Channels vs Chats: The Collaboration Decision That Makes or Breaks Teams

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Thanks to TrnDigital for sponsoring this session! www.trndigital.com

Have you ever thought, "We talked about this... but where?" When conversations bounce between chats, channels, meetings, and mentions, Teams starts feeling less like a collaboration hub and more like a digital junk drawer. I can't tell you how many organizations I've walked into where the first thing someone says is "We use Teams but nobody can find anything."

In this session, you'll learn a simple, end-user-friendly decision framework for choosing channels vs chats so your work is actually findable, your files stop living in six different places, and your team can quit having the same conversation for the third time this week. We'll walk through real workplace scenarios like projects, requests, quick questions, and announcements and show exactly where each one belongs. If your Teams environment feels busy but not productive, this session will give you the clarity to fix it.

What you will learn:
- A fast "channel or chat?" decision framework you can apply in seconds
- How files behave differently in channels vs chats and why that impacts version control
- How to keep key conversations visible without turning channels into noise
- Practical habits for naming, replying, and following up so work does not disappear
- Real examples of what good looks like for projects, requests, meetings, and announcements

Join me for this one and finally get your Teams environment feeling like a workspace instead of a never-ending scroll of "Where did that go?"

SPEAKER SHARI OSWALD
Shari Oswald, better known as Shortcut Shari, is a Microsoft MVP, Microsoft Certified Trainer alum, Microsoft 365 Solutions Architect, consultant, author, and international speaker who has been working with SharePoint since before it was even called SharePoint. Her sweet spot is the people side of change: helping organizations make Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, Copilot, and the Power Platform practical, usable, and a lot less intimidating. Through consulting, classroom learning, and online courses for LinkedIn Learning, ClipTraining, and Pluralsight, Shari turns complex technology into clear, useful, and genuinely fun learning experiences. She believes in working smarter, not harder, knows more keyboard shortcuts than should probably be allowed, and loves helping people use Microsoft 365 to solve real business challenges.