Tuesday's Tip #50: Teams Together Mode

What's Teams Together Mode?

The new Teams feature - Together Mode - simulates a meeting where you can see everyone in the meeting in a simulated room like an auditorium. And yes, it really does work!

At first - it might seem a little cheesy - but it actually does a good job and creates a feeling that you're a little more together. Here's how to use it....

What to Know About Together Mode

• You have to have at least 5 people in the meeting. Not everyone has to have their cameras on though.
• It is available only on the desktop version of the app.
• Besides the feeling of being together in the same room, you can see more people in the same room.
• By eliminating everyone's "boxes" it uses the psychology to make everyone feel like they're together

Why I Love Together Mode

• It's fun! Experiment with the different scenes.
• Uses technology and psychology to make people feel more connected, especially in larger meetings.
• Lets you see more people in a meeting - instead of the limit in current Teams app.
• It's easy! 

How to Use Together Mode

There is a simple toggle that allows you to enable it. From here- it's meeting by meetings.

To enable it:

1. Click your profile picture in Teams....Settings.
   
   
2. Check the box, "Turn on New Meeting Experience..."
   
3. Restart Teams (if necessary).
   
   

How to Use it in a Meeting

1. Start your meeting as usual. 
   
   
2. Click the ...(More Actions) button in your meeting window and select Together Mode.
   
   
   
3. You will now see the Together mode with the default scene (auditorium).
   Note - just because you have it on - doesn't mean everyone else does. It depends on if they are on the desktop app or phone app.
   
   
4. You can change the scene (background) by clicking Change Scene... in the bottom left corner.
   
   
   
5. Choose a scene. Notice the number in the corner letting you know how many people can be in each scene.
   
   
   
6. Then you can see the users in the new scene. Do you like my not that willing participants including my husband and son who's gaming :-)
   

Try it out! I think you'll like it!