Microsoft Teams in a pandemic
In the past year, so much has changed. The entire world entered a pandemic and had to switch everything they did in person to doing it virtually. This came with challenges, as any change this vast would, such as childcare, communication, boundaries, and screen fatigue. Throughout this change, a company that was able to help and keep other organizations running is Microsoft. Microsoft already had sharing platforms so that people could work separately on the same document. Microsoft Word and Excel allows for dual work being done because of Microsoft SharePoint. Additionally, Microsoft Teams allowed for people to message easily while being apart.
Microsoft Teams also was able to let people video chat. This was a crucial aspect of working together throughout this pandemic, because you could still see people face to face, it was just through a screen. People being able to still discuss items and ideas allowed for advancement, instead of just having to send those ideas and work through them through email. Although, like any company, Microsoft had a few hiccups throughout the way. Before we were able to communicate almost flawlessly, Microsoft had almost everyone using their platform at once very suddenly. At least half of the country now using your platform, unlike ever before, is bound to bring some issues.
Microsoft before the pandemic was hoping to reduce their carbon footprint, but during the pandemic they were focused on helping everyone to just stay connected. Judson Atlhoff, Microsoft’s Executive Vice President for Worldwide Commercial Business posted on Microsoft’s Official Blog in late April of 2020 regarding their newly discussed company advancements. Around this time, everyone had just realized how serious the pandemic was and they work would have to continue from home for a while. My job last summer was with Marquette’s SPARK and Orientation programming. We had to change everything to be virtual, and most of us had never even used Microsoft Teams. Although we did it and it went well, the adjustment and reliability we had on Microsoft was large.
Judson Althoff creating this blog to talk about Microsoft and its decisions was a good idea. Not only is this a primary form of communication now, people are able to google this and find out what exactly Microsoft was doing and why. Including making Microsoft Teams free for students, many other opportunities were created because of the pandemic. The launch of their global e-learning initiative was important as many schools are still online. Marquette University uses Microsoft and not Zoom for online classes because it is reliable. Also, Microsoft helped the advancement in research through technology to find the vaccine and hopefully a cure one day. Microsoft helped the theatre industry, the NFL do a virtual draft, and many other partnerships that allowed us to get back to a normal while remaining safe. Judson Althoff sounds passionate and impressed throughout his blog post. Him sharing what Microsoft has and will accomplish allows for us to have hope and for him to be respected as a spokesperson and leader for Microsoft Office.
Not only did Microsoft help the people at home, advancing their technology allowed for the healthcare fields to move quicker with everything they were dealing with in hospitals. Virtual visits became essential to keep everyone safe, myself having had to go to one mid May of 2020, because they allowed for us to talk and discuss without being in person. Throughout this pandemic, we learned what it meant to be together while being separate. Microsoft Teams and other platforms allowed for us to remain safe and still be connected. Advancing their technology and giving people opportunities to use their platforms allowed for us to continue on with our lives. The response of Judson Althoff was effective as he explained a lot of what Microsoft has done and will continue to do so that our lives can run smoothly at home or at the workplace. Other leaders should know that being up front and honest with the facts are important, and continue to back your team with all they can and will accomplish.