When you’re using software, especially complex suites loaded with apps, it’s easy to slip into the path of least resistance. You tend to lean on the apps you already know, and you don’t deviate too far out of your comfort zone. For this reason, many users have not getting everything they can out of their Microsoft 365 licenses. Aside from the impressive security offerings in Microsoft 365, there are tons of apps to help manage everything from staffing to mileage. Additionally, with Flow and Power apps, line of business apps can be created with no coding required. The following overview will help you discover 12 especially useful Microsoft 365 apps.
Microsoft 365 Apps You Need to Use
1. Power Apps
Power Apps give you the ability to construct apps in hours instead of months. In addition, the apps are carefully connected to the data you need. They are user-friendly, too. They use a point-and-click approach when you’re building apps, and they have logic expressions similar to Excel. The apps also run on the web, iOS, and Android. You can begin with their pre-made templates or start from scratch.
2. Microsoft Teams
The nice thing about Microsoft Teams is the way it integrates chat and online technology to make virtual meetings as smooth and productive as possible. It allows you to have video, audio, and web conferences, and it works with anyone, even outside of your company. You can also share and co-create files with other Microsoft 365 apps and integrate apps from third-party services to custom-shape your team process.
3. Planner
Planner provides an easy way for your to team to:
- Make new plans
- Organize and assign tasks
- Share files
- Chat about what you’re working on
- Receive updates on progress
You can launch Planner with a single click, then start creating plans, building teams, assigning tasks, and updating your team, all in a few simple steps. Each plan has a board dedicated to it where tasks are organized into buckets—a very nice visual system for planning.
4. Flow
Flow allows you to create automated workflows between the apps and services you like to use the most often. The workflows can be set up to get notifications, sync files, gather date, and many other possibilities. Microsoft gives this example: “…with a few clicks capture tweets and add them as leads in Dynamics 365, subscribers in Mailchimp.”
5. StaffHub
StaffHub is built for the Firstline Workforce in Office 365. It allows your staff to create spaces for productive communication. In these spaces, employees give feedback, share ideas, gain knowledge from each other, and get a clearer sense of the big picture vision of the organization. You can easily manage staff schedules wherever you are and stay updated when employees need to make changes. You can quickly assign tasks to meet business needs as they come in real-time, and you can also provide training resources to your staff.
6. Power View and Power Pivot in Excel
You may use Excel all the time, but you may not know about Power View and Power Pivot. Power View makes interactive data exploration, visualization, and presentation intuitive and easy to do on-the-spot when reports are needed urgently. You can rapidly create quality visualizations with a few steps. You can make tables and matrices, pie, bar, and bubble charts and sets of multiple charts. Power Pivot is an add-in for Excel that performs sophisticated data analysis and creates complex, powerful data models. It has the ability to grab large amounts of data from many sources, mash them together, analyze them thoroughly and rapidly, then produce insights.
7. Stream
Stream makes video sharing a powerful element in your company. It allows you to create or find videos in an easy way, then share them smoothly and securely across your business. It also has many interactive features that allow employees to engage and collaborate with the videos effortlessly.
8. Sway
Sway allows you to create gorgeous, attention-grabbing presentations, newsletter, and other documentation in a very short amount of time (often only a few minutes). You can drag and drop photos, videos, and multimedia in a seamless way that pulls quickly from your device and the web. Its built-in design engine does the hard work for you and makes the visual layout and functionality stunning. You only have to add any finishing touches you want, then share it.
9. Yammer
Yammer makes the decision process across organizations more efficient. It’s designed to connect everyone in the company in such a way that employees know exactly what’s happening from day to day. As Microsoft puts it: “Discover all the work that happens between the big announcements and the success story. Connect your org’s front-runners or top-level leaders back at headquarters to see everyone’s progress come together.” It allows you to participate in relevant discussions in ways that move your work forward faster. You can speedier answers to urgent questions and have helpful, spontaneous chats across your company’s departments.
10. OneNote
The OneNote app delivers a powerful, effective note taking solution. It divides your notebooks into sections and pages with quick navigation and search functions. It makes it easy to locate your notes as well as revise them using type, highlight, or ink annotations. It works seamlessly across all devices so you’ll never miss making an important note during an impromptu meeting or when a brilliant idea hits you while you’re in the elevator.
11. MileIQ
The MileIQ app provides accurate mileage reporting that’s extremely easy to use. It works on your mobile device in the background and automatically tracks your mileage whenever you drive. You don’t have to press any buttons to activate or stop the tracking. It takes the mileage data and automatically makes a record for your tax deductions and reimbursement reporting.
12. Microsoft Whiteboard
Microsoft Whiteboard allows your team to brainstorm on a whiteboard even if every member of the team is thousands of miles apart in different locations in the world. It’s a freeform digital whiteboard canvas with an interface that works with pen, touch, or keyboard. No matter where you are, and on any device, you can have a productive whiteboarding session on an infinite canvas.
Expand Your Boundaries With These Microsoft 365 Apps
It can require a significant time investment when you wade into a new app and learn its functions. Learning to integrate the new things you’ve learned into an old routine can be disruptive, but it’s a good kind of disruption. There may be growing pains, but adding these Microsfot 365 apps to your toolbox will be worth the time and effort. Contact us for expert help with integrating the full capabilities of Office 365 into your company’s life and work routines. In addition, Agile IT offers workshops to asses the security measures in place that protect everything you do in Microsoft 365. We will ensure your apps and the systems that support them are working as effectively and securely as possible.
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