Welcome to the 13th Edition of the Microsoft 365 for Construction newsletter: *Project Communication*

Construction projects rely on individuals coming together collectively as a team to deliver solutions. To do so, construction teams must have clear and efficient communication channels from the owner to the contractors and from the field to the office. If there is one factor that influences the success of a project, it's the ability of the team to communicate effectively.

Microsoft 365 provides multiple ways to communicate internally and externally with project team members. In this newsletter, I'd like to discuss these communication tools and how they fit into an overall communication strategy for your construction organization.

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Before jumping into project communications in Microsoft 365, I like to share a funny communication video. This video stresses the importance of "effective" communication 😊

Opinions on new tech and the overall theme of the newsletter.

Construction projects involve diverse groups of individuals, each with a specific skill set, experience, and technical aptitude. This uniqueness often results in varying communication methods on a project. Over my years of experience in construction, I have found one or more communication pathways to be used on projects.

• Phone. Outside of meeting the team member in person, picking up the phone and calling someone directly seems to be the best way to build trust and is often the preferred way to communicate with the pre-internet crowd. I've found this approach to be best to resolve an issue if multiple emails have been sent between parties on the same topic without resolution.
• Text. Text is the most informal communication method, but if you need to get a hold of someone quickly, I have found text to be held in priority over email. Also, I have found that "super busy" individuals often prefer text for urgent decision-making since they can get inundated with emails. Text is more personal than email, can be responded to quickly wherever you are, and you can respond with canned replies like "Yes" or "No."
• Email. Email has found its place as THE formal communication tool in construction. If you need to CYA, manage correspondence, document meeting minutes, assign tasks, and manage follow-up, you will most likely use email.
• Chat. Chat programs are next in line compared to formal emails but are more conversational and less about CYA. Chatting is used to get answers quickly and provide status updates. Chat programs are getting better with search, but it can be difficult to navigate chat history like you would do with emails.
• Web Meetings. Web meetings are beginning to take the place of face-to-face meetings due to an uptick in remote workers. Web meetings are a great way to build teams and communicate, especially when turning on your camera. There is still a significant gap between a video call and an in-person meeting, which I believe the metaverse will help bridge in the next 5 -10 years.
• Metaverse. Avatars interacting in a virtual world seems like science fiction, but it is coming to the workplace, and before you know it, it will be the new web meeting and so much more.

Microsoft 365 features and technologies that may benefit your construction projects.

The Microsoft 365 suite of cloud applications is significant and spans all the communication paths mentioned above.

Phone

A Voice-Over-Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone system makes calls over the Internet, while traditional landline phone service uses the public-switched telephone network. VoIP transmits digital data wirelessly, while traditional phone lines transmit electrical waves along copper cables.

Since VoIP is cloud-based, it's much easier to set up and manage than a telephone line system. You can set up a VoIP phone system in minutes and immediately make calls from VoIP-capable devices, including smartphones and computers. You can make calls anywhere with an internet connection and choose virtual phone numbers from any area code.

Many companies offer VOIP services packaged with web meeting technology. Microsoft Teams has a Microsoft VOIP offering that is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of services.

• Teams. Microsoft offers VOIP services via Teams. There are multiple paid subscriptions for Teams and/or Microsoft 365 that include VOIP services. From my experience with VOIP providers we have used in the past for our company, I've found Teams to be a far superior offering. It has competitive pricing, but the significant upside is the ability to leverage the integrated Teams and the Microsoft 365 ecosystem that comes with it.

Email

Electronic mail is a way of transmitting messages via the Internet. It is the preferred method of formal communication on construction projects. Outlook is the email client for Microsoft 365.

• Outlook. Microsoft 365/Windows Outlook is geared toward business users and combines many Microsoft 365 applications. Significant features are being released regularly, including dragging and dropping email attachments to the desktop, dictation, To Do for task management and Copilot AI. There is a desktop version, a mobile version, and a web version.

Chat

Chat is an internet-based, real-time communication tool. Microsoft offers two applications for chat: Teams and Viva Engage.

• Teams Chat. Teams is Microsoft's application for communication and collaboration. You can chat directly with one or more individuals and have chats included in specific Teams Channels and meetings. Chat also includes the ability to embed Loop components, attach files, record video clips, and embed Microsoft 365 and third-party apps.

