Mastering Microsoft Teams Messaging: A Guide to Message Bar Features
Exploring the Message Bar in Teams When you open a chat or channel in Teams, the message bar is where you type your messages. But beyond just text, it offers several features that make communication more effective. Here’s a breakdown of what you can do: 1. Rich Text Formatting ("A" Icon) The "A" (Format) button expands the message bar, allowing you to: Apply bold, italics, underline, and strikethrough for emphasis. Adjust font size, color, and highlight for clarity. Create ordered and unordered lists for structured communication. Insert quotes and code snippets for technical discussions. 2. @Mentions for Attention Using @ followed by a name notifies a specific person in a chat or channel, ensuring they don’t miss important messages. In channels, you can also mention: @team – The name of the team: Notifies everyone in the team. @channel – The name of the channel: Alerts everyone following the channel. @everyone - Alerts everyone in a chat. 3. Attach Files (Paperclip Icon) Teams makes it easy to share files directly in chat. You can: Upload files from OneDrive or your local device. Drag and drop files into the message bar. Collaborate in real time on Office documents. Find the paperclip icon, by clicking on the '+' icon. 4. Emojis, GIFs, and Stickers Enhance engagement with: 😀 Emojis – Express emotions quickly. 🎭 GIFs – Add fun or emphasize messages. 🖼️ Stickers & Memes – Create customized visuals. 5. Inline Reactions Instead of replying, hover over a message and use quick reactions like 👍❤️😂 to acknowledge messages instantly. 6. Loop Components For interactive collaboration, Loop Components allow you to create: Live task lists Shared tables Real-time checklists These stay editable by everyone in the chat, keeping information updated. 7. Urgent & Important Messages (! Icon) Teams lets you mark messages as: Important (Red exclamation mark) – Highlights key messages. Urgent (Red bell) – Sends repeated notifications to ensure visibility. Navigate to the '+' for Action and Apps Click on the "Set delivery options" Select which delivery options you would like 8. Meeting Scheduling (Calendar Icon) If a conversation needs a deeper discussion, use the Schedule a Meeting button to book a Teams meeting instantly. First click on the '+' icon and find the 'Schedule meeting' option. 9. Schedule a Message If there is a need to send a message later, perhaps during normal working hours or as a reminder to a teammate at a certain time, schedule a message for the best date and time up to a week in the future. 10. Immersive Reader (Three Dots Menu) This accessibility feature reads messages aloud and adjusts text size for better readability. Hover over a message Click on the three dots menu that appears If not enabled yet, hover over More Actions Click on Immersive Reader The messages will appear in new screen click on "ESC" button to exit 11. Copilot AI Assistance (accessible with a subscription) For organizations with a Copilot license, Microsoft Teams now includes AI-powered assistance directly in chat. With Copilot, you can: Summarize long chat threads to quickly catch up on conversations. Draft messages with AI suggestions to improve clarity and tone. Extract action items from discussions to ensure follow-ups aren’t missed. Ask for insights about ongoing conversations, making it easier to stay informed. Copilot in Teams is a premium feature, available only to organizations subscribed to Microsoft’s AI-enabled subscribed plans/licenses. It’s a game-changer for productivity, reducing manual effort in message drafting and task tracking. Conclusion The message bar in Microsoft Teams is more than just a text box—it’s a productivity powerhouse. Whether you're formatting messages, sharing files, collaborating with Loop, or leveraging AI with Copilot, knowing these features can enhance your communication experience. 💬 What’s your favorite Teams messaging feature? Let us know in the comments!Engage, Empower, Excel - Fun Ways Nonprofits Can Use Microsoft Polls
Polls for Nonprofits: The Secret Sauce for Engagement! Microsoft Polls is a built-in feature that helps nonprofits quickly gather feedback, spark engagement, and make data-driven decisions—all without switching apps. And the best part? It’s easy and free for organizations using Microsoft 365! 🙌 🎯 Why Should Nonprofits Use Microsoft Polls? Quick Decisions, Less Guesswork – Need to decide on a meeting time? Want feedback on an upcoming fundraising campaign? Fire off a quick poll and get instant results. Boost Engagement & Participation – Volunteers and staff love to feel heard! Polls encourage collaboration and help keep meetings dynamic instead of crickets 🦗. Data You Can Actually Use – Poll responses are stored in Forms and can be analyzed later, helping you track trends and make informed decisions for your mission-driven work. Perfect for Remote & Hybrid Teams – Whether your team is all in one place or spread across different time zones, polls make sure everyone's voice matters! 🌍 🚀 How to Create a Poll in Microsoft Teams (It’s Easy!) Open the Apps icon in Microsoft Teams. Type in Polls in the search. Add the Polls app. Optionally pin to your menu bar if you will use it frequently. Choose a channel, chat or meeting you’d like to use Polls in and then select Open. Select Create a new Poll. Craft poll questions and responses and then select preview. Choose whether you want to record the names of respondents (visible to creator only). Choose whether you want to share results with the respondents. Select Preview and then make edits or send the poll. The chosen chat, channel or meeting will now see the poll and be able to submit responses. If you have selected to have aggregated responses visible, they will also be able to see them in real time. Poll results can also be found in Microsoft Forms. You can also create polls in Teams meetings to keep your audience engaged and interactive—perfect for virtual town halls, volunteer training, or staff check-ins. 