solutions for task management and file storage are sufficient here in most cases.
• For medium-sized projects with scheduling, Teams is a good starting point. Depending on the complexity, it is recommended to integrate additional tools for project management here.
• Larger projects with scheduling and resource planning and a high level of complexity should not be managed via Microsoft Teams alone. The risk of losing the overview would be too high. Instead, additional apps should be used for task distribution and time management, or other tools depending on the requirements.

Depending on the number of projects, it can make sense to use a tool for the automated provisioning of project rooms and thus save project managers or IT admins a lot of time when setting up new project rooms. With Teams Manager , templates can be customized down to the smallest detail – from channels and tabs to planners with predefined buckets and already created tasks to ready-made folder structures and stored files.

Integrate Microsoft Teams in project management: Tools, Apps and Software

Getting started with integrating microsoft teams into your organization’s project management.

Depending on the type and scope of your projects, the integration of Microsoft Teams into your project management should be well planned. It is useful in any case!

Integrating Microsoft Teams into your organization’s project management starts with understanding your organization’s needs. Identify the types of projects your team is working on, the type of communication and collaboration that is required, and how Microsoft Teams can facilitate this process.

Next, set up Microsoft Teams accounts for all team members. If your company already has a Microsoft 365 subscription, you have access to Teams. Once the accounts are set up, organize your team by creating “Teams” and “Channels” within Microsoft Teams. Teams can be divided by projects, departments or other areas relevant to your business, while Channels can be created for specific topics or tasks. This way, discussions stay focused and organized.

Equally important is training your employees. To get the most out of Microsoft Teams, all members need to understand the functionality. Provide the necessary training that covers key features, such as how to create and join teams, participate in channels, and share files.

Developing best practices is an important step in integrating a new tool. Establish norms for when to use chat and when to use email, file organization, mentions, and so on. This will give you a clear structure for using Microsoft Teams.

Set clear communication guidelines to avoid confusion. Determine how and when to use Microsoft Teams.

Finally, monitor and control how Microsoft Teams is used in your organization. Get feedback from your team, identify issues, and adjust usage accordingly. Remember that integrating a new tool into your project management workflow requires careful planning, training and communication. It may take some time for everyone to become familiar with Microsoft Teams, but with patience and proper guidance, it can greatly improve the efficiency of your project management.

Bring clarity and structure to your project planning process with MindMap . Visualize your project schedule, allocate resources effectively, and monitor project progress in real time. With MindMap, your team can turn complex projects into manageable, easy-to-understand visual plans.

How do I find the right PM app and software for my organization?

With so many project management apps on the market, it’s not easy to find the right one for your company. No one has the time to test all these tools individually!

First, make a list of your requirements and budget and prioritize which features are most important to you. On this basis, you will already find out which project management tools will be shortlisted.

For these apps, you can then read testimonials from customers (ideally from your industry or a similar one) and get a trial or demo before you finally make a decision.

Our File Manager solution puts an end to document management chaos in Microsoft Teams. Track, organize and control all your project-related files in one central location. With File Manager, you can ensure that the right documents are routed to the right team members without the risk of them getting lost in a sea of data.

Functions and the use of MS Teams for project management

Typical use cases for microsoft teams.

Microsoft Teams is a versatile platform that can be used in various project management scenarios, e.g:

Software development projects: Developers can create different channels for different parts of the project, such as a “front-end development” channel, a “back-end development” channel, or a “bug reports” channel. For example, in the “Bug Reports” channel, team members can post any bugs they find. With Teams integration in Microsoft Azure DevOps, a ticket can be automatically created in Azure, and updates to the ticket status are posted back to the Teams channel. This way, the entire team stays up to date on the status of the bug without having to leave Teams.

Managing marketing campaigns: You can create a channel specifically for the campaign and use it to schedule and coordinate tasks. For example, in a product launch campaign, you can hold discussions, store files, manage schedules and deadlines, and even hold meetings in one place. The Planner tab of Teams lets you create, assign, and track tasks related to the campaign. You can also integrate Teams with marketing automation tools to track campaign progress and results.

