How-To

What Microsoft 365 @mentions Mean for Construction Communications

How-To | January 6, 2023

@Mentions are frequently used on social media platforms to share content. You can type @ and select a username from a list of available users to notify them of your post. Mentions provide an efficient way to identify a user while writing so that you don't have to jump into another application, such as email, to notify them. Mentions are heavily used in most social media platforms, and rightly so, for their ease of use.

As with many social media innovations, @mentions have made their way to Microsoft 365. Read on to find out what mentions can do in Microsoft 365 for construction projects and where Microsoft might take this feature.

How @mentions work in Microsoft 365

Microsoft has added @mentions across Teams and Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. You can even add mentions to SharePoint lists and libraries. While this is great news for Microsoft 365 users, there are some differences and disconnects with mentions between Teams and the rest of the Microsoft 365 applications.

How mentions work in Teams

Teams is a modern application in Microsoft 365, so Microsoft seamlessly integrated @mentions across the application. You can mention a team member in a chat, and a notification will show in their activity feed. In the same chat, you can even use a mention to call on a bot which could add in an application or a workflow if needed.

You can mention a channel member, team, or channel in a channel post, which is handy if you want to notify everyone in a team or channel.

Unfortunately, mentions in Teams do not integrate with mentions in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and even SharePoint. Mentions are their own communication island in Teams unless you incorporate a custom Power Automate workflow or the Graph API to send mentions into Teams from the office apps.

How mentions work in Excel, Word, PowerPoint,Outlook, and SharePoint

To add a mention to Outlook just type @ and select the team member.

To add a mention to Excel, Word, or PowerPoint files online, click the comments button to insert an @mention into the document.

You can add mentions to SharePoint list and document library records by editing a record and scrolling down to the More Details section of the fly out panel:

Mentions made in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and SharePoint will show in the notifications bell of the person assigned for both the online and desktop versions of Outlook.

Once again, these mentions do not link to the mentions in Teams.

For more information, refer to these Microsoft support articles:

Use @mention in comments to tag someone for feedback (Excel, Word, and PowerPoint)
Use @mentions to get someone's attention (Microsoft Outlook)

What could be Microsoft's plan for mentions?

Email is still the preferred method of communication. With Teams, users can minimize emails by using chat with mentions. At some point, Microsoft could bridge the gap across all its Microsoft 365 applications so they can use a universal @mentions feature to notify users. An integrated @mentions approach could centralize the communication stream so that if I create a Teams chat, Microsoft 365 automatically sends off email notifications from Outlook. Or, if I was in Outlook, I could mention a person in an email, and that email would then show in a chat, team, or channel. No more bouncing around between mentions in Teams and the rest of Microsoft 365. No more trying to decide if I should use Teams or Outlook.

So how can mentions help me with construction communication?

As discussed above, mentions are still a fragmented solution across Microsoft 365, but @mentions can still be part of your communications strategy, depending on the stakeholders. For internal correspondence, you could use Teams chats and posts. For external communications, you could continue to use Outlook email. Also, until Microsoft delivers a mentions solution across Microsoft 365, you can leverage a Power Automate workflow to capture project-specific external emails and store them into teams and channel chats by referencing the mentions in the workflow.

Finally, if your team actively collaborates in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and SharePoint online, you might find it valuable to take advantage of @mentions to alert users when they are assigned to review an entry or a file. Check out this article for more information: New Notifications pane in Outlook helps you stay on task (office.com).

Learn how to use Microsoft 365 to manage your construction projects

If you need help implementing Microsoft 365 for your construction organization or you are just looking to implement a communication solution, you can request a free one-hour consultation with our Microsoft 365 specialists here.

If a turnkey Microsoft 365 construction PMIS solution might be a better fit, you can request a demo of Construction Viz here. Also, you can subscribe to our monthly newsletter to keep up with the latest Microsoft 365 news, tips and tricks, and Construction Viz; you can do so in the footer below.

Can Outlook’s new Share to Teams feature help your projects?

How-To | July 11, 2022

If you follow the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, you might have seen this feature: Share to Teams from Outlook (Feature ID: 80721) and wondered what it does.

According to Microsoft’s description:

"Share to Teams from Outlook allows you to send a copy of email messages or conversations, including attachments, into Teams chats and channels. Find the Share to Teams option in the Outlook ribbon or the action menu for an email. Share to Teams supports Outlook on the web, Outlook for Windows, and the new Outlook for Mac Preview."

