--- title: 'Stay Productive with Microsoft Teams' url: 'https://blog.datum-consulting.com/blog/productive-with-teams' markdown: 'https://blog.datum-consulting.com/blog/productive-with-teams.md' date: '2020-03-23' description: 'Microsoft Teams is a collaboration app that helps your team stay organized and have conversations—all in one place. Here’s a quick look at the left hand side of Teams. Teams — Find channels to belong to or create your own. Inside channels you can hold on-the-spot meetings, have conversations,…' taxonomy: category: - blog tag: - 'microsoft office 365' - 'cloud services' - 'microsoft teams' month: - March archives_month: - mar_2020 archives_year: - '2020' --- # Stay Productive with Microsoft Teams [ Home ](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/) Stay Productive with Microsoft Teams ## [Stay Productive with Microsoft Teams](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/blog/productive-with-teams) 23rd Mar 2020 [microsoft office 365](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/tag:microsoft%20office%20365#body-wrapper) [cloud services](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/tag:cloud%20services#body-wrapper) [microsoft teams](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/tag:microsoft%20teams#body-wrapper) Microsoft Teams is a collaboration app that helps your team stay organized and have conversations—all in one place. Here’s a quick look at the left hand side of Teams. ![](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/blog/productive-with-teams/aec47682-5ed9-4dbe-a579-b82a41fd18f5.png)- **Teams** — Find channels to belong to or create your own. Inside channels you can hold on-the-spot meetings, have conversations, and share files. - **Meetings** — See everything you’ve got lined up for the day or week. Or, schedule a meeting. This calendar syncs with your Outlook calendar. - **Calls** — In some cases, if your organization has it set up, you can call anyone from Teams, even if they’re not using Teams. - **Activity** — Catch up on all your unread messages, @mentions, replies, and more. Use the command box at the top to search for specific items or people, take quick actions, and launch apps. ##### Get the app you want - [Download Teams](https://aka.ms/getteams) for your desktop, iOS, or Android. - Or just use Teams on the web at . --- #### Set up and customize your team To get your team up and running in Microsoft Teams, create a team, add people, and add channels. ##### Create a team 1. Select **Teams** > **Join or create a team**. This is where you create your own team, or discover existing ones. 2. Select **Create a new team**, and then select **Build a team from scratch** or select **Create from...** to build an all-new team or create from an existing group respectively. 3. Select **Private** if you’d like people to request permission to join, or select **Public** if anyone in your org can join. 4. Give the team a name and add a short description if you’d like. 5. Select **Create.** 6. Add members. You can add people, groups, or even entire contact groups. If you need to add people from outside your organization, use their email address to invite them as guests. Add a friendly display name for them too. 7. When you’re done adding members, select **Add** and then **Close**. > *Note: If you’re a global administrator, consider [creating an org-wide team](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/create-an-org-wide-team) that automatically adds everyone in your organization.* ##### Create a channel By default, every team gets a **General** channel, which is a good channel to use for announcements and information the whole team needs. To add more channels: 1. Select ![](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/blog/productive-with-teams/SelectMoreOptions.jpg)**More options...** next to the team name. 2. Select **Add channel**. 3. Enter a name and description for your channel. You can build a channel around a topic, project, department name, or whatever you like. 4. Select **Automatically show this channel in everyone’s channel list** if you want this channel to be automatically visible in everyone’s channel list. 5. Select **Add**. ##### Customize and manage your team 1. Select ![](https://blog.datum-consulting.com/blog/productive-with-teams/SelectMoreOptions.jpg)**More options...** next to the team name. 2. Select **Manage team** to find **Members**, **Channels**, **Settings**, and **Apps** for your team all in one place. 3. Select **Settings** > **Team picture** to add a team picture and give your team some personality. Check out additional Microsoft Teams [training videos](https://support.office.com/en-us/article/microsoft-teams-video-training-4f108e54-240b-4351-8084-b1089f0d21d7) and download the Microsoft Teams [Quick Start guide](http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/9/F/D9FE8B9E-22F5-47BF-A1AB-09539C41FCD0/Teams%20QS.pdf). 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