Yes, it 100% is.

Not to overquote the fact that collaboration has become a necessity of time with changing work cultures and environments, but an investment in making collaboration effective is worth considering as strategic.

And, we aren’t even stating it in the air, here are the stats to back the claim up.

The team collaboration tools market is expected to register a compound annual growth rate of 18% from 2021 to 2026 ~ As per BusinessWire

Microsoft Teams consulting services isn’t a magic wand that resolves all your collaboration worries in a swamp; no, it certainly isn’t!

But, with Microsoft Teams consultants by your side, you experience a simplified and seamless collaboration environment with reduced friction and technological breakouts.

To be honest there is more to it.

Glimpse through what all MS Teams consultants assure you of, will discuss it in detail in the latter part of the conversation.

Enhanced Accessibility of Resources
Boosted Employee Productivity
Seamless Brainstorming
Reduced Dependencies
Empowered Security
Improved Diversity
Peaking Agility

Up next, you may start thinking — “Is an investment in Microsoft Teams consulting services justifiable?”

Hold your thoughts upright! Before you think that you might be wrong, you are not!

You are thinking in just the right direction as any wise technology leader would do.

ROIs doesn’t just give you an idea of what you gain in return of your investment, it’s a growth metric that signals your propagation, the right way or the wrong.

Alright then, let’s commence our journey to unravel the truth around –

Are the ROIs justifiable against an investment in MS Teams consulting?
What is the preferred approach for Microsoft Teams Implementation?

Are the ROIs justifiable against an investment in MS Teams Consulting Services?

Before we touch base on the ROI equation to set out with your MS Teams consultants, it is essential to set the expectations right.

As discussed before, your Teams consultants are no magicians. They are human beings just like you, with some additional exposure and experience with Microsoft Teams — the collaboration utility we are discussing.

It would be unrealistic to set outright ROI expectations of them.

Thinking about how you should go about it?

Here’s a 4-step framework to set forth the right expectations and achieve justifiable ROI of your Teams consulting investments.

Follow the lead from here.

Step 1 — Setting the right expectations with MS Teams Consulting Services

Setting the right expectations will set the tone of your Microsoft Teams implementation strategy right. Having extravagant expectations without specific measures or bounds will lead to disagreements and disappointments.

You may start thinking, “How do I set the expectations correctly?”

In simple words — entrust any goal-setting technique that you find reliable to put your expectations across the Microsoft Teams consulting services.

For instance, let’s assume you go ahead with SMART goals setting technique.

That means your goals for seeking MS Teams consulting should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-Driven, and Timely.

Thinking about how to put this into perspective?

Let’s look at both “SMART Goals the Right Way” and “SMART Goals the Wrong Way”

SMART Goals the Right Way

Here’s the goal — “We need to achieve increased team collaboration efficiency by 20% with successful implementation of Microsoft Teams, by the end of next quarter. The ROI of the MS Teams consulting will be measured by timely project completion, reduced communication disruptions, and enhanced productivity.”

Let’s debrief it –

Specific — Achieve Increased Team Collaboration

Measurable — Increase collaboration efficiency by 20%

Attainable — The team knows the ROI Metric clearly — On time project completion, reduced communication disruption, and improved productivity

Result-Driven — Successful Microsoft Teams implementation with performance metrics to record scores

Timely — By the end of the next quarter

Now, let’s look at SMART Goal the Wrong Way

Here’s the goal — “Enhance team collaboration using Microsoft Teams consulting services”

Looking at this unclear goal which has no specificity, no measures to track the ROI and no timeline, it becomes unrealistic and unambiguous to achieve.

Now, with that idea, you are well-versed to set out the right expectations about the ROI from the Microsoft Teams consulting services.

Step 2 — Let MS Teams Consultants Assess Your Collaboration Activities

With the clarity on your ROI expectations, let MS Teams consultants in on your

Microsoft Teams usage
Your team’s collaboration needs
Third-party integrations required by your team
Your business workflows that rely on collaboration
Spot pattens and loopholes that your team experiences
Trace the features & functions rapidly used by your team
Analyze your IT infrastructure and environment for enhancements
Identify opportunities for optimization and customizations required

An in-depth assessment of your team’s collaboration activities and overall collaboration environment, inclusive of third-party integrations and IT infrastructure, empowers Teams consulting experts to gauge your ROI expectations, imperatively.

What is the preferred approach for Microsoft Teams Implementation?

You will never achieve the set ROIs with Microsoft Teams implementation done the wrong way.

