Microsoft Teams: Text Collaboration and Communication

Introduction

• The Microsoft Teams application is a collaboration platform that ties together multiple Microsoft applications and services, such as Teams, Calendar, Chats, Calls, and more, in one location to facilitate communication and collaboration.
• In this session, we’ll learn:
  • how to use the Posts tab in a channel for conversations, and
  • how to use the Chat app in Microsoft Teams for chatting.
• As a quick heads-up, at the time of this recording, Microsoft is in the process of rolling out a new version of the Microsoft Teams app. As a result, your Microsoft Teams interface may look different than what’s shown in this recording and some features may work differently than demonstrated here.

Having conversations in a team

• Let’s start by talking about conversations within a team.
• Conversations happen within a channel in a team, and are threaded discussions related to the channel’s topic.
• You can find a channel’s conversations on the channel’s Posts tab. These conversations are displayed with the most recently active conversation appearing first in the list of posts.
• Team members can start a conversation by creating a new post in the Posts tab, and other members can reply to the initial post in the conversation’s thread.
  • If you’re used to using a persistent chat service like Slack or Discord for work-related communication, this might be a little different than what you’re used to, as persistent chat applications show posts in chronological order.
  • Many of these applications can have threaded conversations; however, the threads will still appear in chronological order based on the post that started the thread’s timestamp.
• Let’s explore the Posts tab for a channel – today’s demonstration takes place in the General channel for the team O365-IU-UITS-TrainingDemo.
• If we scroll through the contents of the tab, we can see there are already a number of conversations here.
• Whenever a meeting is held in a channel, the text chat for any channel meeting will appear as a conversation during and after the meeting on that channel’s Posts tab, as we can see here in the demo team. This enables team members to participate in the conversation even if they’re not present in the meeting, or to continue the conversation after the meeting ends.
• In the newest version of Microsoft Teams, you can change how the posts are displayed – by default, the most recently active conversation is displayed at the bottom of the Posts tab. However, we can change that to have the most recently active conversation display at the top of the tab.
  • To do this, near the top right corner of the Posts tab, click on the three-dots (or More options) menu button.
  • Then, in the menu that appears, click on See new posts at top (or bottom) to change the order of the posts.
  • This will change the display order of the posts for all your teams, and not just the active channel.
  • I’ll change this back to the default setting of new posts at the bottom before moving on.
• Conversations on a channel’s Posts tab are organized with the most recently active conversation appearing at the bottom of the tab by default. The most recently active conversation will be displayed first in the list of conversations, regardless of when that conversation started.
  • If we look at the General channel’s Posts tab, the conversation we see first in the list is from a meeting that was started, at 2:46 pm today, and the next one in the list was posted at 10:53 am today. If I keep scrolling up, I’ll see the third conversation was actually posted after the second one, at 10:59 am.
  • You might be thinking, why are the posts out of order like this?
  • Well, the second conversation had a response at 11:52 am today that pushed that conversation ahead of the one that was posted earlier. Remember, the most recently active conversations will be displayed first on the Posts tab, no matter when those conversations were first started.
  • Additionally, if there are any unread messages that have been posted since the last time you visited a channel’s posts tab, the Last read divider will display between the new posts and any previously read posts, and new conversation posts will have a “New” indicator in the upper right corner of the conversation.
• Let’s learn how to create a new post and learn a little more about conversations in general as we go through the process.

