Prior to COVID-19 there were 12 million daily active Teams users. Since COVID-19, there are 44 million. In just a few weeks the number of users almost quadrupled, almost a 400% increase. With this increase, training on Teams and helping companies adopt Teams has been my top inquiry from new and existing clients.

So here are the top questions I'm hearing.

Question #1: Does Teams work for meetings with people outside your organization? If so - How?

Short answer - yes, and it's easy.

Although Teams is an amazing internal communication and collaboration tool, and many think of it as only or mainly that, it can also EASILY be used externally. AND, whomever you invite to a meeting does NOT need to have Teams installed or even be a Microsoft Office user. In one click, they can simply logon through a browser or the app (if on a phone) as a "guest".

With that being said, if you are wanting to add external users to your teams and not just have meetings, there are some limitations on how int...

Remote Learning...Now More Than Any Other Time

 Let's be honest - e-learning, remote learning, virtual learning, they've all been a thing for a long time. BUT, until we have a reason to learn remotely, a motivation to change and do it differently.....we won't and we don't.

Almost all of us are being challenged to work in new ways, in new environments, with new tools, with new office mates (can you say kids going to school? dogs barking?) and maybe even new hours. If we're being honest - it's hard - like really hard. We're not just working from home for a day - for some extenuating circumstance - nope - we have no clue how long we'll be doing this for. I don't know about you, but that's hard for me to wrap my brain around.

So, like it or not, you're learning new tools, in new ways for new reasons (baptism by fire?). 

So my recommendation is to take advantage of some of the extra minutes in your day to learn something. Something you've been meaning to learn, something you do...

87% of People Feel More Connected with these Virtual Meeting Tips

You're running meetings that were supposed to be in a conference room, conducting training sessions that were scheduled to be face to face and replacing in-person check-ins. In these unprecedented times, with most of us quarantined at home, our virtual communication skills are more critical than ever before. 

I've been working remotely with clients and providing virtual training and facilitating meetings for almost 20 years with a Masters degree in Education technology, I thought I'd share some tips and tricks that will help you - whether you're a virtual newbie or you've been working from home for years. Now we're all being forced to learn them and the playing field is pretty level with everyone figuring things out together so roll your sleeves up and let's dig in.

Common Fears Now that you're Working from Home 

• You're afraid your boss doesn't think you're working enough and let's be honest - companies are laying
...

87% of People Feel More Connected with these Virtual Meeting Tips

You're running meetings that were supposed to be in a conference room, conducting training sessions that were scheduled to be face to face and replacing in-person check-ins. In these unprecedented times, with most of us quarantined at home, our virtual communication skills are more critical than ever before. 

I've been working remotely with clients and providing virtual training and facilitating meetings for almost 20 years with a Masters degree in Education technology, I thought I'd share some tips and tricks that will help you - whether you're a virtual newbie or you've been working from home for years. Now we're all being forced to learn them and the playing field is pretty level with everyone figuring things out together so roll your sleeves up and let's dig in.

Common Fears Now that you're Working from Home 

• You're afraid your boss doesn't think you're working enough and let's be honest - companies are laying
...

Notebook Organization and Sharing

Once you start using OneNote, it's important to organize your notebooks. You will end up with lots of pages and maybe for starters you decide to keep them all in a single notebook, but eventually, you will most likely need more than one notebook and ways to organize the information within a notebook too.

First - let's talk about when to create a new notebook.

Create a New Notebook When....

The main reasons you will create a new notebook or have more than one notebook are when:

• You use OneNote for both business and personal info.
• You share notebooks with other user's.
• You need different permissions for different info. 
• It makes sense due to the amount of sections you have in a notebook.

To Create a New Notebook

• Click the drop down next to your active notebook
• In the menu, at the top, select Add Notebook

Moving Section or Pages

When you're organizing or re-organizing, it is super easy to move sections and pages between notebooks. I...

