Microsoft Outlook brings together the best tools for allowing us to collaborate with others. It is now easier and faster to connect with others anywhere in the world. Outlook has several applications integrated within its platform to make it more efficient when working with others and is very easy and intuitive to learn. You can now not only work with the best tools but also work and collaborate with others in real time.
By using Outlook, you can collaborate with anyone who has a computer, and I’m going to show you some of the apps that Outlook utilizes within the application for collaboration. In this chapter, we will be discussing the following topics:
Microsoft 365 subscriptions now have so many applications available to us that it can be hard to know which apps to use when. Let’s dive into this chapter and learn which of these apps have direct collaboration and integration features within Outlook.
Instead of storing all your data on your own physical computers, we have the option to use the cloud. What does this mean? The cloud is a means for us to store our data on off-site computers located in various locations around the world, known as data centers. This storage could consist of anything from software programs, data storage, or virtual machines to email servers, as with Outlook. The “cloud” is another word for “internet” as the data is transmitted through the internet through secure networks. In Chapter 3, Managing Email Accounts, we discussed the Microsoft Exchange protocol.
Exchange runs on the cloud in Microsoft’s data centers and is what allows us to access our data anytime, anywhere, and on any device with internet availability.
Let’s be honest, no one wants to work 365 days a year. However, we do want to have our data, and especially our email, available to us around the clock, 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week! That is what we will get by using Outlook.
To use the cloud within Outlook, you first will want to activate the cloud storage options to store your desired settings in the cloud.
Click File | Options | General. Click the box next to Store my Outlook settings in the cloud, then click OK.
Now, any activity that happens in Outlook will be available to you from the Outlook web application as well. Outlook will now start synchronizing any activity in Outlook to the web. This is the advantage of using cloud functions; you can get your Outlook emails and other items through the web on all your devices, such as other computers, tablets, and mobile phones, using your Microsoft 365 subscription. Once this synchronization is complete, you will receive a message stating Outlook has synced your settings from the cloud.
Let’s discuss the different ways that you can collaborate, through the cloud, using OneDrive and Outlook.
OneDrive (formally called SkyDrive) is Microsoft’s cloud storage. iCloud and Google Drive are similar offerings by Apple and Google. Saving your data to a OneDrive account allows you to access your files while away from your computer and collaborate with others by sharing these files with them.
OneDrive is preinstalled if you are using Windows 10 or newer. If you don’t have Windows 10, you can download and install OneDrive. More information on this can be found in the Further reading section of this chapter. Once OneDrive is installed, you will be able to save and use files on any device from your OneDrive account, using an internet connection.
When you attach a document to an Outlook email message, that file is copied to the email to be sent to a recipient that you provide, as was described in Chapter 2, Sending and Receiving Emails. Once the document is attached, you can identify whether it is being shared in the cloud by the cloud icon that will appear in the icon for the attachment. If you select this document from your computer, a copy will be attached.
To collaborate with another user on the attached file, take the following steps:
The default for uploading an attachment is the recipient that you are sending the email to will have permission to edit the document. Outlook will assume that you want to be able to collaborate and work on the document together with the recipient once the document has been sent.
The possible permissions to select are as follows:
The default selection is Anyone Can Edit. If you do not want the recipient to be able to make changes to the document, be sure to change this to Anyone Can View.
Note
If you are attaching files from a SharePoint site, you will have additional permissions of Organization Can Edit, Organization Can View, Recipients Can Edit, and Recipients Can View in addition to the Anyone Can Edit and Anyone Can View permissions.
If permission was given for the document to be edited by the recipient, then the document will be updated in real time and the shared document will reside on the OneDrive of the person that shared the file.
Note
Sharing a file and setting permissions can also be done from the OneDrive folder in File Explorer. Right-click on the file and select Share. In the send link dialog box, enter the email ID of the user that you would like to share, enter a message, and select permissions. Click Send and the message will be sent to recipients.
We too are utilizing the sharing feature of OneDrive storage for the collaboration on this book. Together with the amazing team at Packt and the technical reviewers, we are all collaborating from different locations around the world and working on our files from within OneDrive in real time together.
After you have shared files with others within or outside of your business, it’s expected that people’s jobs and roles performed within or even outside the company will change. You may find that sharing a document is no longer necessary or you may just want to change the permission options that were granted, as shown in Figure 13.4, originally.
To view or change these permissions, take the following steps:
This pane can also be used to add or manage the files or folder permissions through the OneDrive desktop app for Windows 10. For other Window versions, this screen could look slightly different. Let’s now look at another useful app used within Outlook to help you collaborate with others, which is one of my favorite applications that I have been using for over 10 years and is now integrated within Outlook.
Great applications don’t always work well together, but with Outlook and OneNote, it can’t get a great deal better than this. I use OneNote as a place to write my notes and create content when I start a new project or create a new course. OneNote was released back in 2003 and is an application that allows you to capture information in one location and organize that information in an electronic version of a notepad. If you want to save paper and help the environment, I suggest you take a serious look into using this application. Although it has been around for almost two decades, many people have never used it.