Creating a new post

• There are two different types of posts we can create: we can create a post or an announcement.
• You might be thinking, “what’s the difference between a post and an announcement?” Well, there are a couple of differences between the two.
  • An announcement looks a little different than a post – announcements have a larger headline with a colored or graphic background to help them stand out visually from the rest of the posts in a channel.
  • Also, while everyone can reply to a post, you can choose who can reply to an announcement – everyone, or only you and moderators, which is a role that can be assigned to specific team members that gives them additional permissions, such as managing who can start and reply to posts.
    • To learn more about the moderator role, in a web browser, go to support.microsoft.com and search for the term “teams channel moderator”.
  • Another difference is that you can choose to post an announcement in a specific channel or post it to multiple channels at the same time. If you can make announcements in multiple teams, you can even post a single announcement to multiple teams all at once.
  • You can switch back and forth between creating a post and an announcement by clicking the Post type button next to the Post button when creating a new post.
• When we look at the Posts tab for a given channel, we may see different options available based on how we have our posts organized.
  • If the most recently active posts are displayed at the bottom of the tab, we’ll see the Start a post button on the lower left side of the Posts tab.
  • If the most recently active posts are displayed at the top of the tab, you’ll see a card with the text Start a new post above the list of posts, with the options Post and Announcement displaying at the bottom of that card.
• I’m going to demonstrate how to create a new post. Since my conversations are displayed using the default view, with the newest posts at the bottom, I’ll click the Start aPost button at the bottom of the Posts tab.
• I’ll start by giving the post a subject. This isn’t required but can be helpful if you’re starting a discussion on a specific topic and want to let people know what that is when they first look at the post.
  • To add a subject, click in the Add a subject field, then type in the subject for the post. For this example, I’ll give it the subject “Planning the team retreat”.
• Next, I’ll add the message I want to share by clicking in the Type a new message field, then typing in the message. For this post, I’ll type in the following:
  • “I'm excited to announce that we’re starting the process of planning our next team retreat!”

Mentioning people in a post

• If desired, we can mention a specific person, tag, or team in a post. Doing this will notify the person (or people) that they’ve been mentioned in a post.
  • To mention someone in a post, type the at symbol and then their name. I want to mention Diane Dell as someone to reach out to with suggestions for retreat locations, so I’ll type the first part of my sentence, which starts out with “Reach out to”.
  • Then, to mention Diane, I’ll type the at symbol, then I’ll start typing her name. In the list of suggestions that appears, I’ll click on her name to select it, and her name will appear in the post wherever my cursor was located.
  • Now I’ll finish the sentence by typing the text “with retreat location ideas.”
  • One important thing to know about mentioning people in a post is that you can only mention people who are members of the team.
• The process for mentioning a tag, channel, or the team as a whole is the same - simply type the name of the tag, channel, or team after the at symbol.

Attaching a file to a post

• You can also attach a file to a post, if desired. Microsoft Teams allows you to attach a file from your cloud storage, link to a file uploaded to a team, or upload a file from your computer. Any files you upload to a post will be available on the Files tab for the channel you’re posting in. For today’s demonstration, I’ll upload a Word document from my computer named Retreat location suggestions.
  • To start, at the bottom of the post, underneath the text entry field, click the Actions and apps icon – it looks like a plus sign.
  • At the top of the menu that appears, click on Attach file. A pop-up will appear that displays three options – Attach cloud files, Browse Teams and Channels, and Upload from this device. You may also see a list of your most recently edited files here.
    • Attach cloud files allows you to attach a file that’s stored in your personal OneDrive.
    • Browse Teams and Channels enables you to link to an existing file that lives in a team that you’re a member of.
    • Upload from this device lets you choose a file to upload from your device.
  • For today’s session, I want to upload a file from my computer, so I’ll click on Upload from this device.
  • The Open dialog box will appear. From here, I’ll navigate to the file I want to upload, then click on it to select it and click the Open button in the bottom right corner of the dialog box to finish selecting the file.
  • Microsoft Teams will upload the file, and once uploaded, it’ll appear at the bottom of the post’s text entry field.

Finishing up creating a post

• Once you’re finished with writing the post, click the Post button to finish creating the new post.
• The post will then be visible on the Posts tab for the channel you posted in, and any files you attached will be accessible in both the post and on the Files tab for the channel.
• Additionally, anyone you mentioned in the post will be notified that they’ve been mentioned.

