As a South West based IT Service provider we’re lucky enough to firstly keep our whole team working seamlessly at home (If an IT company can’t achieve this, who can?!) and secondly we have access an array of local beauty spots to encourage our daily exercise.

We understand not every business is set up to operate completely remotely and if you’re based in the centre of a large city, finding somewhere quiet and peaceful to walk might be tricky.

Yet, during times like these our metal health is so important. These are the toughest times most of us have been through and as we all enjoy the wonders of being connected via technology, it’s also great to see technology supporting our mental health too.

Microsoft Teams, as part of the Office 365 suite is working hard to ensure its user establishes a good work/life balance whilst working from home.

Here’s some of their latest features that can help:

New features added at the end of 2020 meant that individuals, managers, and business leaders can now receive insights and recommended actions to achieve a better day, a better week, and a better experience for themselves, their teams, and their organisations. These capabilities enable everyone within the organisation to make positive changes to their work life balance. New features to support well-being are being added all the time…

Personal Productivity Insights

If your day seems to go by in a blur and you’re not really sure what you achieved, Personal Productivity Insights is the feature for you. With this feature employees can now ensure their time is being spent on the right things. From booking out time to build relationships across their networks to scheduling time where they have complete uninterrupted focus session for those all important tasks that need complete concentration.

Virtual Commute

Missing your commute to help you wind down after a long day at work? Luckily Microsoft have thought about this with this exciting new feature coming in 2021. You’ll be able to create a virtual commute, allowing you to schedule mindful space before the start of your day and at the end of your day, increasing your productivity during your actual working hours. Plus you’ll receive reminders to set scheduled breaks throughout your day to help those that find it hard to walk away form their screens.

Emotional Check-in

Miss being able to pick up on how your colleagues are feeling through body language signs within the office? There will soon be an emotional check-in experience in Teams, allowing individuals to check in on how they are feeling about their day but also find out how their teammates are doing. This additional insight will help communication between employees as we all work in our individual work spaces at home.

Mindfulness Experiences

Microsoft have announced that they will be partnering with Headspace (70m downloads so far can’t be wrong?) to deliver Teams users a handy set of mindfulness experiences and science backed meditations into the flow of your day.

Check these great features out in more detail here.

Our Exeter based team have used Microsoft Teams for some time now and it’s crucial to our level of service and support. It enables us to connect and communicate in an instant, either in groups or between individuals. We can video call each other, share files, even show off our personality with emoticons and GIFs. We can set up specific channels dedicated to specific IT support clients or IT projects that we might be working on. We can book out time for virtual meetings or even virtual coffee breaks to catch up with how our colleagues are doing.

As we continue into 2021 with further restrictions and more remote working, make sure both yourself and your team are looking after your well being and don’t forget to utilise technology that makes this easier to achieve.

If you’d like to talk to us about Microsoft Teams for your business, give us a call on 01392 796 779.