How many of us can say that they use Office 365 (or Microsoft 365, as it is now known) now more than ever before?

Communication and company culture are large factors in retaining and gaining engaged employees. With a greater emphasis on a remote workforce, you’ll need to consider how you will continue to improve employee engagement and create a unified workforce even when apart.

On May 7, 2020, ALI Conferences, along with Michelle Bolda from Rogue Services & Solutions, hosted the O365 for Internal Communications virtual conference to answer all these Office 365 questions and more. Attendees heard successful, proven strategies from Microsoft, Guardian Life, LaSalle Network, and more top organizations.

Here are the top 3 insights & strategies our attendees gained from the virtual conference:

Get Leadership Involved

A sentiment echoed by multiple Speakers during this conference was to get leadership involved. Whether that is in the deployment of an intranet pilot or in the adoption of a new program, these internal communicators knew that their employees would only welcome a new program if their leadership was seen using and encouraging the use of it.

For the deployment of Microsoft Teams across their organization, LaSalle Network made sure that their leaders were trained on Teams and fully adopted the use of it—on desktop and mobile devices—before deploying it to all employees. They knew that if leadership weren’t advocates for Teams, their employees would never adopt it.

Take Charge of Digital Distractions

Working remotely means adopting more digital tools to stay connected with your employees. But that also opens up a whole new host of digital distractions.

Geoff Ables from C5 Insight recommends that you take note of these distractions. What is causing you to lose focus? Is it your inbox notifications? Is it a constant stream of instant messages?

It takes your brain an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on your task once distracted. Don’t lose this time throughout the day. Turn off email notifications. Don’t be a reactive responder. Schedule time throughout your day to check in with your inbox and see what you missed.

Which brings us to…

Establish Digital Etiquette and Boundaries

Office 365 tools offer you the option to set up these digital boundaries easily.

Schedule your “on and off” chat hours, so your colleagues know when you are available.

Throughout the day, remember to set your status indicator in Teams or Outlook. Are you away from your desk? Busy on a call? Make sure you set these appropriately and respect your colleagues’ as well.

Finally, think about the urgency of the messages you receive. Establish with your colleagues the appropriate communication avenue for certain messages. If the urgency is high, let them know they can call you. If the urgency is low, then it can be emailed, which you will address at your earliest convenience.

Respecting these boundaries will only help increase productivity for you and your employees, as well as establish a culture of respect and comradery.