Remote Work with Microsoft Tools

Work from home? If you teach in K-12, probably not. But remote work is a growing trend. Let’s explore Microsoft tools that make it easier.

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Let’s review statistics about remote work.

Remote Work Statistics

Here are a few studies  on people who work from home:

• Eighty-six percent of those asked said they “hit maximum productivity” when working at home alone.
• Thirty percent said it allowed them to do more in less time.
• Twenty-four percent surveyed said they could do more in the same time.
• Eighty-two percent of workers reported less stress.
• Researchers observed a fifty percent decrease in employee turnover.
• Eighty-seven percent of remote workers felt more connected via video chats.
• Twenty-three percent of employees (2015) reported doing some work at a remote site.

Without technology, this kind of work would be difficult.

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Remote Work with Microsoft Tools

If you work in an Office 365 environment, here are some essential tools for you.

• Get Feedback with Microsoft Teams: Now that Teams is available for free, just like Slack, give it a try. Use Microsoft Teams to get feedback on work projects, shared documents, and more. Add tabs to Microsoft Teams to pull data from anywhere (e.g. Dropbox, Google Drive, Flipgrid). See TCEA Resources for Teams.
• Make Your Digital Workspace with Microsoft OneNote: If you are not using OneNote to organize yourself, you need to start soon. Educators, take advantage of OneNote’s power. Use integrated Class or Staff Notebook functions. OneNote is the “one-stop shopping” solution to creating curated content, and more resources. View TCEA Resources for OneNote.
• Be Mobile-Friendly with Microsoft Sway: With responsive web design, you can work alone or together. Create mobile-friendly presentations and newsletters. A clear interface makes placing audio, images, and videos a cinch. Open TCEA Resources for Microsoft Sway.

Keep It Organized

If Teams, OneNote, and Sway make teamwork potent, Forms and To-Do serve as organizational helpers.

• Gather Data with Microsoft Forms: Use Forms to collect data from colleagues. Forms offers a lot of features such as QR codes and short URLs. These make it easy to share your form with others. You can also view graph summaries of survey data online and save data to an Excel spreadsheet for intensive analysis. Access TCEA Resources for Microsoft Forms.
• Track To-Dos with Microsoft To-Do: This simple app will help you keep track of your to-do list items, make project task lists, and assign them in Outlook Tasks. Look for TCEA Resources for Microsoft To-Do.
• Share Documents with Microsoft OneDrive: With its mobile app, you can scan and save anything to the cloud. Create Office 365 documents with OneDrive. It makes sharing a snap. Read TCEA Resources for Microsoft OneDrive.

Is Remote Work in Your Future?

Chances are, you will find yourself working from many places. Some may be your office or classroom. Embrace these tools. Lower your stress, connect with the team. In short, get more done.