Microsoft Teams. You know it? Like Slack in a sort of rigid, corporate, losing the will to live kind of way. Well, Microsoft knows you feel this way, and really wants to change that.
The company behind Office wants you to make connections with your co-workers, build trust, and improve team morale. So it is introducing games to its office communications app via the new Games for Work app. It’s arriving today with a selection of casual games like Solitaire, Minesweeper, Wordament, and IceBreakers.
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Microsoft says it’ll help build relationships, but also make you more productive, which of course is why the games are actually here. A study from Bringham Young University says teams who gamed together are 20% more productive than those who went on a traditional team building exercise.
“Games can be an easy way to connect and build trust with our teammates,” the company says in a blog post, making it sound less fun by the second. “Along with our morning caffeine, sometimes we need a brain teaser or some friendly competition to get relationships going, infuse levity into our workday, and build a sense of community.”
There’s no chance of anything controversial, they’re all rated E for Everyone, and all bring a different element of team building in to play. Minesweeper encourages problem solving, while Wordament creates healthy competition. There are also multiplayer versions for up to 250 players.
Microsoft says with the uptick in remote work (sorry Twitter workers), it’s harder for colleagues to get to know each other. It says 40% of managers find team building to be the hardest part of navigating the hybrid work era. Having to spend so much time on Teams? Well we’re not really surprised by that.
Would you be up for a different kind of IceBreaker with your teammates? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter, where we all love each other.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
