Microsoft Loop fills a void in our hybrid world.
The drafting stage is like an empty canvas, the void before a project starts and plans get made. It’s a crucial phase where teams need time to think, share creativity and collaborate to define success. It’s where plans, timelines and accountability start.
Before the pandemic, this was a grey area, lacking process and clarity, creating duplicated workloads.
It’s even worse now as we try to replicate the same poor working methods in our hybrid environment. We use strings of emails that lose track of critical points and have multiple PowerPoint drafts clogging up inboxes. No transparency, wasted meetings and failed accountability are significant roadblocks to a successful outcome.
Introducing: Microsoft Loop
Microsoft Loop is a new app that combines a powerful and flexible canvas with portable components that stay in sync and move freely across Microsoft 365 apps¹.
The evolution of document collaboration *plus Covid* gave Microsoft’s existing Fluid Framework a new lease of life. Microsoft recognised and shared the need to reduce back-to-back meetings and improve collaboration and engagement at home during the pandemic.
Research shows considerable time wasted catching up on a typical silo working mentality:
Scenario One: Person X writes or rehashes a document and then emails it around for team feedback; multiple replies = multiple versions, leaving someone to consolidate the input.
Scenario Two: Person X writes or rehashes a document hosted by SharePoint or OneDrive; they ask colleagues to collaborate using a shared link to ensure version control. It works when people don’t download the file and email it back.
So, we understand the problem. What is the solution?
Microsoft Loop centralises project communications with your colleagues - working with the Microsoft 365 apps you already know and love making your physical location obsolete.
Microsoft Loop is composed of three units • Loop components • Loop pages • Loop workspaces •
Loop components are blocks of content that users add to working spaces in Microsoft 365. Changes made to any Loop component (block) synchronise everywhere they are linked (‘looped’).
This feature allows for unprecedented version control. Technically speaking, you rework a master Loop component locked away. Described as the “Single source of truth⁴”, this component syncs updates across Microsoft 365, still editable from everywhere it is looped.
Loop pages are a canvas for collaborating text content that stays in sync. It is a place to catch up, brainstorm ideas and review progress. [shhhh… at first, you might think Loop pages operate like google docs] but wait until you uncover the features; track progress with notifications, highlighted changes, status labels, task lists, cute avatars that highlight changes and emojis to express emotion 👍 😁 💛 ].
Loop workspaces; Loop components and Loop pages both amalgamate into Loop workspaces. It’s a modern take on File Explorer with a visual overview of the files in your project. [coming later in 2022]
The power of Microsoft Loop will continue to grow as the app evolves and adoption rates increase; users will learn to “Loop each other in” using Loop components across Microsoft 365. Up and running now in Microsoft Teams chat and online in Word, and Outlook, with more being added regularly.
Loop components are joined later this year with Loop pages and Loop workspaces, completing Microsoft Loop.
This video showcases how the three units create Microsoft Loop. I can’t wait for it to pick up steam in 2022!
Introducing Microsoft Loop on Vimeo
Embracing the hybrid workforce
In 2013 (seven years pre-covid), Steven Miller and Pip Marlow, the Managing Director of Microsoft Australia, recognised the human need to spend time working at home with less commuting.
Steven Miller is quoted³ as saying:
At Microsoft, work is something you do, not where you go.
One step ahead of most companies, Microsoft (and other cloud-based companies) had a considerable advantage during the pandemic that caused worldwide lockdowns and enforced working from home. They had been living a hybrid lifestyle for years.
With businesses now debating the future of hybrid working (logistics, costs, management and productivity), expectations of returning to offices are a challenge. I was impressed to see Pip Marlow (now CEO at Salesforce) continue to lead by example and embrace new ways of working to help advance equality for all.
The Salesforce approach: Success From Anywhere.
These excerpts are from Pip Marlow’s article in the Australian Financial Review⁴.
“Our model is centred around trust and transparency. We are focused on helping our customers, looking after our employees, serving all stakeholders and creating success from anywhere.
Organisations that choose to snap back to the old ways of doing things are choosing a path that leads to a two-speed workforce, greater inequality and worse outcomes for innovation and growth.
We hope to help advance new, better ways of working and equality for all by doing this. We have the opportunity to lead by example and make work better for everyone.”
The future is here. The world has changed with the abundance of sea changes and hybrid working. We must do our part in transforming into a new era where people can live healthier lives with shorter commutes.
I believe the emphasis needs to be on equality of people, embracing their location; It's vital to avoid a culture of 'those online’ vs ‘those onsite’ where exclusion will happen.
We have an opportunity to build virtual equality with colleagues and clients around the globe.
Increased adoption and collaboration online using the new features in Microsoft Teams, Loop and Viva are transforming hybrid work for those ready for change.
