Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of Microsoft Teams. If your company is using Microsoft 365 or Office 365, you have used Microsoft Teams recently.
But, in case you aren't up to speed, Microsoft Teams is a collaboration platform used by businesses to share messages, files, meetings, and even integrate 3rd party applications like Trello, chat bots, SmartSheet, and hundreds of other apps.
What is an Announcement in Microsoft Teams?
An Announcement in Microsoft Teams is a special kind of message that allows formatting that is unique to this type of message.
How is an Announcement different from other messages in Microsoft Teams?
Announcements are special in that they allow you to place a background image on them (or have special header colors), include a heading, and include a subheading. The body of the Announcement is treated the same as any other message in Microsoft Teams.
However, you cannot include Praise, Polls, Approvals and some 3rd party apps in Announcements.
How is an Announcement similar to other messages in Microsoft Teams?
Just like regular messages, Announcements don't send out special notifications or otherwise notify users of their existence. You will still need to use @ mentions or tags in your message if you need to draw additional attention to your announcement.
Just like other messages in Teams, you can:
1) Allow everyone to reply or limit replies to certain users
2) Cross post your message to multiple channels
3) Include attachments, format the message, and mark the message with high importance
4) Use @ mentions and tags
5) Any member of the Team can use Announcements.
You can embed Microsoft Stream, Gifs, Stickers, Locations, and some 3rd party apps in announcements.
When should I use Announcements in Microsoft Teams?
Like most things in Microsoft Teams, you should limit the use to when it really makes sense to use Announcements. If everything is an Announcement, then your users will stop paying attention to it. Some potential use cases for Announcements include:
1) A new employee joining the team
2) Changes to policies or procedures
3) Upcoming holidays
4) Sales wins
5) Celebrations like Birthdays or Anniversaries or Baby Announcements
How can I get started with Announcements in Microsoft Teams?
The easiest way to get started is to just test it out! Learn what works and what doesn't. You really cannot break it - so get in there and dig around! Check out this video to learn how easy it is to use Announcements in Microsoft Teams!
