Microsoft Teams is getting new capabilities to help Firstline Workers be more productive

Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork in Office 365, is getting three new capabilities to help Firstline Workers be more productive, the company announced today. The first new feature is a customizable Teams mobile experience, which will allow IT administrators to enable specific features like location sharing, the ability to record and share audio messages, as well as a “smart camera.”

This customizable Teams mobile experience is available starting today, and this is all about giving Firstline Workers easier access to the tools they really need. “This capability can be used for employees in any role, with the option for IT to create a custom policy or use the newly available Firstline Worker configuration policy template. Employees can further customize their experience by pinning the modules they need most from their module tray to their navigation bar,” explained Emma Williams, Corporate Vice President of Modern Workplace Verticals.

The second new feature that Microsoft announced today is Shifts, a schedule management tool that is now available for all customers. With Shifts, managers will be able to plan shift schedules that team members can access right within the app, with the ability for Firstline Workers to make schedule change requests. The Graph API for Shifts, which will enter public preview this quarter will also allow integrations between Shifts and enterprise scheduling systems.

Lastly, Microsoft Teams is getting a new Praise feature that looks like a mix of LinkedIn recommendations and modern gamifications systems. With this new Praise tool, managers will be able to send praise to employees by using different badges such as “Problem Solver,” “Team Player,” and more, and all badges will be viewable by team members

“Firstline Workers such as retail associates play a key role in representing a company’s brand, but this segment of the workforce experiences some of the highest turnover rates. Taking steps to engage and recognize employees can go a long way to improving their satisfaction and reducing turnover,” explained Williams. This new Praise tool will roll out later this quarter.