Once you start a new project, I would suggest that you first open OneNote and create a new notebook for that project. There are several ways that you can organize notebooks to your liking and your imagination is the limit.
To create a new workbook in OneNote, take the following steps:
Let’s now go to Outlook and see how it can be integrated with OneNote.
You will need to turn on the feature for Outlook to send information to OneNote.
To do this, click File | Options | Advanced. Scroll down to the Other heading and ensure the Use Send to OneNote with OneNote for Windows 10, if available text box is selected, then click OK.
If you are using an operating system prior to Windows 10, you will need to install the COM add-in for versions prior to Outlook 2016. I like to think that by activating this feature, you are turning Outlook into a project management application with OneNote integration.
Now, we will not only be able to share emails between the two applications, but we will also be able to integrate with Outlook’s to-do list and calendar features as well.
Let’s now copy our email messages and meeting invitations to OneNote by using the Send to OneNote button:
If there had been any attachments in the selected messages, links would be available to open the attachment from this page.
Not only can we easily send information to OneNote, but OneNote also has the integration built into its interface to work with Outlook.
Let’s demonstrate this by creating items within OneNote to integrate with Outlook.
Another great feature of OneNote is the ability to take meeting notes (or record meetings) and send that information through Outlook to your recipients. Usually, you would have to do this with copy and paste but this feature is also built into OneDrive:
No more copy and pasting and rearranging the email. This will automatically be laid out for you. I am always amazed at the new features that come out of Outlook and although this feature has been here for some time, it is really underused. Give it a try, I’m sure you will agree! Now, there is more; let’s learn how to create a task out of a OneNote item.
There are several templates within OneNote to help you set up a quick page or, as in my case, use a template for your budget meeting. Once the page is ready, we can send this item to an Outlook task right from within OneNote:
I especially like using this for meeting notes. You should take some time to look through the Insert ribbon as there are some features I really like, such as the record feature, which not only records but also syncs the time with the recording. It’s truly amazing.
Outlook is a wonderful application but when you collaborate with OneNote within your Office suite, it can be powerful and such a great productivity tool that can save you hours and hours within your day.
Now, let’s discuss the power of Teams and how it can enhance your collaborative experience even more.
Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of applications and has been allowing teams to work together since 2017. It is a collaboration tool that is used online and is gaining in popularity among businesses. To use Teams, you need a Microsoft 365 license. There is a free version but it is very limited.
Outlook has built-in features to allow collaboration with Teams, and these Outlook features are what I will be describing.
Some of the advantages of using Teams are the following:
Let’s now discuss integrating with Teams from within Outlook.
Outlook’s team integration has improved over the past years. It is now easier than ever to send an email message from within Outlook to Teams by using the built-in Share to Teams button:
Moving an email to Teams is a great way to start a conversation. Try this instead of writing an email. What I like is you don’t need to wait for everyone to receive your email. The entire team will be able to see your message and collaborate. Once you use this feature, you will probably agree with me that it really can help you and your team save time.
Let’s now show how you can create a Teams meeting through Outlook.
Keeping everyone informed is quite a difficult task, especially if your team is scattered around the world, working remotely. Video conferencing has become the norm for most corporations and that is here to stay. Outlook now integrates with Teams by creating meetings that you can hold within Teams and since Outlook’s 2019 version and later, creating those meetings is made easier:
There are several alternative ways to create a Teams meeting from any window inside of Outlook. At the bottom of the preceding Teams meeting menu is an option that will give you the same results as selecting Meeting; however, this will not be available in every view for New Items, such as from the People icon.
I find it very convenient to have Teams meetings showing on my calendar. This of course works best if everyone is on Exchange Microsoft 365 and, if not, you may have some problems with people being able to interact with your email.
The Teams meeting add-in is automatically installed if you have Teams and Office 2013 or later installed on your system and the button will be found on the calendar ribbon. However, I like to start a Teams meeting with the New Items button on the Home ribbon. Either way is fine; just choose the best method for you.
This will lead us to our next item to discuss, which is the Outlook group tool. This tool is another option for you to consider using to collaborate with your teams.
An Outlook group is a group that can be created in Microsoft 365 that brings together a group of people into a central group inbox for collaborating, such as sending and receiving emails. When you create the group, a shared workspace with SharePoint and other Microsoft 365 apps will also be created. Do not confuse an Outlook group, also referred to as a Microsoft 365 group, with a contact group or distribution list, which was explained in Chapter 7, Contacts in Outlook.
If you do not see the New Group button on the Home tab ribbon on the Peoples pane, then you will need to talk with your IT department and have them enable the group feature for your organization. Then, take the following steps:
A green checkmark will appear next to the name and email address if they are available. You must choose another name if the green checkmark does not appear and a message will appear letting you know that it is not available. The following lists each field in the Create Group dialog box:
Now, let’s add members to the group.