It sounds interesting and might be good to have in your toolkit if you want to save important project emails directly from Outlook into your project Team sites. More and more construction organizations are using Teams, and any way to quickly bring emails into Teams is a big plus for managing communication.

So, we tried it out and wanted to provide our assessment. Overall, It's kinda cool, but…

Setting up the Share to Teams add-in for Outlook

First, the Share to Teams add-in for Outlook is not configurable. It can only be selectively disabled or enabled on a per-user basis using PowerShell. The steps to set up Share to Teams add in can be found here: Share to Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs.

Once the add-in is activated, a new button appears in Outlook labeled “Share to Teams.”

Sharing an email with Share to Teams

How it works is that you select an individual email you would like to show in Teams and click the Share to Teams button. A modal pop-up window is displayed with a few options:

You can select a person, group, or channel in Teams to share the email and choose whether or not to include the attachments.

If you choose a person or a group, the email will show in their Teams chat. If you select a channel, then the email will show in the Channel Posts tab.

And, if you added any attachments, both the email and the attachments are also added to the Files tab as separate files.

One by one, you can select your Outlook emails and then click Share to Teams and select the location to have them save over to a chat or a team. It works like a charm, but there are a couple of things to consider:

This is purely a way to copy Outlook emails into Teams. You cannot respond to these emails from Teams.
You cannot assign a folder to save the email or attachments so that they will always sit outside your File tab folder structure. You would then need to move them manually if required.
The files are assigned a SharePoint app account for both Modified By and Created By, so you have no audit trail of who posted the files.

Our wishlist for the Share to Teams Feature

What we would like to see in a future release would be:

Ability to share to a Team channel based on an Outlook email rule.
Ability to save attachments into Teams file folders automatically.
Ability to assign metadata, from SharePoint, to the emails so you can search and report on them.
Capturing the email From and To as well as the actual file Modified By and Created By.
Ability to respond to emails from Teams. You can share to Outlook from a Teams chat and then share to Teams from the Outlook email but after that initial exchange, no further actions can be taken on the message.

In summary, Share to Teams is a good idea but needs a little more time in the oven to be a significant time savings feature in Teams.

Do more with Microsoft 365 and SharePoint

If you need help setting up Microsoft 365 to manage your construction projects, you can check out this three-part blog article series or reach out to us directly for a free consultation.

Welcome to Microsoft 365 for Construction. Where We Are Going, There Are No Roads

How-To | March 30, 2022

Microsoft 365 is a powerful suite of applications that can empower companies to become world-class organizations. You can securely manage every aspect of construction projects in Microsoft 365 with the familiar tools you already use daily. That is the good news.

The less good news is that there is, unfortunately, no Microsoft 365 color by numbers, how-to book, or cheat sheet for setting up your construction projects. So, although Microsoft 365 includes everything you would need, it can be challenging to get the platform configured to meet your requirements without the right expertise.

You may be wondering what the challenge is since construction is construction, right? Well, not exactly.

Lydon Solutions has developed and implemented Microsoft 365 solutions for many different construction organizations over the years. During that time, what we have found might surprise you: There is no single right way to use Microsoft 365 for construction projects because every client wants something different.

What makes an ideal construction solution in Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365's strength (and weakness) is its ability to be configured and customized. There are over 200M users of Microsoft 365 across every industry and in every part of the world. Microsoft does not focus on specific industries or verticals. They design their Microsoft 365 products to be generic enough to have cross-industry appeal, and it's up to IT specialists to tailor them to their specific organization. So, there is no "standard" Microsoft 365 path to follow for setting up your construction projects.

Your ideal Microsoft 365 construction solution depends on many different variables such as:

Size of your company
Your organization's IT experience and support
Maturity of your PMO/processes
Level of technology adoption (including Microsoft 365)
Other systems you may be using
Need for mobility (e.g., offline access to data)
Preferred Microsoft 365 applications
Amount of change your organization can embrace
Resource levels to support a solution
IT budget

For example, one of our clients with a limited budget wanted a daily report solution with a template that they could easily share with team members. Their Microsoft 365 application of choice was Excel, so we developed a solution where they could quickly get the latest daily report spreadsheet template from a centralized SharePoint site shared with the rest of the team. It was simple but effective.

Another example is a client who wanted to use Microsoft Project Online and SharePoint to manage all their projects. We developed standard Microsoft Project and SharePoint site templates that were easy to replicate and utilized Power BI for roll-up reporting.

