What Your Boss Can TRACK About YOU with Microsoft Teams

Summary

The video script offers insights into the monitoring capabilities of Microsoft Teams for remote workers, highlighting the types of data admins can access, such as app usage, call minutes, device types, and individual user activities. It emphasizes that while detailed user activity reports are available for Teams, other Microsoft 365 services only provide organizational-level insights. The video concludes with a suggestion to focus on task assignment and objectives rather than micro-managing, and encourages viewers to explore Microsoft Planner for better team management.

Takeaways

• 🔍 **Admin Access**: Microsoft Teams administrators have access to a wide range of information about users' activities within the platform.
• 📊 **Usage Reports**: Reports available in the Teams admin center provide insights into app usage, call minutes, device types used, and team interactions over a specified period.
• 🌐 **App Usage**: The admin can see the types of apps used within Teams, including both Microsoft and third-party apps, but not on a per-user basis.
• 📞 **Calling Plans**: If a company has calling plans, admins can track the minutes spent in calls and the associated costs.
• 📱 **Device Usage**: Admins can view the devices used to access Teams, such as Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.
• 💬 **Team Activity**: Detailed reports on team activity, including messages, replies, urgent messages, reactions, mentions, and meetings, are accessible.
• 👥 **Individual User Activity**: Specific user activities within Teams can be viewed, including meetings attended, calls made, and chat messages sent.
• 🎯 **Productivity Score**: The productivity score is available at the organizational level and does not provide individual user scores for comparison with peer benchmarks.
• 📈 **Microsoft 365 Usage**: Admins can see how Microsoft 365 services are used across the organization, including active users and app usage.
• 📋 **Email and Storage Activity**: Reports include the last activities of users on services like email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Skype, Yammer, and Microsoft Teams.
• 📝 **Task Assignment**: The speaker suggests using tools like Planner for task assignment and objective setting rather than micro-managing team members' working hours.
• 👍 **Recommendation**: For more effective remote team management, focus on task and objective assignment rather than closely monitoring every minute of work.

Q & A

What information can a boss track about their employees' working day using Microsoft Teams?

A boss can track various aspects of an employee's workday, including the types of apps used within Teams, the number of minutes spent in calls, the cost of calls, the devices used to access Teams, the number of messages posted in Teams, replies, urgent messages, reactions, mentions, and meetings organized. They can also view individual user activity, call history, and the last activity date for each user.

How does the Microsoft 365 admin center provide insights into app usage?

The Microsoft 365 admin center provides a general overview of app usage, showing the types of apps used within Teams, the number of active users for each app, and the duration of calls. However, it does not provide this information on a per-user basis.

What types of reports are available under the Teams admin center?

Under the Teams admin center, various reports are available such as apps usage, calling plans, Teams device usage, Teams usage, and call history.

How can a company track the cost of calls made by employees using Microsoft Teams?

If a company has calling plans in place, they can run reports to get information about the number of minutes users spent in calls and the cost of those calls.

What devices are tracked for Teams usage?

The devices tracked for Teams usage include Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and other platforms that users access Teams from.

How detailed is the user activity report in Microsoft Teams?

The user activity report in Microsoft Teams provides a detailed overview, including the total number of channel messages, reply messages, post messages, chat messages, total meetings, one-on-one calls, total audio and video time, screen sharing time, and the last activity date for each user.

What is the productivity score feature in the Microsoft 365 admin center?

The productivity score feature in the Microsoft 365 admin center provides an organizational-level comparison of how well the company is using 365 services compared to a peer benchmark. It breaks down performance into different categories but does not provide individual user scores.

How can a company monitor the usage of Microsoft 365 services across its employees?

A company can monitor the usage of Microsoft 365 services by accessing usage reports in the Microsoft 365 admin center, which shows how many active users are using each service, email activity, and Microsoft Teams activity.

What information is available about user activity in the Microsoft 365 usage reports?

The Microsoft 365 usage reports show the last activities for certain services for each user, such as when they last read or sent an email, used OneDrive, SharePoint, Skype, Yammer, or Microsoft Teams.

What is the recommended approach for managing remote teams according to the video?

The video suggests that it is better to assign tasks and objectives using tools like Planner, rather than micro-managing each person and tracking their working hours.

How can organizations ensure they are effectively using Microsoft 365 services?