You can still choose which method you want to use to collaborate with others on emails and other items. I like to use this Groups feature to be able to find my groups from one quick location when I want to collaborate with a group of people via email. I especially enjoy being able to devote 100% of my attention to the group when needed without having my other emails scattered throughout the list.
Synchronizing your contacts with your smartphone will allow you to be connected on the go and is a great way to always have your data available as long as you have access to an internet connection. Mobile phones today use satellite communication to make calls and this technology can be converted into internet data signals, which allows us to check our email without a Wi-Fi connection. By installing the Outlook mobile app add-in on your mobile devices, you can sync your Outlook emails, contacts, calendars, and task items between your Outlook Microsoft 365 account and your mobile device.
To install the Outlook mobile app on your mobile phone, take the following steps:
A tutorial should also be sent to you to learn how to use the Outlook app on your mobile device. The store will have several apps that you may want to consider using. I especially enjoy the OneNote app for my phone, which allows me to sync my OneNote with my Microsoft 365 account.
Note
You can only sync the calendar and contacts with accounts that use the Exchange network.
Add-ins are programs that help automate Outlook with more functionality. Microsoft has partnered with companies to build apps that function with Outlook and help you to be more productive. Some of these add-ins are built within Outlook and others can be downloaded for free or for a fee from the Office store:
Now, let’s explore the problems with add-ins.
Sometimes, add-ins become unstable and do not run properly. If you notice this happening, you can click on the File | Info | Manage COM Add-ins button.
This will show you any add-ins that could be causing you problems and give possible solutions for the problem. If Outlook has identified decreased performance or has crashed, you would see a list of those problems in the Slow and Disabled Add-ins dialog box.
In this section, let’s understand how to manage add-ins:
This will open your outlook.office.com online account with the store opened to Add-Ins for Outlook. You can search for specific items you may want to find in this window.
New add-ins are being added to Outlook quite often and others are being rebranded with another name, as we have seen with Insights being rebranded as Viva Insights, which now shows on the ribbon next to the Get Add-ins button.
Once you open Viva Insights, you can easily set an out-of-office message and receive emails to inform you how you are doing with responding to people’s emails, as well as several other insights.
This is like your personal built-in assistant.
Add-ins are very easy to manage and use. They are intuitive and with artificial intelligence now being used in Outlook, these add-ins seem to know exactly what you need when you need it. I often find myself wondering how I ever got along without all these tools that are now available.
Let’s now talk about an old technology that still exists today, called the RSS feed. However, I think this technology is slowly becoming extinct due to the increased use of mobile devices and having data from the internet and updates available to us in real time.
You can use Outlook as an RSS reader to read real-time updates from websites that publish updates in a program called an RSS feed. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a program that is provided to show updates to a website instantly. It is not as popular as it was in the past, which is due to the advancement of the web in the ability to report updates in real time instantly now through other means, such as social media, and our ability to always be online with our phones, tablets, and other media devices.
RSS feeds are created and maintained by a website publisher and include a list of articles or other types of data that are maintained within the feed, with the newest items appearing at the top of the list.
This has been a benefit for many news sites or podcast providers that are constantly updating their sites with new content. The advantage to linking Outlook to this is the distribution of new content will automatically feed into the RSS feed folder and you can view the new content of blogs, websites, social media, and podcasts within Outlook instantly.
To create an RSS feed within Outlook, take the following steps:
Once you make this selection, you can change it at any time later.
The Advanced RSS Feeds dialog box has additional options you may want to explore.
Let’s see how to view an RSS feed:
Feeds to the folder will be updated automatically as new content is created on the website. Any new feeds will appear at the top of the list automatically.
When you no longer want to see an RSS feed, you can delete it from the navigation pane by right-clicking on the name of the RSS feed and selecting Delete Folder.
The RSS feed name and all the emails in the folder will be deleted. You also will not receive any messages to this feed any longer.
The cloud is here to stay, and in this chapter, we discussed several of the possibilities you have to collaborate with others by using cloud technology. By saving items to the cloud, it makes it convenient and easy to share files, pictures, OneNote workbooks, and groups and even integrate with Microsoft Teams. Teams has proven to be one of the finest ways to get your members together, either within your place of business or remotely. These tools can be used together or separately, with others or by you alone; the possibilities are endless, and you can decide which tools will or will not work for you.
In the next chapter, we will discuss several rules that you can create to enhance your Outlook environment. Although we already discussed creating rules in Chapter 4, Organizing your Outlook Environment, you will not want to skip over this next chapter if you truly want to work smartly with Outlook as you will learn how to create several rules that can save time within your workday. Or, after you apply these rules, you can grab a cup of coffee and sit back and feel confident that Outlook is at work, allowing you a few extra minutes or even hours.