Product launches: for product launches, teams can be used to coordinate between all departments involved – design, marketing, sales, customer support, etc. – can be used. For example, the “product design” channel can be used to share and discuss product designs and prototypes, the “marketing and sales” channel can be used to plan marketing strategies and sales targets, and the “customer support” channel can be used to prepare FAQs and support materials. Teams can also be used for product launch meetings and presentations where you can share your screen, give a presentation, and even record the session for later use.

Event planning and management: when you plan and manage an event, Teams lets you create a dedicated team for the event. Here you can discuss event details, plan logistics, assign tasks, and track progress. For example, if you’re planning a company-wide seminar, you can set up different channels in the team for different aspects of the event – “venue and logistics,” “speakers,” “agenda,” and “promotions.” You can also use teams to host the event virtually if needed, or stream it for those who can’t attend in person.

Remote team collaboration: for a remote team, you can set up channels for different departments or projects. For example, if your company is working on a new website redesign and all employees are working from home, you can set up a “Website redesign” channel. In this channel, you can discuss ideas, share drafts, collaborate on documents in real time, and hold video conferences. This ensures that everyone is on the same page, no matter where they are.

Experience a new standard of document control in Microsoft Teams with File Manager , your all-in-one solution to keep your project files organized, accessible and under control.

Set up and organize Microsoft Teams for project management

Create a new team as a project space: a new team should be created for each new project. This makes it easier for project members to keep track of everything. In addition, it is easier to archive the complete content after the project has been completed. Note: for consistent, well-structured project spaces, you should define a standardized channel and folder structure in advance. Also, for recurring tasks, documents and OneNotes, you should save the manual effort of creating them.

Create channels for different aspects of the project: create channels for different aspects of the project: in addition to the default “General” channel, you can now create additional private or shared channels for different aspects of the project – e.g. for different project phases or project areas. For channels, it also makes sense to define a standardized channel structure in advance for projects that run similarly and always use it identically to make it easier for employees to find their way around.

Add team members: next, add the project members to the team. It is best to add several members at once to save time. Also, teams can be used to invite external people to work on the project – just enter the email address for them. Tip: edit the name of the guests so that an ominous email abbreviation is not displayed instead.

Assigne tasks to project members: Before you can create and assign tasks to your project members, you first need a task management tool. As described above, there are several options for this from Microsoft itself (To-Do, Planner, Project) or external third-party solutions. Add the tool either in the General channel or one of the other channels, depending on where it makes the most sense for your project. Tip: for complex projects with numerous tasks, it is a great time saver to also create them in advance in a standardized template and then simply copy (or provision) them for each new project.

Create folders and add project files: A good folder structure makes it easier for the project team to find files. Create the necessary folders for each channel accordingly. For files that are used in every project, it is also recommended to create a project template. This way, these files do not have to be added manually each time.

Success factors in project management: best practices and practical experience with Teams

Success factors in project management.

Effective communication is the foundation of successful project management, and Teams excels at providing an integrated platform for communication and collaboration. Its features enable transparent communication so that everyone is informed about the progress of the project. Another important success factor is task management .

Teams integration with Microsoft Planner enables streamlined task creation, assignment, and tracking, ensuring that deadlines are met efficiently. Microsoft Teams also provides a single point of access for all project-related information that is accessible to all team members and improves the overall organization of the project.

Customizability to meet individual project requirements and integration with a wide range of third-party apps and services increases efficiency. Saving templates for future project setups also speeds up project launch. Finally, the ability to track progress transparently and in real time ensures that all team members have a clear overview of their tasks and the overall project status. Effective communication, integrated task management, centralized information, customizability and transparent tracking all contribute to project success.

Case Study Project Management: GEBRÜDER PETERS Gebäudetechnik AG

GEBRÜDER PETERS Gebäudetechnik AG, a company that manages construction projects, has successfully implemented Microsoft Teams for project management, task management, file storage and documentation. Previously, employees had difficulty accessing project-related files. To improve this, the company planned a standardized project space within Microsoft Teams with a predefined folder structure, a OneNote with all content, and a predefined planner with tasks. However, setting up these standardized project spaces required a lot of manual effort that was both time-consuming and error-prone.