🎉 Fun Ways Nonprofits Can Use Microsoft Polls Fundraising Brainstorming: “What theme should our next fundraiser be? 🎭🕺🏾🎨” Training & Development: “What cybersecurity topic should we cover next?” (Because cyber threats don’t take breaks! 🔐) Volunteer Scheduling: “What weekend works best for our community event? 📅” Just for Fun: “How do we feel about pineapple on pizza? 🍍🍕” (Because, yes, team bonding matters!) 🏆 Pro Tip: Make Polls a Habit! Want to keep engagement high? Try making a quick weekly poll part of your team meetings. Whether it’s a serious topic or just a lighthearted check-in, using Microsoft Polls can make work feel less like work and more like a collaborative experience. So, next time you're in a Teams meeting, give Microsoft Polls a spin and see how it transforms engagement for your nonprofit! 🚀💙 Have you tried Microsoft Polls in Teams yet? Drop a comment and share how your nonprofit is using it! 👇How the Microsoft Updates App Keeps Your Nonprofit on Track
Why Nonprofits Will Love the Microsoft Updates App Picture this: Your nonprofit is launching a new community outreach program. There are multiple moving parts—grant approvals, partnerships, volunteer coordination, and event planning. Instead of sending scattered messages or manually updating spreadsheets, you can use the Microsoft Updates App to track progress, update stakeholders, and ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Here’s how it helps: ✔ Clear visibility on project progress – Easily see what’s been completed and what’s still in progress. ✔ Keep everyone aligned – Share updates with staff, volunteers, or board members without cluttering inboxes. ✔ Reduce repetitive check-ins – Instead of constantly asking for status updates, team members can submit the latest updates in Teams anytime. Getting Started: Setting Up the Microsoft Updates App It’s super easy to get started! Here’s how: ️Load the App – Open Microsoft Teams, click the ellipses in the left-hand menu and search for "Updates". You can also right-click and pin the app to your Teams menu for easy access. Give an Update – Select Quick Update to send an update to your team or specific person. Collect Updates – Collect updates from your team by selecting the Collect Updates or Explore all templates. Here you will find templates for Weekly updates, daily well-being, project progress or even by category: Software Development, Finance, etc. Customize – Inside each template you will be able to customize the questions and configure settings such as who submits the form, who can view the submissions, who can manage the request, set due dates and recurrences etc. Once you make your changes you can then publish the request. Assigned submitters will get a notification of the request, or you can post the link in a chat or channel. Review – Lastly, at the bottom of your homepage you will be able to review the update submissions (received and submitted) as well as manage requests. Final Thoughts: A Simple Way to Stay Organized Nonprofits juggle a lot of moving pieces and keeping everyone informed doesn’t have to be complicated. The Microsoft Updates App in Teams provides an easy way to track progress, share updates, and keep your initiatives moving forward—all in one place. Try it today and take the stress out of project updates!What’s Included with Microsoft’s Granted Offerings for Nonprofits?
Are you a nonprofit looking to boost your impact with cutting-edge technology? Microsoft is here to help! From free software licenses to guided technical documentation and support, this program offers a range of resources designed to empower your organization. In this blog, we’ll dive into the incredible tools and grants available to nonprofits through Microsoft, showing you how to make the most of these generous offerings. Whether you’re managing projects or just trying to simplify your day-to-day tasks, there’s something here for everyone. Let’s explore what’s possible!
Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom
Hi Community We are in need of great marketing material to convince our customers that MS Teams is better, safer and provides all the benefits that Zoom provides. Some of our feedback includes In a large group setting there will be some participants who are worried about using any system other than Zoom. Slack has a video meeting feature now, so you have meetings and collaboration spaces. Two-person Huddles are available in the free version of Slack. A paid slack account can support Huddles of up to 50 people. Some outside presenters simply don’t want to use anything but Zoom. You can establish a Zoom ongoing meeting link where a staff member doesn’t have to be present, and participants can use it whenever they want to meet. With Teams, at least one participant needs to have a Guest account in our tenant to start the meeting. The browser is more difficult to use, and participants don’t want to install the software. The meeting join experience is more cumbersome. Don’t know how to enable audio devices. Don’t realize that the hyperlink is the meeting link. Takes time to embed the entire, visible meeting link like Zoom. A plus is that Teams allows you to set up features and initial chat ahead of time. Some people have trouble with the Bookings experience. Staff and others experience what appears to be bandwidth issues, running other apps at the same time. Teams Notes and Loop seem useful, but there is some initial confusion about how the new features work. Thanks.