Organizations can ensure effective use of Microsoft 365 services by regularly reviewing the productivity score and usage reports to identify areas for improvement and benchmark against peer organizations.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 Exploring Microsoft Teams Admin Center Analytics

This paragraph delves into the functionalities available to administrators within the Microsoft Teams admin center. It explains how admins can access and extract various types of information about users' activities, such as app usage, call minutes, and device types used to access Teams. The focus is on the analytics and reports section, where admins can view general usage statistics, team-specific activities, and individual user engagement. The paragraph emphasizes that while certain details like user identities are not disclosed for privacy reasons, admins can still gain insights into overall productivity and communication patterns within the organization.

05:02

📊 Understanding User Activity and Productivity in Microsoft 365

The second paragraph shifts focus from Microsoft Teams to the broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem, highlighting the ability to track user activities across different services. It discusses the user-level and organizational-level insights provided by the admin center, such as last activities for services like email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Skype, and Yammer. The paragraph also touches on the productivity score feature, which compares an organization's performance against peer benchmarks but does not offer individual user scores. The speaker concludes by advocating for task assignment and objective setting over micro-management, and encourages viewers to explore Microsoft Planner for better team management.

Keywords

💡Remote Work

Remote work refers to a work arrangement where employees work outside of a centralized office location. In the context of the video, it is highlighted as a scenario where Microsoft Teams is used extensively for communication and collaboration. The video discusses how employers can track the productivity and activities of their remote workers using the admin tools within Microsoft Teams.

💡Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a platform that combines chat, video meetings, file storage, and app integration to support collaboration among team members. In the video, it is the primary tool discussed for remote work, and the admin center of Teams is explored to show what kind of usage data can be tracked by employers.

💡Admin Center

The admin center is a web-based interface where administrators can manage settings, configurations, and monitor usage for Microsoft 365 services, including Microsoft Teams. It is a key concept in the video as it is used to demonstrate the extent to which an employer can monitor the activities of their employees.

💡Analytics and Reports

Analytics and reports refer to the data analysis tools that provide insights into the usage patterns and activities within a system, such as Microsoft Teams. These tools are crucial for understanding how employees are engaging with the platform and can help administrators make informed decisions about team productivity.

💡Apps Usage

Apps usage refers to the extent and frequency with which applications within Microsoft Teams are being used by the team members. This metric helps administrators understand which apps are popular and how they are being utilized in the context of work.

💡Device Usage

Device usage indicates the types of devices that are being used to access Microsoft Teams, such as Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android devices. This information is valuable for understanding the compatibility and performance of the platform across different devices.

💡Teams Usage

Teams usage refers to the engagement metrics within the Microsoft Teams platform, including the number of messages posted, replies, meetings organized, and other interactions. This data helps to measure the level of collaboration and communication within teams.

💡Call History

Call history captures the details of phone calls made through Microsoft Teams, including the duration of the calls and the participants involved. This information is useful for administrators to monitor communication effectiveness and costs associated with calls.

💡User Activity

User activity refers to the specific actions performed by individual users within Microsoft Teams, such as sending messages, participating in meetings, and using various features of the platform. This data helps employers understand the engagement level of each team member.

💡Productivity Score

Productivity score is a metric provided by Microsoft 365 that measures an organization's performance against a peer benchmark in using its services. It is designed to compare organizational performance rather than individual user performance.

💡Planner

Planner is a Microsoft 365 service that helps teams create and manage tasks and plans. It is suggested in the video as a better alternative to micro-managing and tracking working hours, promoting a more efficient and less intrusive approach to remote team management.

Highlights

Microsoft Teams allows administrators to track various aspects of user activity within the platform.

Admins can access information about the types of apps used within Teams, including both Microsoft and third-party apps.

The admin center provides a general overview of app usage, not linked to specific users.

If a company has calling plans, admins can track the minutes spent in calls and the associated costs.

Device usage reports show what types of devices are used to access Teams, such as Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android.

Team usage reports detail the number of messages, replies, urgent messages, reactions, mentions, and meetings organized within a Team.

By clicking on a specific Team member, admins can view their activity within the Team, including meetings and calls.

Call history provides details such as call duration, participants, and technical information about the devices used and IP addresses.

The Teams user activity report gives an overview of individual user activities, including channel messages, reply messages, and total meetings.

The productivity score report is available at the organizational level and not for individual users.

Usage reports show how people in the business are using Microsoft 365 services, but only at an organizational level.

