Teams looked nice at first but very rapidly proved its weaknesses. It tries to be a beefed-up version of Skype with some extra chat facilities, whilst cramming in a simplified solution to access other apps, but without the power of Sharepoint.
Indeed, some apps can’t even be added at all.
About the only feature of the team spaces I actually like is that it allows me to display MS Planner in dark mode.
I find that when engaged in meetings it’s fairly processor/memory hungry, slowing my heavily tasked but otherwise fine system to a painfully slow pace.
The other features within the teams I find to be unpleasantly untidy and limited.
For me, it’s got chat facility which I never use and which has only limited capability and the features I would need are poorly implemented.
I’d rather use a sharepoint site which allows for easy access to everything and greater customisation.
Indeed, that is true… But it’s only a thin surface and very one-dimensional.
It’s not easy to access areas of a wider sharepoint site from within teams in a neat way. For example I can far better present access to our Sqn filing system, photo store, &c from Sharepoint which is far more ‘multi-level’ than in teams… and if one is going to sharepoint anyway, then there is little use for teams in that sense.
It then only provides chat and video calling, which hopefully won’t be as much needed soon.
I’d prefer not to run any Sqn activities on Teams, but it’s definitely got a place.
I attended some Region level training last month. Rather than people having to spend hours traveling, arranging accommodation etc we just joined Teams for a couple of afternoons. As a result I now have a useful qualification that I would probably never have had time to get otherwise.
Yes, I agree that in those cases it does have a place.
Though, I wouldn’t want to see it over-used in the future.
Whilst getting everyone together in person for a short meeting is a PITA and Teams would be ideal, a full day session - such as a Wing conference - would be far better in person. Not least of all because I get to see my mates (which is the only redeeming feature of a Wing conference).
I could see that Teams could* fill a gap in giving a space for cadets to discuss things within Flights/Sections, and for Cdt NCOs to push out announcements in their AOR, &c… But that’s never going to happen because of the associated cost.
I’ve been added to various Wing/Region/Corps teams and I can count the number of times that I’ve visited them in the past two months on no hands.
Completely agree with this - we have done our VSDT working weekends over Teams and it sort of works but is not replacement for f2f.
I think if a Sector Cdr wants a quick catch up, much better to do it on a Teams meeting than a f2f hassle. Likewise if you are organising an event with other units etc etc.
It’s the standard MS approach outside of Office… They build and buy a number of solutions whose features overlap and ultimately end up presenting a program which doesn’t quite fulfill many things.
Cadet Portal version 2.0.7 has been released today - more information Bader SharePoint but essentially this release provides cadets with access to the TG cadet How to Guides which have bene released of late.
Cadet Portal Embedding and Web-based Training Reports - June 2020
The latest Cadet Portal embedding and web-based training reports for June 2020 have been published at the link below. These were shared with the Command Board last Friday.
We have changed the reporting schedule to report from the 1st of the month to the end of the month - previously, we were doing the 15th to the 15th which didn’t make a huge amount of sense!
If you have any questions or queries about the reports, please get in touch
Completely irrelevant to the actual content of the report, but I’ve always found it baffling how many units there are in places like Manchester. You could draw a 5 mile circle and cover 6 sqns.
Plus there are some really economically disadvantaged households who don’t drive, and I’m not sure I’d want my 12 year old getting on a bus, in uniform, in some of the suburbs.
If they have a sensible number of cadets, why not? Would fewer, overfill units be more sustainable, or would that result in cadets leaving because the local organisation gets too big for them to really feel recognised when they do something?
Completely irrelevant to the actual content of the report, but I’ve always found it baffling how many units there are in places like Manchester. You could draw a 5 mile circle and cover ALL the sqns.
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