You can now officially play games in a Microsoft Teams call
Yes, that’s right, you can now play games at work from the Microsoft Teams interface. But it’s more than just fun, as Nicole Herskowitz, vice president of Microsoft Teams, explains.
According to Herskowitz’s post on Microsoft 365 blog (opens in a new tab)interacting through play aims to address some of the biggest challenges of the hybrid workplace, including “the struggle to build trust, create connections, and improve team morale.”
While gaming may not be the traditional approach to team building in the workplace, it’s available Tests (opens in a new tab) suggests that this can have a positive effect on relations between colleagues.
The post cites research that said employees experienced a 20% increase in productivity after participating in “traditional team building activities.”
The new Games for Work app was developed with the help of Xbox and allows up to 250 players to play in a single session. Somewhat refreshing these days is the fact that the available games will be ad-free.
Since launch, Microsoft has been advertising four games, each with its own educational twist. A variation on the “this or that” theme, IceBreakers presents two options for answering a question meant to facilitate communication, while Minesweeper aims to capitalize on collaboration and problem solving.
Microsoft’s new Games for Work bundle also includes Wordament and Solitaire Collection, as well as polly tools Polly and Kahoot!, which the company describes as “social apps.”
For now, Games for Work is slated to roll out to Microsoft Teams Enterprise and Education customers in a limited pilot program, collecting data on how it’s used before considering wider public rollout.
