Navigating Teams can be confusing. Certain elements appear to do similar things and it can be difficult understanding the differences between each feature. This article will help to make Teams more coherent for you.
When you open the app on your computer, along the side there is a navigation bar. The first two icons under Activity are for Teams and Chat.
But what’s the difference?
Well, chat is where you can go to have private discussions with any of your contacts. It works like other online chats you may be familiar with, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. You can chat with contacts individually, or you can create group chats by adding more receivers to an initial message.
Teams differs from Chat in how it’s organized. When a Team is created, it is intended to be sort of an umbrella or a box for a specific group of people. The Team itself is like a title, and the Channels within the Team reflect the content inside. So, for example, in the image below, “Connecting Care IT” is the Team and “General” is the channel.
Channels are made to create groups within the Team. A person must be inside the Team to be added to a Channel, but you can add any number of people within the Team to a Channel. Inside a Channel, only people invited will have access to it. So, say you had a Team for an entire organization, you could then create a Channel within the Team that is specific to say, the maintenance department, and only the maintenance department would have access to that Channel, but they would still be a part of the Team overall.
When you’re in the Teams icon, the Teams you’re a part of will display along the left-hand side of the screen, and the Channels you’re a part of within each Team will be listed below the Team name.
Whether you’re inside a Team, a Channel or a Chat, the posts you write or the files you share will remain specific to that space.
Understanding the differences between Teams and Chat can help you understand the best function of each for your utilization. The Chat feature is handy for when you need to speak directly to an individual or a select few, and the Channels within Teams are an easy way to provide information to a group of people and stay up to date with notifications within that Channel. Channels and Teams don’t notify you the same way Chat does when there is an update. When you open the Teams app, you will see new engagement within a Channel or Team, but it will not pop up on your screen in real time the same way a Chat will.
Basically, Chat is handy for a quick exchange and Teams are handy for regular updated information that is accessible and up to date.