To solve this problem, GEBRÜDER PETERS launched Teams Manager, an application fully integrated with Microsoft Teams. With this tool, the company can easily deploy standardized project spaces, including planner baskets, tasks and predefined OneNotes, significantly reducing manual workload and the likelihood of errors. Teams Manager also provides features such as automated templates and lifecycles for archiving, as well as naming conventions for consistent naming of project spaces. This not only saves time, but also brings consistency and clarity to project organization .

Learn more about Teams Manager and the cooperation with GEBRÜDER PETERS Gebäudetechnik AG in our full Case Study .

The essentials for successful project management with MS Teams

Switching to Microsoft Teams for project management may seem like a big step, but the numerous benefits it brings are worth it and make Microsoft Teams an ideal choice for project management:

Streamlined communication: Teams simplifies communication by bringing all stakeholders onto a single platform. Instant messaging, video conferencing, and team channels enable effortless collaboration while ensuring everyone stays informed.

Centralized documentation: With Teams, all your files, notes, and documents are in a single place. You can share files with your team, edit them together in real time, and even access older versions if needed.

Task management: Microsoft Planner’s integration with Teams allows you to create, assign, and manage tasks within your team. You can monitor progress, set deadlines, and effectively manage workload – all from one dashboard.

Enhanced security: Microsoft Teams complies with a range of data protection standards, ensuring that your project data remains secure.

Automation and standardization: In combination with additional tools such as Teams Manager, Teams can significantly automate and standardize your project management process, saving time and reducing errors.

Finally, we have summarized 5 tips for effective project management with Microsoft Teams:

With External User Manager , you can say goodbye to the risks and worries of external collaboration in your project management.

FAQ about project management in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams improves project management by centralizing communication, task management, and file storage on a single platform. Integration capabilities with other Microsoft tools and third-party applications provide comprehensive project management solutions that enable greater efficiency and collaboration in Teams.

Microsoft Teams offers a variety of tools for project management. These include integrated chat and video calls for communication, Microsoft Planner for task management, and file sharing capabilities for document management. Teams also allows integration with various Microsoft and third-party applications such as Excel, PowerPoint, Project, etc., providing a comprehensive suite for all project management needs.

There are several third-party applications that integrate with Microsoft Teams to improve project management: Trello: A popular project management tool that provides boards, lists and cards to organize and prioritize tasks and projects in a flexible way. Asana: Another well-known project management app, Asana provides a set of tools for planning, organizing and executing tasks and projects. Jira Cloud: Jira is especially popular for software development projects and allows for issue tracking and project management. The cloud version of Jira integrates seamlessly with teams. Smartsheet: Smartsheet is a robust work management and automation platform that provides real-time collaboration and workflow management that integrates with teams. Wrike: This tool is designed for high-performing teams that want to collaborate and streamline their work. It offers features such as real-time project updates and report generation. Each of these tools integrates with Microsoft Teams to provide a more complete project management experience, and you can choose according to your specific needs and preferences.

Integrating project management with Microsoft Teams in an organization requires a few key steps. First, consider the specific requirements of your projects and how Teams can meet them. Then, conduct a structured rollout of the platform, which may include setting up Teams and Channels, setting up Planner for task management, and transferring project files to Teams. It’s also critical to train team members on how to use Teams for project management and to continually refine how Teams is set up based on feedback and changing project needs.

Microsoft Teams improves team collaboration by providing a unified platform where team members can communicate, share files, and manage tasks. The ability to create different channels for different aspects of projects allows discussions to be targeted. Integration with Microsoft Planner allows tasks to be assigned and tracked within the platform. In addition, the ability to collaboratively edit documents and the availability of a persistent chat history improve collaboration efficiency.

Yes, Microsoft Teams is designed to manage multiple projects simultaneously. You can create separate teams for different projects, and within each team you can have different channels for different aspects or phases of the project. This allows for clear separation of projects and facilitates efficient project management. Integration with tools like Microsoft Planner further supports multi-project management by allowing you to assign and track tasks for different projects within the Teams platform.

Microsoft Teams ensures a high level of security for your project data. It’s built on the robust Office 365 cloud and provides enterprise-level security and compliance. Teams adheres to various compliance standards, including ISO 27001, HIPAA, and EU model clauses. It uses two-factor authentication and encryption of data in transit and at rest to protect your project data.

