Get Started with Microsoft Teams
Teams is where the Council chats, meets and works together. You will use it every day.
The three parts
Chat - quick messages to one person or a small group. Replaces the email you have have sent for a quick question.
Teams and channels - a shared space for a team or a project, where posts are visible to everyone in it. Beter than chat when the conversation should be findable later, or when people join and leave.
Meetings - see Schedule a meeting and book a room and Join a meeting.
Chat or Channel?
| Use chat when | Use a channel when |
|---|---|
| It is a quick question | Others may need it later |
| It does not need to be findable in six months | It is a decision or an announcement |
If in doubt, use the channel. A conversation in a channel is visible to people who join later; a chat disappears into two people's history.
Teams messages are Council records
Chats and channel posts are retained, and they can be produced in response to a Right to Information request or legal process in the same way email can.
Write accordingly. Teams feels casual because it looks like texting, but a message about a resident, a development application or a personnel matter is a record whichever tool it was typed in.
Two practical consequences:
- Do not use chat for anything sensitive. Not because chat is insecure, but because it is the wrong place. It is hard to find later, hard to hand over when you leave, and it is not where records belong.
- If a chat contains a decisions, capture it properly. Put it in ECM or in an email, so it exists somewhere findable.
Teams on your phone
Install Microsoft Teams from the App Store or Google Play and sign in with your Council account.