The new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience is designed to revolutionize the way you collaborate, making it more dynamic and intuitive than ever before. With enhanced features that streamline communication, this update ensures you never miss an important message. This article aims to aggregate helpful new resources to best understand the coming updates, how best to use them, and to best plan for broader adoption within your organization. 

The redesigned interface prioritizes ease of use, allowing you to triage conversations effortlessly and stay on top of your most critical communications. Whether you’re managing a project, coordinating with your team, or engaging in spontaneous brainstorming sessions, the new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams empowers you to connect, collaborate, and achieve more – with confidence and clarity. 

Ok, let’s get to know the Microsoft Teams new chat and channels experience. 

Let’s start by watching the new Meet the Makers video 

Join leaders from the Microsoft Teams product team, Russell Dicker (Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Teams) and Aparna Barve (Principal Group Engineering Manager, Microsoft Teams) as they talk with Karuana Gatimu (Director, Microsoft 365 Customer Advocacy Group) about the future of chat and channels in Microsoft Teams, sharing insights into the strategy and design behind the changes and walk you through what to expect as you communicate, share, and adopt this new Teams experience. 

“Meet the Makers | Designing the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience” (Now available on demand). Watch now:  

Now let’s go a little further and read the related release blogs 

… starting with their new sizzle video, watch now:  

Jeff Teper posted a hero blog on the Microsoft 365 blog, highlighting the new experience and how it’s designed to help you collaborate more efficiently and effectively. Jeff calls it “simple by default, powerful on demand.” 

Read Jeff’s full blog, “Streamline collaboration with the new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams.” 

Main view of the new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams.

Let’s take it even further to discover more about the specific feature details of the new chat and channels experience. In this tech blog, you’ll find more insights and visuals about how you can triage your messages, organize conversations, and save time when communicating – plus a bit about what comes next. 

Read Noga Ronen’s full blog, “Introducing the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience.” 

The new @mention view gathers all messages directed at you into a single interactive list.

But wait, there’s more! Dive into the new chat and channels ‘microsite’ on adoption.microsoft.com 

The Microsoft Adoption Center (adoption.microsoft.com (AMC)) offers invaluable resources for technologists, providing comprehensive guides, best practices, and community support essential for the successful deployment and adoption of Microsoft technologies. Today, the AMC team posted a new ‘microsite’ to promote and share new user enablement materials to help you consume and understand this change – to more easily adopt the experience for all your employees. Our goal is to help you stay ahead of the curve, ensuring seamless integration and maximizing the potential of your Microsoft Teams use and investment. 

The screen you see when onboarding to the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience.

Learn more on the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience page on adoption.microsoft.com. 

Want more? Keep going and review the new Microsoft Learn documentation

Microsoft Learn is your gateway to mastering new skills and advancing your career with engaging, hands-on learning experiences. Through interactive modules and practical guides, Microsoft Learn empowers users to unlock the full potential of Microsoft Teams, enhancing collaboration and productivity. This new documentation will help get you all set up for what you need to do during the Public Preview period.

Screenshots: (left) Dragging and dropping chat and channels in Teams desktop, and (right) main view when using the new experience on Teams mobile.

Learn more: “Microsoft Teams Public preview” (Public Preview documentation | Microsoft Learn) 

Now plan to join us for the upcoming product demo tour + Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) with the Microsoft Teams product makers 

“Make the most of the new chat and channels experience + live Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA)” | Tuesday, November 12, 2024, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT  

Register today | Add to calendar 

See the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience in action, plus tips and tricks for how you can make it your own. We, too, will have Teams product makers on hand to answer your open questions during the live Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA), live, and provide feedback about what you’ve learned about the new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams.  

The full 60-minutes = 30 minutes of product demos, tips, and tricks AND a 30-minute Q&A – An opportunity to connect live with Teams product experts. Join live, November 12, 9am – 10am PDT: 

A few final thoughts… 

As the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience becomes available in your Microsoft 365 tenant, we encourage you to explore its features and enhancements – to make it your own. This is not just an update; it’s a transformation. Create a new section. Check out the @ Mentions filter (a great way to triage inline without losing context). Apply multiple filters to narrow in on the right chats and channels. And follow Russell Dicker’s pro tip: Ctrl + G (it’s a real /goto feature). 

Elevate your Teams efficiency and productivity, ensuring that every interaction is discoverable and impactful. Dive in and discover all that the new Microsoft Teams chat and channels experience has to offer. 

Cheers, Mark  

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