Read More About Project Management in Microsoft Teams

More blog posts about project management with Microsoft Teams! Useful information not just for project managers but for your everyday work in Teams:

Microsoft Teams Integration of Third-Party Apps

Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management: Benefits

Project Management: Important KPIs

Microsoft Teams Organization

Microsoft Teams Task Management – Task apps like Planner, To Do, Lists

The 5 Phases of Project Management

As you embark on your project management journey with Microsoft Teams, remember that you can further streamline your processes, automate tasks, and improve collaboration through integration with Teams Manager . Don’t just manage, manage smarter with Teams and Teams Manager for a truly great project management experience.

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Project Management with Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is commonly used as communication software but it can also be used to collaborate with your teammates . It can be used for project management as it allows video calling , chatting with colleagues , sharing files and apps , team coordination , keeping track of tasks assigned , and much more.

In this article, we will show you the usefulness of Microsoft Teams for project management –

Why Use Microsoft Teams for Project Management?

Managing People

Managing Projects with Channels

Managing Projects with File Sharing

Managing Projects with Apps

Managing People with Teams Meeting

Watch this Video on Project Management with Microsoft Teams on YouTube and give it a thumbs-up!

Microsoft teams have four convenient ways to make the life of project managers easier , and those are:

• People (Team)
• Share Files

With the help of Microsoft teams, project managers eliminate old redundant, and inefficient ways of project management with constant replies and communication through email threads. Project management has come a long way and Microsoft Teams has come up with some excellent ways to become an efficient project manager .

Let’s analyze each of the handy project management tools mentioned above in detail.

Firstly it’s important to add the people to the team who will meet together for collaboration.

• If you choose a private team – People will need your permission to join
• If a public team is chosen – then anyone can join, and
• If you choose an organization-wide team – everyone in the organization automatically joins the team

You can organize each team into sub-categories or channels . Creating channels helps in specialized or category focussed discussion in each channel.

Follow the steps below to manage projects with the help of channels –

Each channel in Microsoft Teams has a folder wherein you can share files related to that particular channel. You can store and share files by simply clicking on the Files tab.

To share a new file or folder, click on the Upload button

In Microsoft teams, you can add apps to share content and work on projects with other team members.

You can instantly start a teams meeting for a particular channel by following the steps below –

In this article, you have seen how to manage people by creating a team and using channels. You have also learned about project management by uploading files and using apps and how to create easy-to-access meetings for your whole team with access to all things related to your current project!

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Project management

The 13 best project management apps for Microsoft Teams

Over the past several years, Microsoft Teams has burst onto the scene as a powerful (and powerfully integrated) collaboration platform within Microsoft 365.

Companies already paying for Office 365 or Microsoft 365 gain access to the app for no additional cost, and it’s exceptionally well integrated with the rest of the Microsoft 365 suite. Out of the box, it’s already an impressive piece of software that allows teams to collaborate on Office documents, use Slack-like channel-based chat and communications, and plenty more.

But what makes Microsoft Teams shine is the vast library of integrations, apps, and add-ons that can transform the stock Teams experience into just about anything organizations want it to be.

If you’re a project manager or a decision-maker at an organization that uses project management software , you could benefit from those tools even more by integrating them with Microsoft Teams.

Here, we’ll show you 13 of the best project management apps for Microsoft Teams.

Does it have the customization you truly need?

One of the most important areas to consider is how much integration or customization a given Teams app owns. You’ll notice pretty quickly that some go deeper than others.

For example, evaluate whether an app allows users to customize their dashboards, workflows, reporting, and notifications. And in terms of reporting and notifications, look for whether the app allows one-way or two-way communication (if that matters for your workflow).

In other words, can Teams trigger notifications in the project management tool, and can the project management tool trigger events in Teams? Or is the app you’re considering more of a one-way operation?

Pay attention to the user interface (UI) of the app as well. Some apps look great in their native or web-based versions but are unwieldy or awkward within Teams.

How do colors, images, and font sizes translate? Do they look like they should, or are they distracting enough that people won’t want to use the in-Teams app?

Does it provide a user-friendly task management experience?

Next, you’ll want to make sure that the Teams app finds the right balance of robust yet simple task management .

