IN THIS CHAPTER

Discovering where to learn more about Teams

Finding resources for in-person and online learning

Taking the next step to continue your Teams journey

If there is anything the year 2020 taught us, it is that things change quickly and sometimes suddenly. Microsoft Teams continues to evolve and change on a seemingly hourly basis. The user interface changes, new features are added, existing features are tweaked, and the details change. In short, Microsoft is continually improving Teams to make it a better product and to make you more productive. This book serves as a good introduction to get you started. The concepts in this book won’t change, but the specifics will.

In this final chapter, I list ten ways where you can get more information and continue your learning journey with Teams. I have found that the places I list here have the best content on how to maximize what Teams has to offer. The list contains both free and paid resources in online and in-person formats. Working with a modern cloud-based service like Teams is a constant learning journey, and I continue to learn new things every single day.

Get Information Directly from Microsoft

Microsoft Teams has grown faster than any other Microsoft product in history. This isn’t an accident, and Microsoft has devoted a massive amount of resources to ensuring the product succeeds. Microsoft maintains a couple of websites that include documentation for Teams. These sites contain a treasure trove of learning resources and cover everything from end-user guidance to hard core administration procedures. Be sure to bookmark these sites so you can pull them up frequently.

• https://docs.microsoft.com is focused on how to do more administrative tasks, but also includes content for regular users and power users. You will find Teams in the Office section. Figure 20-1 shows the Teams landing page for administrators.
• https://support.microsoft.com is a relatively new site that replaces support.office.com. This change reflects the fact that Microsoft has integrated its products and services and Microsoft Office is no longer such a stand-alone product. Microsoft's internal mantra is that it is now “One Microsoft.” This is opposed to the past culture at Microsoft where each product team was nearly its own company, and integration between products was hard to find. When you land on the support.microsoft.com page, you can scroll down and select Microsoft Teams to view the Help center. Here you will find online classes, training, and more tips about using Teams.

Enroll in an Online Class

Learning through one of the online class platforms is a popular way to learn new things. Online classes offer how-to videos that walk you through a specific task or scenario. I have used the following platforms to learn about Teams, and I recommend them.

Check with your local library to find out if it has a subscription to an online learning platform. Many libraries make this available with the only caveat that you need to go into the library to log in to the platform.

• Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning: The Lynda.com site has become one of my favorite sources for learning Microsoft technologies. Lynda.com (www.lynda.com) used to be its own training site until LinkedIn acquired it and it became LinkedIn Learning (www.linkedin.com/learning). Microsoft has since acquired LinkedIn, so it makes sense that the platform will continue to include great Microsoft training content. A quick search for Microsoft Teams training yields 162 courses, as shown in Figure 20-2.

  

• Udemy.com: This site (www.udemy.com) provides another wealth of online learning courses. I did a search for Microsoft Teams and the site provided 7,809 results. With such a wealth of content I tend to filter the results based on ratings of the instructors. This is one of my favorite sources for all types of learning online, and it includes a vast amount of Microsoft Teams content.
• Edx.org: This site provides university level courses online in all manner of subjects. When I searched for Microsoft Teams, I received 42 courses. Each of the courses is self-paced, and the interface is easy to use. I have enjoyed taking courses here.

Keep Up with Experts

Microsoft continues to nurture a program for experts. The program provides a designation for key community contributors and experts in various Microsoft technologies and products. The designation is known as a Most Valuable Professional (MVP), and it is considered a top honor. Most MVPs maintain blogs, and you can stay up to date with the latest features by reading their current posts.

Most MVPs maintain a blog where they cover the latest happenings in their areas of expertise.

You can search for MVPs at https://mvp.microsoft.com. I entered Teams into the search parameters and received a listing of 824 MVPs from all over the world, as shown in Figure 20-3.

Attend User Groups and Meetups

Getting together with others around a common cause is a great way to dig deeper into any subject. Name just about any subject and you will likely find a group of people that gets together once a month to discuss the topic. And Microsoft Teams is no exception! You can use your favorite search engine to look for groups near you.

I recommend starting a group within your organization for others that are interested in getting the most out of Teams. It is a great way to have a big impact in your organization. You can learn and share with others how Teams can be used to improve productivity.

