Smart Collaboration : Planning delayed messages in Teams and Outlook

By working with different teams spread across the globe and/or on different time zones, delaying messages lets you send information at the most favorable time for each groups, favoring synchronicity and collaboration.

Example : Un project management team spread across multiple countries need to share important updates. By planning a delayed message in Teams, the sender may choose an appropriate time to send it, when the whole team is available, maximizing the participation and mutual understanding of the evolution of the project.

Planning your messages ahead of time gives you the opportunity to respect the right of your team members to disconnect from work. By doing so, you limit the amount of interruptions outside of each other’s work-scheduled hours, thus helping everyone achieve a healthy balance between their personal and professional life.  

Example : A project manager wishes to send his team a non-urgent update, but he knows his teams wishes to disconnect outside of work hours. By scheduling messages for the next morning he respects their boundaries outside of the work environment. 

Planning your messages in advance on Teams allows for a more efficient time management. It lets you program and prepare communications ahead of time so that unexpected and frequent distractions can be handled without worry, allowing your team members and yourself to focus on the tasks at hand. 

Example : A project manager uses the Outlook message planning option to send automated reminders to his team about upcoming deadlines. This proactive approach gives the opportunity for everyone to better manage their own time, while still ensuring that the important tasks will be accomplished before the deadline.

Planning future sent messages gives you the time needed to strategically think about the message you wish to send. By doing so, you are able to clearly formulate your ideas, include relevant information and choose the best moment to share important updates. 

Example : Before an important virtual meeting, a manager schedules a message on Teams to share an outline of the main discussion points, allowing his team to prepare and write down questions so they can better contribute to a more well-informed and rich exchange on the subject. 

Instant messaging can lead to many unwanted or unexpected distractions. By scheduling your communications, you may avoid creating distractions at importunate times and give your colleagues enough time to focus on their tasks, when needed, without being solicited in real time. 

Example : An employee works on a complex project and wishes to minimize the number of interruptions. Instead of using instant messaging on Teams, he plans specific time frames in which he wishes to receive updates and questions and communicates those to his colleagues, guaranteeing uninterrupted work sessions.