The Teams app for any task management tool likely isn’t designed to fully replace the standalone experience. So, don’t be surprised if some advanced features still require you to jump over to the full interface.

However, the core stuff your teams need to do every day (like responding to due dates, sending and receiving task update notifications, and so forth) should translate over well — and be simple to use at the same time.

Will it easily integrate with your other productivity software?

The best project management app may not be the flashiest or the most feature-laden. It’s the one that covers all the functions you need for your organization and workflows and that integrates well with the other productivity tools you’re using.

Do you use Excel, Jira, or kanban boards all the time? Do you rely on Gantt charts to map out long, complex projects? Do you do a lot of video calling where you need to pull in content from other apps? How about time tracking ?

Every organization is going to have a different set of use cases and needed features. It’s rare to find a single app that does everything you need equally well.

Whatever you need to do in apps outside your primary project management tool, make sure those other tools integrate easily, without creating new headaches and hurdles.

Online Gantt chart maker

Create your own detailed Gantt chart with Teamwork.com to better manage your project timeline and stay on track.

Try our Gantt chart for free

The top Microsoft Teams project management apps

If your business is invested in Microsoft Teams or considering the tool, you’ll want to choose the best project management software to integrate with it. Consider these 13 project management solutions with Microsoft Teams apps and see whether one or several of them could enhance the way you manage projects and collaborate.

One quick note on finding Microsoft Teams apps : Because Teams is part of the broader Microsoft 365 package, expect similar levels of admin oversight. Unlike some other popular tools we’ve reviewed, the Teams app store is heavily controlled by your organization’s Microsoft 365 or Teams admin. If you’re searching for an app in this list and it doesn’t show up, you’ll need to contact your admin and request that they approve the app on your network or organizational profile.

1. Teamwork.com

Teamwork.com is a wide-ranging platform for all things client work—including project management—with all the functions businesses need to track tasks, drive efficiency, and work with vendors and clients. It’s ideal for any organization using Teams and anyone involved with client work , with advanced features for tracking billable time, improving profits, and more.

Teamwork.com’s integration with Microsoft Teams enables numerous functions that make life easier for anyone using Teamwork.com. This includes adding a Board View, Task View, and Gantt chart to any team within Microsoft Teams.

And by connecting Teamwork Spaces to Teams, you’ll make it easy for everyone on your team to find content within Teams.

See more of what Teamwork.com can do for your business now — get started now for free .

Teamwork.com offers a robust setup page to help users get their Microsoft Teams app up and running (and another page that dives deeper into interacting with Teamwork.com within Microsoft Teams).

Search for linked Teamwork.com projects, tasks, and people within Teamwork.com and share them in Microsoft Teams messages.

@Teamwork.com modifier enables rich search from the Microsoft Teams search bar or within chats.

Create Teamwork.com tasks directly from posts, messages, or the Microsoft Teams search bar.

Easily share what you're working on with your team to provide updates as tasks progress, allowing for better collaboration within both Teamwork.com and Microsoft Teams.

Disadvantages

May not be the best choice for enterprise organizations that don’t deal with client work or billable hours.

AppSource doesn’t list many reviews of the Teamwork.com integration for Teams.

Monday is a newer project management tool that has seen heavy advertising rotation in the past couple of years, touting it as the simplest and best way to manage a team. It’s geared more toward startups and small businesses, where the person doing the managing may not be a pro project manager.

Like other agile options, Monday is intentionally lightweight and is very good at doing what it sets out to do. It makes project management simple enough for non-specialists but at the cost of skipping features that many businesses need (like subtasks, task dependencies, client users, and un-capped integrations).

The company’s integration with Teams is quite limited. It allows Monday to send a limited set of notifications to Teams, and that’s about it.

Recipe-based workflows are easy to understand for existing Monday users.

The Monday platform is refreshing for some users, especially startups and non-specialists.

Recipe-based workflows are limited to notifications sent from Monday to Teams.

Limited scope: There are only 6 recipes to choose from.

The app is one-way: It’s more about integrating Teams into Monday than the other way around, and it doesn’t show up on Microsoft’s app library.

The complicated integration process requires the Global Administrator to be a part of all relevant teams.

