CTO Straight Talk - Issue 4 - 22

" W needed to start fresh, essentially
" We
purging ourselves of our past habits and
experiences in a way that set us up to
create something different. "

We needed to start fresh, essentially

and tools involved in getting something

purging ourselves of our past habits

done with these tools, and what can get

and experiences in a way that set us up

lost as a result is the focus on the task at

to create something different. What's

hand. The missing piece was something

more, we wanted to emulate the sort of

that could bring that all together-along

team-based environment that we hoped

with other third-party applications-

to support with Microsoft Teams.

into one place to create a bird's eye
view of what's happening day to day

From the engineers we recruited,

across them. Our goal was to create a

to the locations we chose for initial

communication and collaboration hub,

brainstorming, to the way we used

something that would bring all these

the very earliest versions of Teams in

great assets together in a way that

our development of the software-the

created a new experience for groups

entire product development process

of users.

was designed to stimulate new ways
of thinking and working. Our aim

For some time, Microsoft has been

was to produce an app-Teams was

researching the way people are

successfully launched in early 2017-

working today and it's clear that, across

that would support the new ways our

industries, it's all about teams coming

customers are thinking and working in

together to get things done. Companies

the digital world.

are moving away from hierarchical
organizations with CxOs at the top in

THE FUTURE
OF WORK
Microsoft already had Exchange and
Outlook, SharePoint, Meeting, Skype,
and our many Office applications.
However, there can be multiple steps

22

their shiny offices, managers in the
middle, and everyone else on the lower
ﬂoors. The new world of productivity
demands ﬂatter structures, open
spaces, and open communication.
However, most productivity tools
CTO Straight Talk - Issue 4

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CTO Straight Talk - Issue 4
