The majority of apps offered by Microsoft Office 365 serve an individual purpose, but Outlook Groups, Yammer, and Microsoft Teams all serve the same – fostering communication and collaboration between employees and teams. While all three applications do have the same general use in mind, there are subtle differences between them that set them apart from one another. Learning how each communication application works and the respective pros and cons can be of great assistance in establishing which may be best for you.
Breaking Down The Differences Between The Three Applications
The small differences between Yammer, Outlook Groups, and Microsoft Teams become evident when you see just how each application functions. The breakdown of each app is:
- Outlook groups – Outlook Groups all members of a group will share an inbox, project planner, notebook, calendar, and document library. All messages and all relevant information for a group is kept all in one place, making it incredibly convenient for team collaboration. An Outlook Group may also connect with third party applications like MailChimp, Twitter, or Trello, and all notifications are directed to the Outlook Groups shared inbox.
There is one downside to Outlook Groups, and this is how overwhelming a shared inbox can become when the group is connected to third party applications and frequently communicating through email.
- Yammer – Like Microsoft Teams and Outlook Groups, Yammer works effortlessly with other Office 365 tools. Yammer is a professional social media type application that works to foster open and easy communication within teams and between teams across the office. Yammer offers office bulletin board features where announcements can be shared company-wide. With tried and tested design elements mimicking the user-friendly ones popular on Facebook, Yammer is simple to adopt and utilize.
Yammer comes quickly to those experienced in social media use, but may be more confusing for those who have no previous social media experience.
- Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams is the most similar of the 3 applications to the well known Slack professional chat application. Microsoft Teams also works with Skype Business, allowing members to text, call, and video chat with colleagues from all over the world. It also features a seamless integration with all other Office 365 applications, which allows you to share files seamlessly.
Microsoft Teams differs from Outlook Groups in its ability to handle higher velocity collaboration, making it the better choice for completing complex projects with tight deadlines or a need for fast feedback.
Finding The Best Fit For Your Team
Finding the best fit for your Los Angeles, CA team is made much simpler when you know a little bit about the strengths and weaknesses of each application. With this knowledge in hand, businesses of the area can find the most suitable application that will have the most positive impact on workplace communication. These applications may also be used congruently, and the social media stylings of Yammer can be used for office-wide communication while an Outlook Group covers a smaller interworking team.