Working Virtually with Microsoft Teams

You learned some basics about Microsoft Teams in my last Tuesday's Tip. This week I'd like to highlight some features that might be ESPECIALLY useful in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic. With such a huge number of us now working from home not necessarily as a convenience or occasionally but everyday, indefinitely and as a requirement. 

5 Things you didn't know you could do in Microsoft Teams...

I'm going to highlight 5 fun and useful things you can do in or with Microsoft Teams while we all navigate this "New Normal" while we work remotely.

#1: Did you know...You can add people that aren't in your organization to your Team?

If you are working with vendors or subcontractors, you can create a Team where you can share files as well as do video calls and share white boards and wikis. 

Tip: When everyone is used to connecting in an office, doing a video call can be very satisfying for checking in and feeling more connected as we all practice s...

Elearning Tips for Teachers

• Engage with students both synchronously and asynchronously.
  • Synchronous. Schedule time to have live discussions and screencasts – if possible using video technology. One of the things to consider in a virtual learning community is connection and visual connection is really important. If possible, use technology to set up “live” class times where students can not only see you as well as your screen or content but also you can see them and they can see you and each other. Zoom is now free for schools and has some really cool capabilities allowing video to switch to each student speaking.
  • Asynchronous. Setup “office hours” time where you are online and can respond to questions via text/chat. Microsoft Teams works really well for this. It gives students a way to feel connected but that may not want to ask in the group/live setting.
• Provide a sample or recommended schedule for students. Ideally, this would include an amount of time they should sche
...

Working Remotely with Microsoft Teams

These are crazy times we are living in where as a country we are being asked to self-quarantine and work from home as much as possible. With some of the most recent technology, this is even more feasible than it was just a few years ago. There are a lot of amazing apps that allow us to do this more effectively. Teams is one of them. Not only does Teams allow for a more virtual workplace but it also has features that allow us to still feel connected to our colleagues.

What is Microsoft Teams?

By now you've probably heard about Microsoft Teams - if not - this is a great place to start. If you use the current version of Microsoft Office (O365) it is most likely part of your subscription. Teams is replacing Skype for Business.

This weeks tip is best if you view the video so you can see the screens and hear the tips while you watch my screen. Check it out!

Teams Features 

With Microsoft Teams you can use any of the following features:

• Phone and
...

Applying Tags in OneNote is Life Changing if you're a List Lover like Me

Confession: I am addicted to lists.

I mean actually, I am pretty sure I've never had a day I didn't make multiple lists. My mom even found a list I had made when I was in elementary school and it had "play" on it. I am SERIOUS about my lists. Now even if you're not as addicted to lists as I am, you will LOVE Tags in OneNote. It practically creates lists for you.

As you learn more and more about OneNote and start to use it in different parts of your life, I know you will love it. This feature is one of the best in my opinion. It allows you to have hundreds or even thousands of pages but to be able to tag things and find them easily, no matter what notebook or section you might have put them in.

Tags are a way to "flag" things and group things. It makes it easy to find them later without having to search specifically for them.

This is one feature you will DEFINITELY want to use the full OneNote version - not th...

OneNote: Cool Colors, Lines and Adding Files and Pics to your Pages

Since OneNote is a digital note taking app, you're not only going to take new notes, but you want them to be easy on the eyes as well as organized.  One really easy cool way to do that is by using page colors, page lines and page grids.  This is ESPECIALLY helpful if you are using a touchscreen and/or stylus.  This can help make the digital note taking experience more like the paper note taking one.

Change Page Color

1. In OneNote, click on the View tab and then the Page Color button.
   
   
   
2. In the Page Color menu, pick a color for the background of your page.
   
3. The color you choose will be the background for the entire page.

Add Page Lines or Grid Lines

1. In OneNote, click on the View tab and then the Rule Lines button.
   
   
   
2. Under Rule Lines, pick a specified line or grid for the page.
   

Once you LOVE the look of your page whether that be color, lines, grids or some combination of these - you need to get information on...