You may start thinking what is the right way to adopt Microsoft Teams?

You need to set the right tone of adoption with the Microsoft consulting services partner of your choice.

How do I do that? — you may ask.

Begin with posing these questions to yourself –

What should be the timeline for Microsoft Teams implementation?
What challenges am I trying to resolve with MS Teams adoption?
Which team members can help in bringing this change up?
What could be the training needs for the end-users?
What type of administration/governance is needed?
How can MS Teams consulting experts help?

Your answers to these questions will help you set the tone right for Microsoft Teams implementation with a reliable Microsoft Teams consulting partner.

Let’s look at an ideal Microsoft Teams adoption strategy that can ladder you to success.

Adopt the Change in Phases

To exercise a seamless Microsoft Teams adoption, it’s ideal to adopt it in phases, starting out with a pilot project at a departmental level.

Rolling it out to the whole organization won’t be a good idea as the IT support team will suffer in the absence of a reliable Microsoft Teams consulting partner to support.

When you roll it out for a department first as a pilot project, you leverage the bandwidth to assess the usability and understanding of the product features, across the team.

Based on the same approach, you can adopt Microsoft Teams in phases for every department in your organization. This allows your IT team or MS Teams consulting partner the room to address specific concerns, at department level.

Gain Management Support

With the ever-evolving work culture where remote and hybrid working styles are more than normal, a collaboration tool like Microsoft Teams is more than just a product.

If you lack the support from the top management, there are more chances of end-users opting out from collaborating using Microsoft Teams, encouraging the same old communication/collaboration patterns.

Have the top management aligned with the new collaboration approach, the reason for the change and the justifiable ROI metrics, shared by Microsoft Teams consulting partner of your choice.

Think About Long-Term

Thinking of Microsoft Teams adoption as a project with a start date and end date, with desired milestones might sound like a deal, but trust us, it’s not.

Switching from a legacy collaboration environment to a cloud-powered Microsoft Teams collaboration environment is more than just adopting the technology.

The adoption also includes –

Training them on the functionalities & features
Understanding your team’s comfort with the product
Analyzing the changing patterns in the collaboration activities
Implementing latest features & functionalities released by Microsoft

A reliable Microsoft consulting partner helps you navigate the challenges effectively, by backing you up.

Provide Use Case Based Training

Use case-based training empowers departments and individuals, making Microsoft Team’s adoption easier.

Different departments and respective team members share use cases which are not all common. In this case, the standard training conducted by Microsoft Teams consulting experts might not prove helpful.

To combat the consequences beforehand, it’s ideal to customize the training and adoption based on varied use cases.

This will have two major advantages –

1st — All the departments and respective users will have a sense of inclusivity in the decision-making process.

2nd — With customized training, MS Teams adoption will be easier and efficient

Identify Your Star Adopters & Empower Them!

Your Star Adopters will stow an onset of your MS Teams adoption success.

Trying to figure out who Star Adopters are and how they will be responsible for your MS Teams adoption?

They are nothing but the early birds in your MS Teams adoption process.

The ones who won’t fear the change but embrace it.

The ones who are enthusiastic in untangling MS Teams potential.

The ones who can put up with MS Teams really quickly and build the expertise.

As you spot your Star Adopters, encourage them to join hands with Microsoft Teams consulting experts, to make the adoption process smoother.

They can be of a great help as –

They will bring you the real-time feedback about MS Teams adoption
They will be ones leading with an example, encouraging others
They will be the firsts that other users will approach for help

Going a step-ahead, build a team of Star Adopters from every department. These individuals will not only lead the adoption process for MS Teams but will also be of great help to the MS consultants in rolling out updates and upgrades.

Now, as you are aware of the best route to take for Microsoft Teams implementation, let’s look at the key questions to ask your Microsoft Teams consulting partner.

Integrative Systems — Microsoft Teams Consultancy Services Partner of Your Choice

As the true technology leader that you are, we understand you would choose nothing less than the best for your organization.

We believe that you are ready to take your collaboration environment to the next level with Microsoft Teams. And we are confident that you have developed a strong understanding of the righteous approach for Microsoft Teams implementation and choosing Microsoft Teams consulting partner.

With 10+ years of expertise in deploying various Microsoft products & services, we would take immense pride in becoming the technology partner of your choice.

Have the feeling that we are the match?

Drop us a line at [email protected] and we shall circle back in 2 business days, to take it from there.

Microsoft Teams Consulting – A Strategic Investment?