So, while there is no "standard" Microsoft 365 approach to use for your construction project, all hope is not lost. The key is finding the right IT solutions partner with deep construction and Microsoft 365 platform experience to guide you in the right direction.

Learn more about Microsoft 365 for construction

If you are new to Microsoft 365 or looking to leverage all its functionality for your construction projects, Lydon Solutions can help. Click here for a one-hour consultation. Also, check out our blogs for tips on how to use Microsoft 365 for managing construction projects:

How to Start Managing Construction Projects in Microsoft 365 - Part 1 (lydonsolutions.com)
How to Start Managing Construction Projects in Microsoft 365 - Part 2 (lydonsolutions.com)
How to Start Managing Construction Projects in Microsoft 365 - Part 3 (lydonsolutions.com)

Track construction project issues and tasks using Microsoft Lists

How-To | March 21, 2022

Microsoft 365 Lists is a simple and easy-to-use application that can help you keep up with all the items you need to track on a construction project. Read on to understand how Lists work and some considerations when implementing the tool on your next project.

Microsoft Lists is an app within Microsoft 365 that allows you to create a configurable grid of data shareable with your team members. You can use it to track just about anything on a construction project, from action items to submittals. Lists might be the right solution if you are looking for a simple way to collect data and share it with your project teams.

Microsoft Lists UI

Microsoft released Lists in 2020 as a separate but still connected app to SharePoint. While Microsoft has upgraded the UI for the app, the underlying settings menu system remains the same as the SharePoint List app. There are web-based, desktop, and mobile versions (for iOS now and Android soon) of the Lists app so you can interact with the data across all of your devices.

SharePoint List Settings

As it relates to construction, Lists is excellent for spinning up a quick issue tracker or simple item/asset tracker with data viewable in a grid UI. The app has all the features you would find in a SharePoint Lists, including adding custom forms, workflows, and reports by leveraging Microsoft 365 Power Platform (Power BI, Power Apps, and Power Automate), which deeply integrates into the Lists menu system.

Lists integration with the Power Platform

Create your first list with Microsoft Lists

You can create your lists from SharePoint, the List app, or even Microsoft Teams. To add a list within Microsoft Teams, click "add a tab" and select the Lists app (see screenshot below).

Microsoft Lists app in Teams

To create a list from the Lists app, click "Create a List." You have the option of selecting different list types, including an empty list, a list from Excel, an existing List, or a template. Once you choose a list type, you will have the option to save the data to either SharePoint, Teams, or your personal storage.

If you want to customize the list further, the cog in the upper right-hand side of the screen displays the settings. Since Lists operates on top of Microsoft SharePoint, the cog directs you to the familiar SharePoint list settings page, where you can add columns, grouping, filters, and sort your list as needed.

List types available in Microsoft Lists

List types and how to use them for construction projects

Blank list

If you want to start from scratch, you can name the list and configure it as needed. This approach might be best if you are still brainstorming the columns (metadata) you would like to track or don’t want to use the list templates available.

List from Excel

If you have an Excel file that you have been using to manage issues on a project, you can upload your existing Excel file into a list. To do this, you must first create a table within the Excel file to identify what rows and columns you want to upload. You can let Lists assign column types to the data, such as single line of text, number, etc., or you can edit the table when it is uploaded.

Defining the correct column types is critical to ensure the list behaves as you intended if you want to group and summarize values which won't work if the column is a single-line text field. The column names will be used from your Excel table by default, but you can change these before importing the data. Note: if you take this approach, SharePoint will assign internal columns names using the convention field_n, where n is a sequential number for the list columns from left to right. Meanwhile, the 'real' column names you assigned will display on the list. Remembering this detail is important because in many cases (such as Power Automate, Power BI, and PnP, for example), you need to know the internal names to interact with the list.

From an existing list

If you have already built out a list, like an issue tracker, you might not want to create a new one for every project. You can re-use an existing List that resides in a SharePoint site or Teams. Note: Be aware that although document libraries are also lists, you cannot connect the Lists app to a document library!

List from a template

Microsoft Lists has several pre-defined templates that are available to use as a starting point, such as issue tracker, asset manager, and content scheduler. You can also create your own list templates that you might want to make a standard across your projects.

What to consider before using Microsoft Lists for construction projects

While Lists is an app that users can access directly, you can also create and share lists through SharePoint or Teams. Don't forget to consider how lists get updated and how users generate reports as part of the overall solution.

Microsoft Lists allows users to attach files to lists. Depending on the complexity of the list solution needed, you may want to have attachments stored separately in a location where you can better manage them, such as a SharePoint document library or OneDrive.

