Frontline Worker quick start guide

In this training, we'll walk you through how to set up an effective pilot for frontline workers based on agile principles and an iterative approach. Frontline workers are workers who might be factory workers, retail specialists, healthcare specialists or any staff member who regularly engages with customers on behalf of your company.

This training is for you if you’re:

• An IT pro.
• Responsible for planning, or deploying Teams for Frontline Workers.

We’ll cover the following sections:

• Get your people together
• Plan pilot logistics
• Technical and pilot team configuration
• Communicate
• Measure
• Iterate and expand

The following information is out of scope:

• This content will reference documentation on how to prepare Teams for a frontline worker pilot, but overall Teams configuration is outside the scope of this article.

If you have any questions or feedback about this training, you can:

• Post in the comments section at the bottom of the “Next steps” page of this tutorial.

To give us product feedback about Teams, such as ideas for new features, visit UserVoice.

Get your people together

• 37 minutes remaining

Assemble a group of individuals from your business, IT, and frontline communities to act as the stakeholder and decision-making group for your Teams pilot for frontline workers. Be sure to include individuals from all three communities to give yourself the best chance for success:

Next, identify your phase 1 pilot community and make sure it includes actual frontline workers in the smallest logical grouping for your organization. For example, one restaurant, one division of a department store, one store, one clinical ward, one precinct, one plant, one distribution center, etc.. The key is to optimize around the average frontline worker being part of one team only. Managers or specialists may be in more than one:

Best practice

It's important to include all roles within that smallest logical grouping, from managers to part time or seasonal workers to uncover valuable insights and enable modern communication scenarios. Your most junior staff will surprise you! Some key delightful and unintended valuable scenarios uncovered during pilots with sample customers include:

• Standardized Expectations and Training: Taking a picture of a clean stove to illustrate to kitchen staff what clean means. “If it doesn’t look like this, then it isn’t clean!”

• Reducing shrinkage: Taking a picture of a known shoplifter and notifying other employees immediately. Teams on future shifts will also see this picture to mitigate future risk.

Decision point

At the end of this phase, you should be able to answer these questions:

• Who will participate in your pilot?

• What's the smallest logical grouping for your organization?

Plan pilot logistics

• 33 minutes remaining

For a successful pilot for frontline workers, simplicity is key! For most customers, this community typically isn’t provided any company-supported communication or collaboration technology, but are likely already leveraging unsupported consumer tools to accomplish some basic needs. A recommended best practice it to begin where your users are, and mimic the capabilities they’re using in consumer tools today. As your pilot progresses and the iteration process begins, you can grow the experience.

Not sure what consumer tools these users are currently using?

Included in the frontline worker “Pilot in a Box” are sample user surveys. Utilize the pre-pilot survey to inventory the tools, capabilities, and scenarios.

Chat configuration options

Within Chat on mobile, you can have the normal traditional chat layout for Teams OR a layout that includes favorite channels in Chat. This second, simplified UI works well for frontline workers who are only in one team and is the recommended best practice. Configuring “Show favorite channels in chat” also creates an opportunity to remove the ‘Teams’ button from the frontline worker app setup policy to further streamline and simplify the end user experience without a loss of functionality. For users who will be in multiple teams, it is not recommended. Luckily, this can be configured on a per user basis and grow in sophistication as needed.

Best practice

Configure Phase 1 of the frontline Teams experience to mimic the consumer tools these users are already using! We recommend starting your pilot for frontline workers with “Show favorite channels in Chat” for simplified communications and Shifts (optional).

With Shifts	Without Shifts

Decision points:

• Which capabilities will be in Phase 1 of your pilot for frontline workers?
• Do your frontline workers need Shifts?
• Which chat configuration will you use?

Technical and pilot team configuration

• 29 minutes remaining

If you haven't done so now, please complete the technical prerequisites highlighted at the beginning of this document Prerequisites and environmental dependencies for Teams. Understanding the technical prerequisites and configuring the initial pilot team, efficient technical planning is the foundation of a great user experience. This will include creating the team and inviting the identified frontline workers.

Configure and assign an app setup policy and a messaging policy

Configure an app setup policy

Create a custom app setup policy based on the decisions in Step 2.

1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Teams apps > Setup policies.

2. Select Add (There is a default FirstLineWorker policy you may choose to use instead of creating a custom policy).

3. Enter a descriptive name for the policy. Remove and re-arrange the pinned apps to match your desired state. Click Add apps to add any third-party applications or custom line of business applications you would like to include.

   

Configure a messaging policy

Create a custom messaging policy based on the decisions in Step 2. If you are choosing to enable priority notifications, voice messages, or the “Show favorite channels in chat” configuration, then you will need to set up a frontline worker specific messaging policy.

1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Messaging policies.
2. Select Add.
3. Enter a descriptive name for the policy and configure the settings as desired to meet the decisions in Step 2.

Assign the app setup policy and messaging policy to users

Using the Microsoft Teams admin center

Assign the app setup policy and messaging policy to your pilot users.

1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, select Users.

2. Search for the pilot users by name.

   

3. Click the user's display name to open the user details page.

4. Next to Assigned policies, select Edit.

   

5. Under App setup policy, select the policy created for your pilot, and then click Save.

6. Under Messaging policy, select the policy created for your pilot, and then click Save.

   

7. Repeat these steps for all pilot users.

Assign a policy based on group membership or at scale through a batch assignment

If you have a large volume of users to which you want to assign a policy, you can assign a policy to a group that users are a member or at scale through a batch assignment or

Assign a policy to a group

Policy assignment to groups let you assign a policy to a group of users, such as a security group or distribution list. The policy assignment is propagated to members of the group according to precedence rules. As members are added to or removed from a group, their inherited policy assignments are updated accordingly. This method is recommended for groups of up to 50,000 users but will also work with larger groups.

