Hidden Gems in Microsoft Office: Essential Tools for UK Businesses
Costs are going up for everything, getting the most from your Microsoft 365 business subscription has never been more important. There’s tools within your Business Premium license that you could use that would cut down those extra subscriptions and put everything into one, manageable eco system. the aim here is to make the most of your Microsoft 365 business subscription and trim those operational costs.
Here in the West Midlands, I help small and medium-sized businesses discover substantial savings through better utilisation of their existing Microsoft 365 business subscription. Let’s explore some powerful features that you’re already paying for but might not be using.
Why UK Businesses Need to Maximise Their Microsoft 365 Investment
Some of you UK SMEs spend an average of £3,000 annually on various business tools – many of which duplicate features already available in your Microsoft 365 business subscription. As a Microsoft 365 specialist supporting businesses across Birmingham and the West Midlands, I’ve seen how proper tool utilisation can lead to significant cost savings and productivity gains.
Microsoft Planner: Transform UK Business Project Management
Looking for a project management solution that won’t break the bank? Microsoft Planner, included in your Microsoft 365 business subscription, offers powerful features that rival expensive standalone tools:
- Visual task management with drag-and-drop simplicity
- Create custom repeat assignments for repetitive tasks
- Real-time progress tracking
- Integration with your Outlook calendar
- Integrate with Power Automate to create work flows based on custom triggers
Success Story: A Hereford client reduced project delays by using Planner’s schedule view and including the decision makers from different departments. Everyone from the It Department to the Financial team had insight into a project and could see it’s progress, transparency benefitted everyone.
Microsoft Loop: The Future of UK Business Collaboration
Loop is revolutionising how British businesses collaborate. This powerful tool addresses the unique challenges faced by UK companies managing hybrid workforces:
- Create components (like tables or task lists) that update in real-time across Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint (this is awesome!)
- Instant updates across Teams, Outlook, and OneNote
- Collaborate on documents without endless email chains
- A single, secure location for Documentation, plans, Customer information controlled by Zero-Trust
Local Impact: The same Hereford company from above included Loop into their teams to centrally locate their documentation for products and then posted it out to SharePoint via Loop components for the rest of the company to see on a Hub site.
Microsoft To Do: Your planner for the day
While Excel remains popular among British businesses for that task organisation, Microsoft To-Do offers additional features perfectly suited for business operations:
- Integrates beautifully with Outlook and Planner
- Set your day up with a view of to-do’s right in Outlook, it’s where we all start our day
- Setup alerts for repetitive tasks and due dates – Mine is accounting on Mondays and social media posts on Fridays. Everything else is drawn from Planner.
A Personal Favourite: As much as I love trying new apps, I like everything in one place. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve not only become more bitter I’ve become less tolerant of myself when I forget something so simple. So where I start everyday in Outlook, my first port of call is ‘My Day’, and I eat the frog and get the worst thing done first.
PowerApps: Custom Solutions for British Business Needs
PowerApps enables businesses to create bespoke applications without expensive development costs. Popular applications among our clients include:
- Mileage reclaim applications. An administration work piece for desktops and a Mobile app for users out on the road.
- Simple data entry as a form, this is then fed to a database that generates reports weekly
- Equipment tracking for signing in and out equipment. Built from and old excel spreadsheet that had every piece of purchased equipment listed.
- Time off requests – Form that goes to a Teams alert and is then added to a shared calendar. No more ‘I didn’t see your email’
Success Story: A client was still handling their mileage reclaims for their sales staff via paper. This was a) wasting paper as the form was filled in at the depot > signed by the line manager when they were next at the depot > Scanned > Sent and then printed out to be added to a folder and rubber stamped with ‘PAID’ in red. And b) taking too much time. Now they’ve got an app where the user inputs their travel detail with a fuel receipt, it goes to the manager for approval and is then sent to the office administrator to pay and complete. What took 2/3 days for a single claim is now 45 minutes.
Getting Started with Microsoft 365 Tools in Your Business
Here’s a quick walkthrough on how to make the most of implementing new tools from the Office 365 ecosystem.
Audit Your Current Tools
What you don’t want to do is have tools that overlap each other. If you’re using Clonfluence, then Loop will replace that. but what you don’t want to do is run the two, side by side. Same with Trello, Microsoft Planner has the same functions so it’s a case of choosing one or the other.
Start Small
Changing the way people operate can be both painstaking and difficult to implement. If you pick something that has a small impact on your team but has a lot of function, this can make the transition from one tool to another, much easier. Microsoft Planner for example, if you implement that, you’re giving a project planning tool to users, but also implementing the To-Do list within your organisation as well.
Train Your Team
This is the more difficult thing to do, as a majority of the time, if someone is not motivated enough to change, they will reject it the whole way. If they don’t know how to use it straight away, then you have little to no hope with implementing it. Simple things such as documentation, Walkthroughs and even Training sessions that are 10-15 minutes long are short and sharp and can kick start that motivation to learn.
Monitor Usage
If you’ve taken the time to implement, then you need to monitor your ROI. If your people aren’t using the tools, then find out why. That constant feedback and Kaizen approach to workflows make the world of difference.
Seek Local Support
If you don’t have the time for this, then find someone who does. That’s the easiest way to get around this obstacle. People like me take great pleasure in finding out all the little tips and tricks that come with Hardware and software, so use it.
Need Microsoft Office 365 Support in the West Midlands?
As a local IT consultant specialising in the Microsoft 365 business subscription for UK businesses, I understand the unique challenges faced by companies across the West Midlands. I offer free 30-minute consultations to discuss how these Microsoft business tools can work specifically for your organisation.
My Microsoft 365 support services include:
- Custom implementation
- Local training and support
- Microsoft 365 security setup
- Business process automation
Make the most of your Microsoft 365 business subscription
Contact me to find out how you can make the most out of your Office 365 environment
