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About SWOOP Analytics®’
2021 Microsoft Teams Benchmarking Report
2020 changed the way we work forever. Most companies switched from office-first workplaces to virtual-first, utilising online platforms to keep things moving forward. As the most comprehensive digital workplace platform available today, Microsoft Teams stood at the forefront of this transition.
Our team at SWOOP Analytics® compiled an enormous amount of data from thousands of different teams to bring you a deep, thorough analysis of Microsoft Teams. Some of the insights are surprising, others downright fascinating. What’s clear is that the old way of doing work is probably never coming back.
Download: Teams 2021 Benchmarking Report
Summary of key findings
SWOOP Analytics® assessed almost 100,000 teams on Microsoft Teams across 33 organisations over a three-month period to put together this report. Here are some of our key findings:
Most businesses that went online used telephony as their primary remote-work tool. That was also true for those who used Microsoft Teams. We found telephony functions like chats, calls and meetings were heavily utilised in Teams, but digital teaming features like channels, file sharing and notes were not widely used.
Chat is overtaking email as the preferred method of one-on-one communication between members of a team. Almost all chats and calls are restricted to one-on-one communication, meaning they do not contribute to organisation-wide knowledge.
Our people analytics found a significant rise in personal activity from pre-COVID-19 levels. Surprisingly, this didn’t translate to increased digital overload. The most active online users found a greater sense of challenge that energised and sustained them.
Among those who are using Teams optimally, we identified a few shared characteristics that make them stand out. They tend to have a clearly defined purpose, are operationally focused, work with high intensity and are typically self-directed, with teams consisting of no more than 10 people.
More than 97% of teams are under-utilising their digital teaming functions. That means there’s huge potential for companies to deepen their level of virtual collaboration and take their communications to the next level.
We’ve seen a 20% increase in self-directed digital teams that interact internally without the need for facilitation from a director. This trend is likely to continue as teams become more focused on operational outcomes.
Helping teams,
with Teams
What does all this mean?
In short, more than 97% of organizations aren’t getting the most out of Teams. That means companies that are ready to optimise their online workplaces have incredible opportunities for growth.
Videos
Summary and key findings from SWOOP's 2021 Microsoft Teams Benchmarking Report
Cricket Australia's journey through the pandemic with Microsoft Teams and SWOOP
Chris Shaida from Real Foundations talks about success in Microsoft Teams
Chaucer - World's No.1 team on Microsoft Teams
Tatiana Arventi from Microsoft introduces SWOOP Analytics®' 2021 Microsoft Teams Benchmarking Report
Microsoft's introduction to SWOOP's 2021 Microsoft Teams Benchmarking Report from Geneve Estrada, Partner Technical Architect, Teams App Dev at Microsoft.
Expert advice from OrangeTrail - SWOOP Analytics®' 2021 Microsoft Teams Benchmarking Report webinar
Top tips from Engage Squared when adopting Microsoft Teams
Team Awesome - the secret to Engage Squared's No.1 team on Microsoft Teams
WM Reply and Avvio Reply share expert Microsoft Teams advice
Working Smart in Microsoft Teams - Carrie Basham, CEO - Talk Social To Me
How to become a super team on Microsoft Teams - Regione Emilia Romagna
SWOOP Awards for
Elite Digital Team Performance
Based on our assessment of almost 100,000 teams from small consulting organizations to multinationals,
the following companies have received a SWOOP Award for Elite Digital Team Performance:
SWOOP is here to help.
How does your team on Microsoft Teams compare with the best in the world? Are you achieving high productivity and business value? We know that making Teams work for you requires thought, time and energy. It also means having the right data on hand to know which steps to take. In addition to the information we’ve gathered in this report, SWOOP understands how the best companies are deriving the most value from their teaming channels. Our experts are ready to share these insights with your company and help you transform your virtual workplace.
Get a free demo of SWOOP for Teams to see how you compare and to identify the top performing teams in your organisation.
Sign up for our free offer to identify the top 10 teams in your organisation
For a limited time, SWOOP Analytics® will identify your high-performing teams on Microsoft Teams, so you can replicate their success fast.
We’ll uncover the best performing teams in your organisation so you can showcase their best practices.
When you trial SWOOP we will give you a custom report identifying your top 10 teams and ranking them against our database of 100,000 teams to reveal your ‘elite super-teams’. Learn more.
Past Benchmarking Report:
Microsoft Teams Benchmarking 2020
Did you miss our last report?
In this world-first benchmarking of Microsoft Teams, we show you what high performing teams look like, show you worst practices in Teams and how to avoid them and share best practices from customer case studies.
Our 2020 benchmarking revealed chat is the most used function on the collaboration platform and employees are members of, on average, three teams.
Further reading on our Microsoft Teams findings