Replying to a conversation

• Now that we’ve seen how to create a new post, let’s explore how to reply to a conversation.
• To start, underneath the conversation you want to reply to, click on Reply. I’ll click on Reply for the post about the new kitten.
• A text entry field will appear – to write your reply, click inside the text entry field and type your message. For today, I’ll type the text “He’s a cute kitten, and so very tiny!”
  • If you need to format the text, on the right side of the text entry field, click on the Format icon – it looks like the letter A with a pencil to the right of it. The format tools will appear, and you can format the text as needed. For today, I won’t apply any formatting to the text.
  • To finish posting the reply, under the far-right side of the text entry field, click on the Send icon – it looks like a paper airplane. The reply will be posted and will appear at the bottom of the reply thread.

Opening a conversation in a new window

• If you want to have a specific conversation open while doing other tasks in Teams, you can do this by opening the conversation in a new window. Here’s how to do this.
• I want to open the conversation about planning the retreat in a new window, so I’ll point to the first post in that conversation. Then, in the upper right corner of that first post, I’ll click on the More options (or three dots) button, and in the menu that appears, I’ll click on Open conversation in new window.
• The conversation will load in a new window, and I can leave it open and participate in the conversation while I switch to working on other tasks.

Data classifications and team conversations

• Before we move on, I want to take a moment to talk about how data classifications apply to text conversations held in a team.
• If you’re not already familiar with the different data classifications at IU, you can learn more by visiting https://datamanagement.iu.edu/data-classifications.
• Conversation topics can fall anywhere at or below the maximum data classification for the team in which the conversation takes place. This also applies to files that are uploaded directly to a conversation in a team.
  • For example, if your team was set up to work with and store restricted data, you can have conversations involving public, university internal, and restricted data inside the team, but not critical data, as the team wasn’t set up to work with critical data.
• There are some types of sensitive data, however, that shouldn’t be stored or discussed in a team – even if the team was set up to work with critical or restricted data. This includes credit card data, information regulated by Export Control Laws, advancement data such as donor gift agreements, and more.
• To learn more about what data can be stored in Microsoft 365 storage, view the IU Knowledge Base article “Types of institutional data appropriate for Microsoft 365 at IU and Google at IU” at https://kb.iu.edu/d/bger.

Chats

• Now that we’ve explored how conversations work in a team channel, let’s learn more about chats in Microsoft Teams.
• If you’re used to using the chat function of Skype for Business or the direct message function in Slack, chats in the Microsoft Teams Chat application are very similar. You can have one-on-one chats or chat with a group in the Chat app, and you can share files with everyone involved in the chat. Also, chat messages are always displayed in chronological order, with the newest message appearing at the bottom of the list of messages.
  • As a heads-up, threads aren’t available in chats. However, you can reply to a particular message in a chat - this doesn’t create a thread like it does in a conversation, though. We’ll learn how to do this a little later on in the session.
• Chat participants don’t have to be members of the same team to chat with each other – you can chat with anyone at Indiana University, and even people outside of IU who have a Microsoft account.

Chats vs. conversations: what’s the difference?

• While chats and conversations may seem similar at first glance, they’re two separate methods of communication that occur in entirely different places in the Microsoft Teams application. Let’s take a closer look at the distinction between chats and conversations and what that means in the context of working in Microsoft Teams.
• For example, a conversation happens inside a channel in a team in the Teams app, and is a group method of text communication that’s available to everyone who can access the channel that contains the conversation.
• In comparison, a chat is a text conversation between two or more people that happens inside the Chat app.
• Chats are stand-alone and separate from any team within Microsoft Teams.
  • The contents of a chat and any files shared in a chat are only accessible by you and the other people involved in a chat.
  • Since chats are between individuals and not a part of a team, any files that are shared in a chat are stored in individual storage, which is the uploader’s OneDrive My Files, and not in institutional storage, which includes the Files tab in a channel in a team.

