The availability of productivity apps is astounding. Basic word processors that were the desktop staple haven’t been replaced, but have evolved from requiring installation from a CD-ROM to not even requiring a downloaded program file anymore!
Yes, Microsoft Word, the workplace word processing darling, is accessible online through subscription-based Microsoft Office 365, which has a multitude of integrated apps designed for the flexible workforce.
Create documents in Microsoft Word or spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel and save them to SharePoint or OneDrive, send emails through Microsoft Outlook, design innovative presentations with PowerPoint, and the list goes on.
The list of apps that integrate with Office 365 expands every day! Considering Microsoft Office 365 now includes Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Flow, the possibilities are incredible. If you’ve not yet experienced either of these apps, you’re truly missing out.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft was rumored to be interested in acquiring the techie-favorite collaborative platform Slack in 2016, but instead, released Microsoft Teams in 2017 as an updated and improved alternative to its Skype for Business.
Microsoft viewed its Teams release as everything users loved about Slack and a “fix” to those areas where Slack wasn’t sufficient. Was Slack for sale? Probably not.
But it didn’t matter – Microsoft decided to invest in a proprietary solution rather than re-do someone else’s established product. The even better news with this decision?
Complete compatibility with the full family of Microsoft products is guaranteed, and integration with productivity apps!
Microsoft Flow
Do you love rules in Microsoft Outlook? If a new email comes in, is from a specific sender, includes a group of words in the subject line, or is from a specified domain, then treat the email with a certain process – the same way, every time.
Whether this is forwarding to someone else, deleting the email, or moving to a folder to organize messages, the process will remain the same until the user changes the rule.
Microsoft Outlook users love rules. Well, Microsoft Outlook users will love Microsoft Flow.
Microsoft Flow is basically one big “if, then, then” rule app – but don’t let us oversimplify this for you – it’s so much better! Why? Glad you asked! It’s much better because these rules aren’t restricted to Outlook.
Microsoft Flow is one giant automation machine. Rules in Microsoft Outlook are essentially automated processes the user defines, and Microsoft Flow helps users turn repetitive tasks into specific step-by-step workflows – hence the name – and automate these multistep workflows into templated processes to increase productivity and efficiency. Plus, don’t you get tired of doing the same things over and over again?
Users can set up a plethora of cool processes or Flows:
If an email from your biggest customer comes in, get a push notification on your smartphone.
Save any attachments that come in through an email in Microsoft Outlook to Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint.
Track items like working hours or social media posts or responses in an Excel spreadsheet.
Microsoft Project
If your Microsoft Office 365 subscription is an Enterprise, Government, or Academic account, Microsoft Project is available to use. Microsoft Project is a fantastic project management solution.
It facilitates keeping projects, teams, and resources on track and centralized in one organized location, provides an overview of project milestones, and tracks timelines.
As with other Microsoft Office 365 products, Microsoft Project is easily integrated with Microsoft productivity apps.