Loop components; a deeper look
Loop components are message blocks that you fill with templated fields (voting tables, paragraphs of copy, to-do lists, status trackers). These blocks help you collaborate, share ideas, get feedback and input from colleagues, keeping information together. Reliable, secure communication provides the flexibility to work with colleagues and clients around the globe.
Get started in Microsoft Teams chat:
Open a new blank chat message in Microsoft Teams and tag the Loop components button. Select from the popup menu of options you’d like your colleagues to contribute.
Once sent, everyone included in the message can collaborate in real-time.
We’re always on the lookout for new ways to collaborate. Presentation Studio has an exciting time working with voting tools and status tracking while maintaining accountability and productivity - you name it!
Top Tip - ‘pop out’ chat message; in the top right corner of Teams, click the tiny ‘diagonal arrow’ and voila!
At the Ignite launch in 2021, Microsoft’s Laurent Giret described the Microsoft Loop components as;
“Atomic units of productivity”
A vibrant, powerful description as these blocks (Loop components) appear across the Microsoft 365 apps you already know and love. There is no need to learn a new tool; you can start collaborating with what you have.
Loop components highlight text edits with cute identity avatars for reference, leaving no confusion when you want feedback or input for discussion. You can finally see contributions in one place [Goodbye pesky *scrolling headaches* trying to find comments], thus saving time and maintaining accountability.
Loop components keep valuable information and insights up to date across different applications, minimising version control issues and human error.
Importantly, they keep ‘static content’ areas unchanged and only managed by the author.
Top Tip - Right click chat message; select ‘Pin Message’, keeping it at the top of your chat bar & easy to find!
Loop components will be added with regular updates now live with office.com in Outlook and Word.
The beauty of a subscription service is that the Microsoft 365 updates bring regular new features. Some already road-mapped for release include Microsoft Team Channels, Outlook, and OneDrive, with more to come⁶.
Loop components in Outlook - general availability June 2022⁶. These are interactive objects you embed to provide real-time collaboration. This feature brings support for loop components in the email messages.
Loop pages; a deeper look
Loop pages are a canvas for collaborating text content in an open, unstructured endless document that stays in sync. It is a place to catch up, brainstorm ideas and review progress.
Consider Loop pages as a ‘draft content page’ encouraging colleagues to collaborate and work in one place. Think and plan out loud, add comments, make edits, move sections around, and humanise engagement with emojis 👍🏾🤔🤎 and expressions.
It is a total game-changer for flexing ideas and insights in one place and reversing the never-ending cycle of emails and separate documents created by people working on different versions.
Loop workspaces; a deeper look
Loop workspaces are shared spaces to access and organise files. It provides an overall visual view of your projects from the top-level down. A place where it all comes together, and you can see all the relevant files to check in on the status of your project and maintain cohesion—[Not quite ready; more details will be coming].
In summary:
Thank you for reading my treasured breakdown of how Microsoft Loop will transform hybrid working, giving users the creative freedom to share ideas and collaborate. Progressive management means flexibility with clear accountability and transparency.
The future is here. The world has changed with the abundance of sea changes and hybrid working. We must do our part in transforming into a new era where people can live healthier lives with shorter commutes.
The combination of Microsoft Teams, Loop and Viva proves that productivity and well-being can evolve with our new lives - nobody knows what tomorrow will bring; live in the present moment!
I hope you are as excited about Microsoft Loop as I am! What do you think of its potential? Please share this article with people who will find it helpful and leave me a comment below.
Emma Bannister, CEO at Presentation Studio
As Australia’s leading communication and presentation design expert, Emma created Presentation Studio (an award-winning presentation agency) to fulfil her passion for helping people communicate their ideas more effectively. Her work has changed people’s lives and businesses for the better worldwide.
Connect with Emma on LinkedIn for more updates
Sources:
⁴The Intrazone, Loop there it is. Hosts: Mark Kashman, Chris McNulty Guest: Greg Howard
⁵Transforming for the hybrid world. Wangui McKelvey, General Manager, Microsoft 365
⁶Microsoft Resources and Updates
Microsoft keeps us one step ahead with Microsoft Loop. They have listened to consumer needs and developed a solution for our hybrid world. My article explains why I believe this is the vital change we need. How Loop fills the void in hybrid workplaces and, in my own experience, how to use the features as they roll out over 2022 and why they will benefit you and your team. Introducing Microsoft Loop. It shifts our status quo, liberates minds, rethinks creativity, and is solution-focused. A hybrid world needs centralised collaboration to keep us in sync and focused on productivity. We must do our part in transforming into a new era of hybrid working and living healthier lives where productivity and well-being evolve - to live in the present. Discover Microsoft Loop and why this is a game-changer for our Hybrid World.