May 30, 2024
A workplace that prioritizes healthy cross-team collaboration is more likely to have engaged and effective employees. But with so many apps, solutions, and platforms available businesses often struggle to select a tech stack and implement a communication strategy that manages employee overwhelm, not to mention the challenges of connecting popular tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack.
Okta’s 2024 Businesses at Work report shows that the number of business apps deployed per company is growing, with the average now at 93. Large companies – 2,000 or more employees – also continue to deploy the most apps, with a current average of 231. This is a 10% increase from the figure of 211, reported in 2023.
In a globally distributed company, effective collaboration may be impacted by the number of apps, cultural differences, language barriers, and Business EQ. However, it’s the tools that don’t ‘speak’ to each other, and the lack of interoperability, that often get in the way.
Interoperability Between Messaging Programs
The most widely used business messaging platforms and programs are Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Chat. Other contenders include Cisco Webex, Zoom (chat), and Intercom – with some listicles including Zendesk (commonly used for support tickets) for its robust chat functionality.
So, what happens when a part of your organization uses a different messaging program? The result is usually workplace silos and inefficient cross-team collaboration. Sometimes it’s personal preference (e.g. many IT teams may use Slack in addition to Microsoft Teams), other times, whole departments may use another chat program because they lack a reliable integration.
Read: Silo Mentality Is the Enemy of Collaboration and Workplace Efficiency
Although many tech companies have invested in integrations for commonly used programs and apps that increase the likelihood of their product being selected, there are still gaps in the market – especially when connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams and Slack Connection Tools
In this article How to Connect Microsoft Teams and Slack in 2024, M.io highlights some of the widely available options and advanced integrations, including how to set up API calls and webhooks. They detail the pros and cons of each and also mention Conclude Link as a solution for connecting both chat programs.
Perhaps one of the most well-known tools for creating connections between different programs is Zapier. But it comes with significant limitations, especially around synchronization and messaging which are not bi-directional.
Read: Conclude Versus Automation and Connection Tools Like Zapier
Conclude Link for Direct Chat and Two-way Syncing
Conclude Link is a robust solution that connects Microsoft Teams and Slack, ensuring information flows smoothly between internal and external collaborators on different platforms. Colleagues and collaborators can work from their preferred messaging platform without the need to switch. This is important, due to the cognitive strain that can result due to context switching.
Conclude’s CTO, Lars Knoll, explains more in this blog: “The core problem we’re tackling at Conclude is the fragmentation of communication tools. In many companies, you’ll find teams using Slack, with others using Microsoft Teams, and often there’s no easy way for these platforms to talk to each other. It creates silos of information that hinder collaboration and efficiency.”
Key Conclude Link features include file sharing and synchronization, direct and group chats, editing and deleting messages, language translation (up to 60 languages), threaded messages, @mention colleagues, rich text formatting, emojis and more.
Conclude Link is free to try for 14 days, sign up here or book a demo to learn more.
Read: CTO Lars Knoll on How He’s Bridging the Gap Between Slack and Microsoft Teams
Why Connect Microsoft Teams and Slack?
- Unified Communication: by connecting Microsoft Teams and Slack, organizations can maintain a consistent communication strategy leading to higher productivity and employee engagement
- Improved Collaboration: team members can communicate seamlessly, regardless of the platform they use, and reduce the need to switch between apps which both reduces cognitive load and boosts productivity
- Less Workplace Silos: having whole departments on a different chat program means that important information (including tickets, issues, bugs and incidents) may not be shared with other stakeholders
- Greater Visibility: when key stakeholders have better oversight over important issues, this improved communication flow means that efficiency and problem-solving can come to the fore
The Final Word
There are very few out-of-the-box solutions that can connect Slack and Microsoft Teams, as many of the available options require technical implementation and maintenance.
Conclude Link aims to bridge that gap by providing a secure and robust integration that works immediately and seamlessly with Slack and Microsoft Teams for unified communication. We believe that by leveraging the right integration tools and practices, organizations can enhance collaboration, reduce inefficiencies, boost productivity and create greater user happiness.
Try Conclude Link free for 14 days. Sign up here, or book a demo to find out more.