The Microsoft Teams Users Group defines themselves as “The definitive meetup for Microsoft Teams professionals.” Their website is at https://teamsug.com, shown in Figure 20-4, and you can search the site for groups in your area. Another great place to find meetups of all sorts is Meetup (www.meetup.com). The site has a topic specifically for Microsoft Teams, and you can search the site to find meetups in your area.

Get Certified

Microsoft certifications have always carried significant weight. They are not easy to obtain and are considered a gold standard. Microsoft has a certification designed for Teams called Microsoft 365 Certified: Teamwork Administrator Associate. This certification covers several aspects of teamwork using Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. You can find information about this certification and others at www.microsoft.com/learning.

Earlier in this chapter I talked about the docs.microsoft.com site. You can find information about training and certification there as well. Use your favorite search engine and search for Microsoft Teams Training. The first listing that appears (that isn't an ad) should be the page dedicated to Teams training, as shown in Figure 20-5.

Subscribe to the Microsoft Teams Podcast

I love to wake up in the morning and listen to a podcast while I am getting ready for my day. To learn more about Microsoft Teams, you can add the Teams On Air podcast to your listening rotation. Teams On Air is a podcast dedicated to everything Microsoft Teams. It is created and presented by the Microsoft Teams product group, which releases a new episode every two weeks. The podcast features product updates, how-to tutorials, and the latest feature releases. Teams On Air is an audio podcast but also includes a visual component.

You can subscribe to the Teams On Air podcast in all the common places. The official site is located at https://aka.ms/TeamsOnAirPodcast, as shown in Figure 20-6. I listen on Apple Podcast, and I have also seen it on Player FM, YouTube, Libsyn Pro, and even Spotify.

Attend the Microsoft Ignite Conference

I talked about local meetups and user groups earlier in this chapter, and conferences are similar. The difference is in the scale. Whereas a local meetup or user group might include 25 people, the Microsoft Ignite conference (https://myignite.microsoft.com) might include as many as 25,000 people.

Other conferences focus on Teams, but the biggest one is Ignite (see Figure 20-7). Ignite is the mother of all Microsoft conferences, and I would recommend attending if you can find the budget.

Ignite takes place toward the end of the year. Lately it has been taking place in Orlando, Florida, but it has also taken place in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ignite covers all Microsoft products including Teams. You can find more information about Ignite using your favorite search engine.

Get Updates in Your Inbox

Microsoft maintains a blog for Teams, and you can subscribe to it so that any new posts appear in your inbox. To subscribe, use your favorite search engine and search for Microsoft Teams Blog. On the blog page you will find an RSS feed button, as shown in Figure 20-8. You can use this link to set up the RSS feed in your Outlook client.

You can find details on setting up an RSS feed in Microsoft Outlook in Microsoft Outlook 2019 For Dummies by Faithe Wempen and Bill Dyszel (Wiley), and a detailed procedure on the For Dummies website (www.dummies.com/software/microsoft-office/outlook/how-to-set-up-an-rss-feed-in-microsoft-outlook-2019).

The Microsoft Teams group also maintains a Twitter account where you can get instant updates on Teams. The Teams Twitter handle is @microsoftteams.

Discover the Microsoft Teams Roadmap

It used to be that Microsoft would release new features and software every three years like clockwork. That all changed with new services like Teams. Microsoft adds new features to Teams at a breakneck pace. It seems like every week I wake up to a new feature showing up in Teams. To keep up on the upcoming features, I follow the roadmap Microsoft has outlined for Teams. You can find the roadmap by searching for Microsoft Teams Roadmap in your favorite search engine. A snapshot of the roadmap is shown in Figure 20-9. You can see what features Microsoft is currently developing and when they are scheduled to ship.

If there is a feature you want added to Teams but you don't see it in the roadmap, you can add your voice to suggested features on the Teams User Voice. You will find this site at https://microsoftteams.uservoice.com. It is a site where the community can add new ideas for features and vote on existing ideas. Microsoft keeps a close eye on the site and implements the most popular feature requests.

Continue Learning with Rosemarie (Your Author)

Last — but hopefully not least! — I have embarked on a journey to share my hard-earned knowledge with others. I compiled an incredible stash of tips and tricks I’ve learned working with hundreds of clients over the years. Working with organizations around Microsoft 365, Office 365, SharePoint, and Teams, I have figured out what works and what doesn’t.

You can find me on my Learning with Rosemarie page at https://www.m365.tech, as shown in Figure 20-10.