Chats and data classifications

• Since chats happen outside of a specific team, there are different data classification rules that apply to chats. Any text communication and files uploaded to a chat in the Chat app are limited to data classified as public or university-internal, the same classifications of data that you can store in OneDrive My Files.
• You can link to a file that contains restricted or critical data, so long as it's stored in an appropriately created team in chat, but you can't share restricted or critical data in the text of a chat.
• There are two exceptions to this rule: include discussing grades with a student through a chat, and transcribed voicemails.
• If you need to discuss data that’s restricted or critical data, you can do this in a conversation inside a team that’s properly configured to store those types of data, and not inside a chat.

Accessing the Chat app and viewing chats

• We’ll need to switch to the Chat app to view our chats. To do this, in the application bar on the left side of the screen, click on Chat.
• A list of your chats will display on the left side of the screen, and your most recently active chat will appear in the main part of the screen.
• To view a chat, click on it in the list of chats and it will display in the main part of the screen.

Starting a new chat

• Let’s see how to start a new chat with someone.
• To create a new chat, at the top of the list of chats on the left side of the screen, click on the New chat icon – it looks like a stylized sheet of paper with a pen over it.
• The main area of the screen will change to display the new chat view. Next, in the To: field, type in the name or username of the person you want to chat with. For me, I’ll start a new chat with Diane Dell, so I’ll type her username – which is demo33 – in the To: field. When her name appears in the pop-up underneath the To: field, I’ll click on it to select it.
• If you want to start a group chat, repeat the process as necessary until everyone is added to the chat. I’ll add one more person to the chat – Doris Daily, whose username is demo35.
• Once you’ve selected who you want to chat with, you can type your message in the Type a message field at the bottom of the screen. I’ll type in the message “Where should we order lunch from today?”
• To send the message, you can either press the Enter key on your keyboard; or, to the right side of the message field, click the Send icon - it looks like a paper airplane.

Sharing a file in a chat

• Next, let’s see how to share a file in a chat. I’ll demonstrate this by sharing a file that contains a menu for a local restaurant in the chat I just started.
• To start the process, on the right side of the Type a message field, click the Actions and Apps icon – it looks like a plus sign.
• At the top of the menu that appears, click on Attach file. A pop-up will appear that displays two options – Attach cloud files and Upload from this device. You may also see a list of your most recently edited files here.
• For today’s demonstration, I’ll upload a file from my computer by choosing Upload from this device.
• The Open dialog box will appear. From here, I’ll navigate to the file I want to upload, which is named Menu.pdf. Then I’ll click on it to select it and click the Open button in the bottom right corner of the dialog box to finish selecting the file.
• Microsoft Teams will upload the file, and once uploaded, it’ll appear at the bottom of the Type a message field. We can then type a message to accompany the file, or simply click the Send button to send the file.

Additional chat features

• Let’s explore some of the helpful chat features in Microsoft Teams.

Pinning a chat

• You can pin a chat to the top of the chat list to make it easier to find. I’ll demonstrate this by pinning the chat I’m working in with Diane Dell and Doris Daily.
• To do this, first, point at the chat you want to pin – for today’s demonstration, I’ll point to the chat named "Daily, Doris, Dell, +2". Then, click the three-dots (or More options) button to the far right of the chat’s name, and in the menu that appears, click Pin.
• The chat will now appear in the Pinned section at the top of the list of chats.
• You can also unpin a chat if you no longer want it pinned at the top of the chat list.
  • To do this, point at the chat you want to unpin, then click the three-dots (or More options) In the menu that appears, click Unpin.