Microsoft is looking to release a new stand-alone version of Lists that does not require a Microsoft 365 license. So, if you like Lists but don't want to have to pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription, you might be able to save some money by waiting for this version to be released. This stand-alone version is now in preview, and you can take a look here: Try Microsoft Lists with your Microsoft account Preview.

If you are using Microsoft 365, then the Lists app is a no-brainer for simple tracking. There are many different uses for Lists that can benefit a construction project. Give it a try!

Also, if you need help setting up Microsoft 365 to manage your construction projects, you can check out this three-part blog article series or reach out to us directly for a free consultation.

Protect Remote Workers from Cyberattacks with Microsoft 365 and Endpoint Manager

How-To | December 15, 2021

The ongoing pandemic has forced us all to rethink how we work and interact with each other and the information assets held within our organizations. The increase in remote working elevates the likelihood of security threats, potentially putting our information at risk.

Now is the time to evaluate your infrastructure and security, not only for the immediate threat but also to plan for what comes next.

Better Remote Worker Security with Microsoft Endpoint Manager

At Lydon Solutions, we have been a virtual organization right from the start. At the moment, of course, we have increased the number of staff working from home, and we have been able to do so seamlessly by using services from Microsoft 365 and Azure because we do not have an on-premise infrastructure. We use Microsoft 365 for email and collaboration (SharePoint, Teams, etc.) and use Microsoft Azure Endpoint Manager (previously called InTune) to manage all the devices our employees use.

Endpoint Manager, a cloud-based enterprise mobility management service from Microsoft, ensures that your employees' devices and applications access your company information securely.

Here are some of the ways we use Endpoint Manager at Lydon Solutions to protect our information and systems:

Multi-factor security. We require employees to enroll all devices in Endpoint Manager and use multi-factor authentication before allowing access to company information.
Asset management. We provision and manage all company-issued laptops with Endpoint Manager, automatically configuring all devices with our organization settings and ensuring they are compliant with our security policy requirements.
BYOD device management. Our employees are free to use their devices of choice, and with Endpoint Manager, we can specifically target only the apps that contain (or access) company information, such as Office.
Policies. Using public computers can also be risky. So, to ensure that our employees are not accessing company information from these devices and potentially leaving sensitive information behind, we create policies not to allow access.

As part of our Microsoft 365 managed services, we can set up your Microsoft 365 tenant and implement Endpoint Manager so that your company can manage projects effectively and your information and assets are protected.

Find out more about our services and how we can help you in your goal of secure remote working by scheduling a no-obligation consultation and demo.

Using Microsoft Power BI for Reporting with Project Online

How-To | December 7, 2021

More than likely, your organization uses the project-specific reports available out of the box with the Microsoft Project desktop application. But as your portfolio grows, you may need to move to Microsoft 365 Project Online. Project Online offers many advantages over the desktop version, including enterprise resources and codes, permissions management, project templates, and integration with the Microsoft 365 Power Platform. Unfortunately, you will quickly realize that there are no canned reports in Project Online like those you are familiar with in the desktop application. So, what do you do?

Using Microsoft Power BI to create Microsoft Project Online reports

The “official” reporting solution for Microsoft Project Online is Power BI. Power BI is another Microsoft 365 subscription. If you are going to build custom reports, you may want to have at least one Power BI Pro license. Note: Power BI Pro comes with a Microsoft 365 E5 subscription or is available for $9.99/user/month for an individual license.

Next, you will want to install the Microsoft Project add-in for Power BI, which you can download here. The add-in includes some key data fields from Project and some visually appealing pre-defined dashboard report templates.

Project Online Add-In for Power BI

So, you are all set to create your custom reports across your portfolio! Well, not exactly…

You will find out pretty quickly that if you want to create a “simple” report like a monthly resource cash flow across all your projects in Power BI, it is much more complicated than you would think. The good news is that Lydon Solutions has built several configurable Power BI solutions that can generate monthly expenditures for any resource or activity across your portfolio. The report can be further customized to your organization’s needs and added to Teams or SharePoint.

Project Online Cash Flow Report for Power BI

Get Help with Microsoft 365, Project Online, and Power BI

As you know, setting up a portfolio cashflow report in Microsoft Project Online is more than just building a report in Power BI. Lydon Solutions can assist you with everything from Microsoft 365 configuration to delivering custom Power BI reports so you can focus on managing your construction projects. You can find out more by requesting a free consultation here.