Microsoft Teams - saying good morning

[natel]

We had a new manager last year. A few months ago the manager insists on everyone using Microsoft Teams in the morning to ‘check in’ and say good morning to see everyone is ok. Some of us stopped using it as one colleague who was moonlighting never went on there as they were not working so why should we. We feel it is micromanagement to see we have logged on by 9am. The manager is saying we have to use it again.

It is clear if I am working as I have to respond to manage the team inbox so they always see my replies as I have to email to advise I will action the enquiry.

Anyone else have to do this? Other teams at work do not do this.

Every morning my team all say good morning on Teams and then goodbye when we leave. It has never occurred to me that this is somehow outrageous! It’s just a way to feel like a team when many of us WFH and also to know who is in each day. It seems reasonable to me.

I manage a small team, we have a little chat group - I usually pop in on a Monday morning and leave a message to say hi hope you had a good weekend and update them to anything going on that week they need to know. I also say bye on a Friday, thanks for work etc

i don’t expect them to reply immediately - we have a flexible working policy and it’s understandable that all colleagues might start or finish a little later. But it’s good to stay connected - some people find it isolating to be wfh especially junior colleagues

We have a morning huddle online for 10 mins. Purpose was during Covid we had to work at home and people felt isolated as we lost connection we had in our open plan office. We kept it as we now work hybrid to make sure we are ok and more well being. Team loved it.

it’s not micromanaging. We ask 3 questions. Are we ok, does anyone need help and anything to celebrate or news for the team. It’s evolved into adding action for happiness as our daily aim.

works well and each team member regardless of grade takes turn to lead it.

They just mean the written chat, not a meeting.

you can change settings to always show green

I hate it but hate more that it annoys me so much. Our manager does it, every morning, same time, always ‘how’s your day looking?’. It gives me a rage far above what it should do. I find it patronising, I don’t need ‘checked on’ I’m nearly 60 and have worked for over 40 years. I manage my own workload and know what I have to do.

I think what annoys me most is, that’s it. No other contact all day, no one to ones, no catch ups, no training, no feedback so it’s basically a tick box exercise at 9.08 every morning, she sends the same message to all 5 of us Team Leaders.

Struggling to see the issue to be honest, it takes a few seconds to send a teams message- unless people aren't logging on when they are supposed to? In which case that's the issue and not a reasonable request that doesn't take much effort at all!

I am part of a self managing team and we decided recently to bring back the “check-in/check-out” with a hello-goodbye in the chat. Some people work from 5am and stop early. Others take a long break to go for a swim , or walk the dogs twice a day… so nice to know your teammember is present.

We also have a mandatory daily scrum at 9.

Gosh if checking in on Teams in the morning seems like micro-managing to you OP, you have led a very blessed work life! Just download it onto your phone and say hi when you wake up at 7:30 or whenever, then it will look like you've been working for hours :)

We do this. It's no different to arriving in the office and saying good morning when you arrive.

You can see people's online status anyway so it isn't micromanaging, just a nice way of including everyone when you rarely see them.

If you think it is micromanaging the problem is you.

At 9:15 we do a stand up. Gives me a chance to get the school run done and make a cup of tea. I don't mind it really, takes 15 minutes and some days it's the only time I talk to anyone 😂

I used to wfh and it was mandatory to log in to slack and say morning at 9. No big deal. If you are contracted to be at work at that time then what's the issue?

Stand up?

Do they want you to do a video call or just write a message saying good morning? If it’s the first I’d kick off - because it means you can never schedule anything for 9am and it’s a waste of time. If it’s the second just put teams on your phone and do it from there it takes two seconds

We all just write "morning" on the team group chat. Takes seconds.

What I did yesterday ; what I'm doing today; what's blocking me. In 5 minutes round the room.

If I was a manager I'd be wondering why my team was so resistant to this. If you're there at your computer at 9am what's the issue?

It’s annnoying. I don’t remember anyone telling me we had to do it but everyone does. I find the whole teams set up very bizarre- like a covid hangover. I say good morning, sometimes engage in chat if there is some and say good bye. I find the whole thing pretty miserable and often wonder why we bother but it actually takes 30 seconds so I just do it. I’ve muted the chat so just pop on and off when I fancy it.

It's management speak for a quick meeting. Just with no seats provided if it's in person. Supposed to be faster...

Bit like a "scrum" when it's a bog standard team meeting.

I will ‘check in’ to avoid the backlash. It just seems pointless everyone says good morning and that is it. There is no team spirit. The manager is not keen on the team and it is obvious. I understand the safety aspect as some people live alone and could have an accident etc.

Sounds very much like an ordinary daily team/dept briefing. I don't work from home and done always benefit from the messages and updates shared, but it's nice to see everyone over a brew before we all get going and hardly have time to speak to each other until the end of the day.

Oh and that's at 8:15. A 9:00am start would be a dream.

Bit like a "scrum" when it's a bog standard team meeting.

Agile, waterfall and ceremony masters too !

I would absolutely hate it! This may be necessary in certain contexts, like in software development, where there are lot of moving parts and lots of little tasks are being accomplished on a daily basis. My work is largely creative and I mostly work on medium to large scale projects, where checking in on a daily basis would be ludicrous and would indeed feel like micromanagement. I am a highly experienced professional and manage my own workload, and as such should be judged on my output, not the hours I work and enjoy the freedom to set my own schedule as I see fit. The 9-5 no longer exists, and there are days when I would work considerably outside those hours because I am working on something that requires my utmost attention and I can't stop. There are some days where I would probably do less work because of this, but that's the point, in my line of work and I would imagine in many others, this is now the standard, so trying to enforce the daily check in and out on Teams is a surefire way of forcing talented and hardworking people look for jobs elsewhere