Admins can view the last activities for certain services for each user, including email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Skype, and Microsoft Teams.

Assigning tasks and objectives using tools like Planner is recommended over micro-managing and tracking working hours.

The video provides a comprehensive introduction to the tracking capabilities of Microsoft Teams for administrators.

The video encourages viewers to subscribe to the channel for more content on Microsoft Teams and related tools.

Transcripts

Many of us are working remotely using Microsoft Teams.

Did you ever wonder what your boss can track

about your working day?

For example, how much time you actually spent working.

Let's find out.

(upbeat music)

Okay, so I've logged into the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Here I'm going to show you the type of information

your admin has access to,

and what they can extract from the system.

So Teams has its own dedicated admin center.

Let's get to it by going to show all,

and going to the Teams admin center.

Now let's take a look at the different reports

that are available to them.

So under analytics and reports,

we have different reports available here.

So for example, apps usage.

Let's go with the last 30 days, and run the report.

So here we can see the different types of apps

that are used within Teams.

In this case, there are four Microsoft apps,

and two third-party apps.

Now, this information is not by user, it's in general.

So we can see they're two active users

that use Trello, there four active users that use Teams,

and so on.

But we can't see which user used this application here.

Let's go back to our reports.

If your company has calling plans in place,

you can get information about the number of minutes

that users spent in calls

and also the cost of the calls, by running these reports.

Under Teams device usage,

you get to see what type of device they're using

to get to Teams.

Whether it's Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and so on.

What about Teams usage?

Let's go and run this report

and see what we get.

So here we have the list of the different Teams

and we get to see how many messages were posted

within a Team, how many replies there were,

urgent messages, reactions, mentions

and meetings that were organized in the Team.

Now if you click on a Team here,

you get to see all the members of the Team

and if you click on a specific member,

you can find out a bit more about their activity in Teams.

For example, this person was in two meetings

and one call.

Under call history, you get to see all the calls

that this person was in.

You can also see the duration of the call

and the participants.

So for example, on this one, if I just click on it,

I get to see who this meeting was with,

the duration of the call is here,

and I have more technical information

about the devices they used for connection

and also the IP address and so on.

Now let's go back to the usage reports

and see what we have under the Teams user activity.

When I run the report here,

I get an overview of the total number of channel messages,

reply messages and so on,

but here I have the display name of the people

and their activity in Teams.

So how many channel messages each person sent.

Reply messages, post messages, chat messages,

total meetings.

So here it's by user and not global anymore.

So how many one-on-one calls there was,

the total audio time, total video time,

even screen sharing time,

and their last activity.

It doesn't have a time stamp,

it just have the date of their last activity.

Okay, so this is the information they can see by user.

Now what we looked at here is for Teams only.

But what about the other apps?

Do we get more information by person?

Well, let's go back to the Microsoft 365 admin center.

Let's take a look at reports.

Here we have the productivity score.

Now, this is on organization level only.

So here it says, scores are not provided

at the individual user level.

This way you get to compare your organization

to a peer benchmark.

It breaks it down into different categories as well,

but all of this is on organizational level.

Now let's go to usage and see what we get here.

These reports show how people in the business

are using 365 services.

If I scroll down I can see how many active users

are using Microsoft 365 services

and I can see this by service.

Then I get to see the Microsoft 365 apps,

but again this is general.

So this is on organization level,

I can't exactly see here which active user

is using this app.

I can also see email activity

and Microsoft Teams activity.

But let's take a closer look at this report here,

so let's go to view more, and let's scroll down.

Here I get to see all the user names,

and I can see their last activities for certain services.

So here when was the last time the user read

or sent an email?

When was the last time they did something in OneDrive,

or they did something in SharePoint, in Skype?

Then we have Yammer here,

and the last activity in Microsoft Teams.

Okay, so this is the information we get on user level.

The other information is all available

on organizational level.

So this is what can be currently tracked

with Microsoft Teams.

In my experience, working with a remote team,

it's always better to assign tasks and objectives.

For example, using Planner,

rather than micro-managing each person

and tracking their working hours.

If you want to find out more about Planner,

check out this video

which is going to give you a complete introduction.

I hope you found this video useful,

if you did, don't forget to hit that thumbs up,

and do subscribe to this channel,

in case you aren't subscribed already.

Thank you for watching

and I'll see you in the next video.

(upbeat music)