By
Delia
/ Last
update
December 31, 2021
At Ignite 2021, Microsoft officially announced the release of Microsoft Loop, which is a new collaboration platform that brings together all Microsoft 365 applications and keeps all software in sync.
This new app helps you and your team think, plan and create together. That means your daily routine may significantly change afterwards - you can easily find the latest version of a file and see all the progress of a project by opening Microsoft Loop with just one click.
Features of Microsoft Loop
Microsoft Loop consists of components, pages, and workspaces, each of which brings some convenience to your work scenario.
Loop components
Loop components are the little helpers that can help you double your productivity. Depending on each person's work situation, this component could be an Excel list and table, notes taken in Word, a dialog box in Teams, or even a sales lead in Microsoft Dynamics 365.
There will be no more awkward scenarios where you and your colleagues are not looking at the same version of a document. Because these components are always in sync in Microsoft Loop, you and your team will always be working on the latest version of a file, no matter how many versions they have.
And in Microsoft Loop, you'll also find a new component - a voting table that helps teams make quick and clear decisions together.
The new component also includes a status tracker. It helps leaders gather information from individual members of the group, track progress on all aspects of the project, and stay up to date on the status of the entire team.
And in addition to the Loop components that Microsoft has already made, application developers can make their own custom Loop components by using Microsoft Graph. This way you can make the component that works best for you with the least amount of budget!
Loop pages
Loop pages are like a blank "canvas" where you can put all the most commonly used Loop components in the order and size you like into a Loop page just for you, which can start with a small inspiration and grow until it matches the size of your imaginary project.
Loop workspaces
Loop Workspaces are shared spaces that belong to the entire team. Here, you and your team can view important documents and content at any time. This way there is no longer a situation where the entire group is rummaging around together looking for a single file.
Loop workspaces allow team members to keep each other informed of everyone's progress and to give timely feedback on their colleagues' ideas. Whenever inspiration strikes, the team can instantly start brainstorming.
Why Microsoft introduced Loop
People's work patterns have been largely fixed for a long time. Daily work communication is mainly through email, usually in the form of documents, spreadsheets and presentations as the main content creation.
And in the past two years, the world has changed dramatically. After the epidemic became the norm, companies and organizations gradually adapted to the new work environment. People have also had to quickly embrace digitalization and replace the traditional ways of working and communicating with other methods.
More companies can be seen to be focusing on developing digital business. And companies are hiring new graduates who may have never even met their leaders and colleagues in real life.
Electronic documents are exploding, and digital files are expanding from traditional file types to more diverse formats and carriers. In order to create and run these new forms of content, more flexible and powerful work software is needed to ensure that everyone can collaborate at their own comfortable pace.
Microsoft Loop responds to a market need by bringing all Office software together, enabling users to move freely between applications and allowing team members to think, plan and create together. Users can consolidate everything they need for a project, including files, links and data from other applications, into the same workspace and easily get their work done with portable components in the form of chats, meetings or documents, keeping their work content in sync at all times and allowing teams to collaborate more efficiently and closely than ever before.