• Viva Engage. Remember Yammer? Microsoft purchased Yammer in 2008 for $1.2B and recently rebranded it as Viva Engage. Viva Engage is a communication platform like Teams where you can chat with other employees and create communities of shared interest. Viva Engage is targeted toward internal communications and tapping into the knowledge base across your organization.

Web Meetings

Web meetings are online meetings conducted over the Internet. Microsoft's web meeting application is Teams. For more advanced features, Microsoft also provides an add-on service called Teams Premium.

• Teams. Most Microsoft 365 subscriptions include Teams. Teams allows you to create a web meeting from Outlook or the Teams app. A web meeting includes the ability to invite internal and external attendees, share your screen, record a meeting, chat, add apps, and change views.

• Teams Premium. In 2023, Microsoft released Teams Premium as an add-on subscription service to Teams. It offers additional meeting types, such as Webinars, Town Halls, Virtual Appointments, and Content Controlled Meetings. Also included are immersive spaces, the ability to brand a meeting, and an AI meeting recap. Check out this article to find out more.

• Mesh. Check out Microsoft Mesh if you want to connect with teammates in a virtual world. Mesh allows you to create a virtual avatar and interact with others in a virtual 3D world. At this point, I have not seen Mesh take off in the construction space, but this will be the future, especially as VR devices become more mainstream.

New features and functionality of Construction Viz, our construction project management solution for Microsoft 365.

Construction Viz was designed to be as flexible as possible, knowing that each client, project, and project manager manages work differently. Also, because Construction Viz is deployed to Microsoft 365/SharePoint, we focused on incorporating as many of the features and apps available in Microsoft 365 into Construction Viz as possible. Construction Viz integrates with Microsoft 365 applications so you can leverage the communication pathways in your solution.

• Email. Construction Viz includes a lightweight workflow engine that will send emails to users and distribution lists based on conditions that are applicable to the Response components. All Emails are logged into an Email history of the application.

• Chat. Links to Construction Viz forms and tasks can be shared within chats and Teams channels. Also, using Power Automate, Construction Viz notifications can be displayed inside of chats. To find out more about Construction Viz notifications, check out this article.
• Web meetings. Construction Viz can be added to a Teams channel so that users can interact with applications in real-time while in a meeting.

Future events, training, webinars, final thoughts, your take, and wrap-up.

Upcoming Webinar

Lydon Solutions provides Microsoft 365 services and our flagship product, Construction Viz for Microsoft 365. For this upcoming webinar, we will be focusing on Microsoft 365 Project for the Web.

Many companies want to upgrade from Microsoft Project Online or need a basic project scheduling program. We'll use this webinar to crack open Microsoft Project for the Web (now Planner Premium) and show what's possible and how we have customized it for construction.

📢Free Webinar Friday, November 15ᵗʰ 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST

Making Microsoft Project for the Web (Planner Premium) work for construction projects

• Current out-of-the-box features
• Microsoft 365 Roadmap of upcoming features
• Power BI reporting
• Power Apps Dataverse structure
• Expanding capabilities with the Power Platform Portal, allowing external contractors to update dates and percent complete.
• Power app form for creating a project
• and much more…

👉Sign up for the online webinar here.👈

Final Thoughts

Microsoft 365 provides an unparalleled suite of cloud applications for managing project communications. From Teams VOIP to Microsoft Mesh, Microsoft 365 can provide an application and/or suite of applications that can fulfill your projects' needs. And with Copilot AI available across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, the potential efficiencies put it in a league of its own.

The challenge is integrating all communication technologies into a centralized solution for your project, where communication threads and files can be easily searched, reviewed, audited, and archived.

If you find yourself overwhelmed with the options available for your organization or need to bounce some ideas off a friendly face, you can reach out for a free one-hour consultation here.

Wrap Up

Thanks for reading the thirteenth edition of our LinkedIn Newsletter. I hope this newsletter provides a high-level overview of what's available in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem for delivering project communications. While the means and methods will vary depending on the stakeholder, you can be confident that Microsoft 365 can provide all the tools for your construction organization's communication strategy.

Please subscribe and share if you find the newsletter valuable. You can follow our Lydon Solutions LinkedIn company page here and join our new Microsoft 365 for Construction group here where you can ask questions and share ideas with the larger team.

Also, check out our Lydon Solutions website for more content and request a free one-hour consultation or a demo of Construction Viz here.