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| Microsoft brings its most popular retro games to team meetings |
Microsoft announced Wednesday that some of its most popular games will be available to users of Teams, its video conferencing service, to help employees communicate with each other.
“People around the world are working hard to build trust, relationships, and improve team morale,” the US tech giant said in a blog post. So what is the deal with gaming? Playing with colleagues has a powerful ability to improve relationships and cooperation. "
While some see gaming as a distraction from work, Microsoft sees massive benefits, citing a Brigham Young University study that showed work teams that played short video games together were more productive than the other, and 20% higher for teams playing traditional events. your team.
With the shift to remote and mixed work, social distancing at work has weakened, affecting cooperation between groups. In fact, according to the Job Trends Index, more than 40% of executives believe that building relationships is the number one challenge in the modern workplace. So according to Microsoft, games can be an easy way to connect with your teammates and build trust.
It is for these reasons that Microsoft announced Games for Work, which brings some of its most popular games to Teams meetings, the list includes: Icebreakers, Minesweeper, Wordament, and the popular card game Solitaire.
The company said the new app makes it easy to play fast-paced, interactive multiplayer (2-250 players) versions of the aforementioned games. It has no ads.
Microsoft added that the Games for Work app integrates directly into your daily workflows. So, once the app is added to the Teams service, employees can play games during meetings, whether on desktop or mobile.
In addition to the Games for Work app, the company says there are other Teams apps that help build employee relationships, increase productivity, and keep employees entertained.
These include Polly in Teams, a puzzle and poll app that can be used in chats, meetings, or channels, and Kahoot! in the team.
Microsoft promises to release more apps over the next year.