ClickUp is a wide-ranging work management tool that allows you to track projects, chat with team members, and more. In key ways, ClickUp is broad, but not very deep: It can be a great choice for smaller, shorter projects.

But this integration lacks the depth needed to take charge of longer, more complex projects. It can also be challenging to learn.

The ClickUp add-in for Teams enables notifications, rich unfurling, and task searching from within Teams. However, users must manually corral notifications by subscribing to the right Space, Folder, or List in ClickUp, meaning that everyone still has to run things from ClickUp at least some of the time.

Get an at-a-glance view of what everyone’s working on through Teams notifications.

Search for tasks without having to switch apps.

Users report that integration is limited (e.g., can’t bring complete task boards into Teams).

Sharing ClickUp task updates into Teams tends to create notification spam.

No integration with Power BI.

Doesn’t seem to offer automated task completion notifications.

Asana takes a task-based approach to project management and is built with the needs of smaller businesses in mind. It’s a great solution for lightweight task management and work coordination, but it’s lacking features like time tracking and custom client permissions .

The Asana for Teams app is a quality add-in for Teams, enabling quite a bit of two-way communication between the two apps. If Asana is sufficient for your project management needs, this combination could be highly effective for your business.

Asana for Teams lets users turn Teams conversations into actionable Asana tasks, interact with Asana tasks from within Teams video/audio meeting rooms, and see Asana items (including Portfolios, tasks, and projects) within Teams.

Tight integration: You can turn Teams conversations into actionable Asana tasks without leaving Teams.

Anyone with both Asana and Teams accounts can use the integration (no tiered or paywalled features).

One user finds Asana’s integration with Teams even tighter than Microsoft’s own similar tool, Planner.

Asana itself isn’t robust enough for managing complex projects.

Doesn’t appear to allow users to mark Asana tasks as complete from within Teams.

Wrike is an enterprise-grade project management software suite full of powerful and complex project management tools designed with enterprise organizations in mind. Most Wrike customers use the platform to coordinate work among in-house teams within a larger organization.

Because both Teams and Wrike are built with similar customers in mind, there is potential for an especially robust integration here, and Wrike has delivered just that.

You’ll be able to access most Wrike data from within Teams and update some types from there as well. Customizable notifications can keep you up to date on others’ progress.

Add a Wrike project as a tab within any Teams Channel and update the project from Teams.

In-line search within Teams chat can populate Wrike tasks.

Live Editor allows users to see team members’ changes to tasks in real-time.

Support for viewing Wrike projects on a Gantt chart within Teams.

Enterprise-grade tools often miss the mark for non-enterprise customers.

Complex tools assume a level of staffing and internal support that smaller businesses don’t have.

Numerous users have authentication problems when trying to connect the two apps.

6. Smartsheet

Smartsheet is more of a database tool than a pure project management one, but many project managers love it for its power and flexibility. It empowers users to create novel solutions with no-code tools and can assist in project management as well.

Smartsheet integrates with Teams, Power BI, Outlook, and web apps, and its Teams integration allows for limited two-way communication. You can add sheets to tabs in Teams and update them there, and Smartsheet can send notifications through Teams.

Project managers can set Smartsheet to send specific notifications to specific Teams channels.

Receive Smartsheet reminders as direct messages in Teams.

Add Smartsheet sheets and dashboards as tabs within any Team channel.

Some users find the app’s interface unintuitive and clunky .

Advanced features and solutions in Smartsheet don’t transfer over.

7. Zoho Projects

Zoho Projects is another project management tool that seeks to meet the needs of all sizes and types of businesses. Its web app integrates with Microsoft Teams, allowing users to access Zoho Projects within Teams tabs directly.

You can import Office (or 365) users into the Zoho projects portal, where you assign them to the projects they need to see. In the big picture, Zoho has a ton of integrations with all kinds of leading apps. Its Teams integrations are fairly limited, though.

Integration functions with all plans, including the free plan.

Access Zoho Projects within a Teams tab.

Few Teams-specific features with this integration: The focus seems to be on the broader Microsoft suite.

No advertised support for automating notifications.

Web app isn’t as strong an integration as a full Teams app would be.

Hive is an interesting user-built project management tool that boasts large enterprise firms like Google and Toyota as some of their builders. It’s a lesser-known but powerful software solution that can help businesses streamline new projects and keep track of complex teams, including those doing remote work .