Renaming a group chat

• If desired, it’s possible to rename a group chat to something that’s more memorable or better reflects the topic of the chat.
  • Keep in mind that you can only rename group chats – you can’t rename one-on-one chats.
• To start, open the chat you want to rename by clicking on it in the list of chats on the left side of the screen. I’ll keep using the chat with Doris and Diane for this example.
• Next, at the top of the main area of the chat window, to the right of the list of participant names, click the Name group chat button – it looks like a pencil.
• The Group name dialog box will appear – type the new name for the chat in the text entry field. For my example today, I’ll name this chat Lunch buddies. When you’re done, click the Save button to save your changes.
• The list of participant names at the top of the screen will be replaced with the chat name. The chat will also display using the chat name in the list of chats on the left side of the screen.

Replying to a specific message in a chat

• You can also reply to a specific message in a chat. This can be helpful in situations where you want to respond to something specific someone said. I’ll demonstrate this using the Lunch Buddies chat.
• To respond to a specific message, first, point at the specific chat message you want to reply to.
• A pop-up will appear, displaying some emojis you can use as reactions, as well as the reply button and the More Options button. Here, you’ll click on the Reply button, which looks like a curved arrow pointing to the left.
• In the text entry field at the bottom of the screen, you’ll see the message you’re replying to. From here, you can type your response and send the message when you’re ready.
• Your response will appear in the chat along with a copy of the individual message you’re replying to.

Hiding a chat

• You can also hide a chat from the list of chats, if necessary. I’ll demonstrate this by hiding the chat named Test Chat in my chat list.
• To do this, first, in the list of chats on the left side of the screen, point to the chat you want to hide, and then click on the More options (or three-dots) menu button. Then, in the menu that appears, click on Hide.
• The chat will then be hidden from the list of chats.
• If you need to view the chat again, you can unhide the chat and make it appear in the list of chats again.
  • To do this, in the Search bar at the top of the Microsoft Teams window, type the name of the person or the name of the group chat that you want to unhide. If you’re searching for a group chat, you may need to click on the Group Chats filter under the search bar – since this applies to the chat I’m looking for, I’ll click the Group Chats filter button, then type in the words “Test chat” and press the Enter key on my keyboard to search for the chat.
  • Once the person or group chat is displayed, click on the person or group chat’s name to display the chat.
  • The chat will load in the main part of the screen, and will also appear in the list of chats on the left side of the screen. However, if you switch to another chat at this point, the chat will be hidden again.
  • At the top of the chat area, we see the text “Show hidden chat history”.
  • To display the rest of the chat history and unhide the chat, click on Show hidden chat history. The hidden chat messages will appear in the main part of the screen, and the chat will also stay unhidden in the chat list on the left side of the screen.

Opening a chat in a separate window

• If you prefer to have your chats open in a window separate from the Microsoft Teams window, you can pop out an individual chat into its own separate window. You can also change your Microsoft Teams settings to have new chats open in a new window.
  • These options only apply to the desktop version of Microsoft Teams – if you’re using Microsoft Teams in a web browser, you won’t be able to pop out chat windows or change your chat window settings.
• Let’s first see how to pop out an existing chat.
  • To do this, in the chat list on the left side of the screen, point to the chat you want to pop out. I want to pop out the first chat in my list of chats, so I’ll point to that chat.
  • Then, to the right of the chat’s name, click on the Open chat in new window icon – it’s immediately to the left of the More options button, and looks like two squares on top of each other with an arrow pointing up and to the right inside the top square.
  • The selected chat will now open in its own window.
• To change your Microsoft Teams settings so all new chats start in a new window, near the top right corner of the Microsoft Teams interface, click on the Settings and more (or three dots) menu button – it’s immediately to the left of your user picture. Then, in the menu that appears, click on Settings.
  • The Microsoft Teams settings will open and display the general settings options. To create new chats in a new window, under the Starting chats heading, click the option for New Your changes will be saved as you make them.
  • Now, if I go to start a new chat, the chat will open in a new window.

Wrapping up

• At this point, we should be more familiar with how to start conversations in a channel as part of a team, as well as how to chat with others using the Chat app in Microsoft Teams. To learn more about Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft 365 applications, visit IT Training’s Microsoft 365 page at https://ittraining.iu.edu/microsoft.