Communicate in Teams

  • 8 minutes

Microsoft Teams is a powerful communication tool for educators and learners. Teams supports communication between individuals and groups with private and team chats.

Private chats

Private chats provide a way for people to connect one-on-one or in small groups about a specific topic. It’s an efficient way to reach out to someone for a quick question or a focused project. To start a private chat, select the Chat icon in the Me Space and select the New Chat icon.

Screenshot of the new chat icon in Microsoft Teams

Enter a learner or colleague's name to start the chat. In a private chat, educators and learners can:

  • Share files
  • Send praise
  • Send images, videos, stickers, or GIFs
  • Schedule meetings
  • Start an audio or video call

The Posts tab

The Posts tab in Teams is the hub for communication among team members. Teams automatically creates a Posts tab in all channels. All team members can view and participate in conversations in any channel in their team. Unless it’s a private channel, conversations are visible to everyone in a channel and are not private. Using @mention for any member of the team draws their attention to a comment and makes sure they notice it. To get the attention of the entire team, @mention the team or channel name.

To post a message:

  1. Select the Posts tab from any channel.
  2. Select Start a post to begin a new discussion topic.

To reply to any previous conversation:

  1. Select Reply.
  2. Add the response within that thread.

Our learners are our top priority. Posts in Teams offer many benefits to help the focus stay on them.

Ways to support learners in the Posts tab

  • Use the Posts tab to share news about the class or team
  • Post articles or link resources
  • Engage members of the team in relevant discussions
  • Be available to answer questions
  • Use an embed code to embed another application right within the conversation
  • Use posts to give praise and encouragement or share team photos

Use the Posts tab to have ongoing conversations with all members about any topic. Members can post an announcement about an upcoming meeting or share a file and receive feedback from the group. Whatever needs to be communicated to the team, share it in the Posts tab.

Email is one of the most time-consuming parts of an educator’s job. Sifting through, responding to, and deleting emails about announcements, protocols, and when the next staff meeting is takes time away from the most important part of an educator's work: the learners. By streamlining conversations in Teams, educators can focus on their learners to improve learning outcomes.

The Posts tab contains many options to do help educators communicate with learners and colleagues:

  • Format text
  • Add emojis, GIFs, or stickers
  • Attach various types of documents and files
  • Schedule a live meeting with just a couple of steps!