Hive has plenty of functions and features, enough that the overall interface can take some getting used to. The company’s Teams app enables these functions:

Assign Hive tasks within Teams.

View all tasks assigned to a person.

Share documents from one app to the other.

Access just about anything from Hive via a Teams tab.

The integration essentially opens a web app version of Hive within Teams.

Too many features for smaller companies.

Nested web app experience can be sluggish.

9. Forecast

Forecast calls itself a single platform for all your project operations and boasts what it calls an “AI-native platform.” Its goal is to reduce time spent on non-billable tasks.

Forecast’s Teams app allows Forecast users to copy or mirror all Forecast project teams into Microsoft teams. This isn’t always an ideal approach: If you’re already using Teams heavily, you’d want to add Forecast to existing teams instead and it's not entirely clear whether the Forecast Notifier can do that.

A great choice if you don’t already have a lot invested in Teams, since it populates your Teams for you.

Attractive for businesses also interested in AI work automation.

A less common choice in project management.

Forecast’s Teams app doesn’t appear to be widely used based on the dearth of reviews .

10. Easy Projects

Easy Projects is designed to make complex operations simple for enterprise businesses, especially for their marketing, IT, operations, and professional services teams .

Its Teams integration enables a range of useful features, along with a couple of shortcomings worth noting.

Turn Teams messages into actionable Easy Projects activities.

Preview details about Easy Projects tasks and projects within Teams conversations.

Better than average UI support.

Another web app approach essentially loads the entire app within Teams and can be sluggish.

Some users find the interface unintuitive, inflexible, and confusing .

GitHub isn’t a project management tool but it is commonly used alongside them in software development workflows. Its Teams app lets users pull code into Teams for collaborative purposes. Teams can even edit code within Teams to a degree.

Powerful collaborative space for working on code-based projects.

Open and close GitHub issues within Teams.

Requires more tech knowledge than others (but if you’re using GitHub, you likely have it).

Devs may not prefer the Teams environment or may run into limits there.

12. MeisterTask

MeisterTask is a collaboration tool and collaborative task manager designed for teams using agile project management workflows. It strives to make task management more efficient, whether they’re using software sprints, Kanban boards, or other methods.

This integration supports task relationships, task assignees and watchers, instant overview, predefined checklists, and more. The company’s Teams app is another web app, meaning you’re essentially running the full MeisterTask web interface within a Teams channel tab.

Essentially, you can do everything MeisterTask does, but it’s not a smooth, native experience.

Access everything MeisterTask does within a Teams tab.

Modify any MeisterTask content from the view within Teams.

Implementing the MeisterTask app can be convoluted .

Board layout in MeisterTask results in awkward horizontal scrolling.

No automated cross-app communication (MeisterTask can’t send notifications through Teams).

Miro is an online whiteboard app. While not a full project management solution, Miro can be a great way for teams and project managers to sketch out ideas, workflows, or anything else that doesn’t work as a chat message or Word document.

With the Miro Teams app , you can share any Miro board within Teams, letting users brainstorm with all of Miro’s tools right within a Teams meeting or a channel tab.

Overall, it’s a very useful tool for teams (especially hybrid, distributed, or remote teams) that need a whiteboarding tool that works well in Microsoft Teams.

Integrates with Teams meetings and the Teams calendar (365 Calendar).

Embed boards within tabs on any project team.

Collaborate in real-time during Teams meetings — without needing a separate app.

Microsoft offers a similar free tool that may be good enough.

Start using Teamwork.com to manage your projects

Of all the tools we’ve reviewed, you’ll certainly need to start by choosing a primary solution that's built specifically for client work and also has everything you need in a project management solution. Teamwork.com is the ideal choice for organizations using Microsoft Teams thanks to its quality integration, two-way communication, and powerful search commands.

Get more out of Teams by switching to the all-in-one client work solution that's built for more advanced project management, helping you integrate better while getting work done. Get started today for free !

Alex York is a Content Marketing Manager who is passionate about all things SEO, marketing acquisition, and content strategy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Teamwork.com
• Zoho Projects
• Easy Projects
• MeisterTask

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