To learn more, see Assign a policy to a group.

Assign a policy to a large set (batch) of users

Use batch policy assignment to assign a policy to large sets of users at a time. You use the New-CsBatchPolicyAssignmentOperation cmdlet to submit a batch of users and the policy package that you want to assign. The assignments are processed as a background operation and an operation ID is generated for each batch.

A batch can contain up to 5,000 users. You can specify users by their object Id, UPN, SIP address, or email address. To learn more, see Assign a policy to a batch of users.

Configure and assign policy packages

A policy package in Teams is a collection of predefined policies and policy settings that you can assign to users who have similar roles in your organization. Policy packages simplify, streamline, and help provide consistency when managing policies. You can customize the settings of the policies in the package to suit the needs of your users. When you change the settings of policies in a policy package, all users who are assigned to that package get the updated settings. You can manage policy packages by using the Microsoft Teams admin center or PowerShell.

Policy packages pre-define policies for the following, depending on the package:

• Meetings
• Live events
• Calling
• Messaging
• Teams
• App setup

Teams currently includes the following policy packages for the frontline workforce.

Package name in the Microsoft Teams admin center	Best used for	Description
Frontline manager	Frontline managers in your organization	Creates a set of policies and applies those settings to frontline managers in your organization.
Frontline worker	Frontline workers in your organization	Creates a set of policies and applies those settings to frontline workers in your organization.

Each individual policy is given the name of the policy package so you can easily identify the policies that are linked to a policy package. For example, when you assign the frontline worker policy package to frontline workers in your organization, a policy named Frontline_Worker is created for each policy in the package.

View the policy settings in the policy package

View the settings of each policy in a policy package before you assign a package. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, select Policy packages, select the package name, and then select the policy name. Decide whether the predefined values are appropriate for your organization or whether you need to customize them to be more restrictive or lenient based on your organization's needs.

Customize policy settings in the policy package

Customize the settings of policies in the policy package to fit the needs of your organization. Any changes you make to policy settings are automatically applied to users who are assigned the package. To edit the settings of a policy in a policy package, in the Microsoft Teams admin center, select the policy package, select the name of the policy you want to edit, and then select Edit.

Keep in mind that you can also change the settings of policies in a package after you assign the policy package. To learn more, see Customize policies in a policy package.

Assign the policy package

Assign the policy package to users. If a user has a policy assigned, and then later you assign a different policy, the most recent assignment will take priority.

Using the Microsoft Teams admin center

1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Policy packages, and then select the policy package you want to assign by clicking to the left of the package name.
2. Select Manage users.
3. In the Manage users pane, search for the user by display name or by user name, select the name, and then click Add. Repeat this step for each pilot user that you want to add (for up to 20 users).
4. When you're finished adding users, click Apply.

Assign a policy package based on group membership or at scale through a batch assignment

If you have a large volume of users to which you want to assign a policy package, you can assign a policy package at scale through a batch assignment or to a group that users are a member of.

Assign a policy package to a group

Policy package assignment to groups let you assign multiple policies to a group of users, such as a security group or distribution list. The policy assignment is propagated to members of the group according to precedence rules. As members are added to or removed from a group, their inherited policy assignments are updated accordingly. This method is recommended for groups of up to 50,000 users but will also work with larger groups.

To learn more, see Assign a policy package to a group.

Assign a policy package to a large set (batch) of users

Use batch policy package assignment to assign a policy package to large sets of users at a time. You use the New-CsBatchPolicyPackageAssignmentOperation cmdlet to submit a batch of users and the policy package that you want to assign. The assignments are processed as a background operation and an operation ID is generated for each batch.

A batch can contain up to 5,000 users. You can specify users by their object Id, UPN, SIP address, or email address. To learn more, see Assign a policy package to a batch of users.

Set up your pilot team

Configure the initial team for the pilot users identified in Step 2.

1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Teams > Manage teams.

2. Select Add from the Manage teams page.

3. Complete the required fields, including team name, description, and select an appropriate team owner and privacy level. Be sure to be descriptive in your team name and anticipate expanding the pilot out to several teams. Select Apply.

   

4. Select the team you created to open the team details page.

   

5. Select Channels to view the current list of channels.

6. Select Add Channel to add any additional channels to the General channel that you think are needed for your pilot group.

   

Decision point

• How many channels/conversation topics do you want for your pilot?
• Which topics feel right for your scenarios?

Best practice

Keep the channels simple. We recommend resisting the urge to create a channel for every possible topic of conversation and instead keep things very simple. It’s ok if channels are created over time as needed.

Invite the frontline manager and frontline workers

Now that the team structure is in place and the user policies are applied, it’s time to start inviting your frontline workers.

1. In the left navigation of the Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Teams > Manage teams.

2. Search for the team created during the "Set up your pilot team" phase.

3. Select the team you created to open the team details page.

   

4. Select Add members.

5. Search for the pilot members' names and click Save.

Communicate

• 4 minutes remaining

Inform your frontline workers of their participation in the pilot, the pilot goals, and provide training, if necessary, on the basic functions. For most customers, this can be a simple instruction to these users to go to the Google Play or Apple Store on their personal mobile devices, download the Microsoft Teams application, and log in with their company credentials. We’ve designed Microsoft Teams with a simple and easy to use interface that most frontline workers should find intuitive.

Best practice

Don’t forget to train your managers on Shifts! If you’re going to include Shifts in your pilot, then make sure to conduct a separate training session with your managers on how to create, manage, and publish schedules to their team. If you would like additional training materials and communication templates, you can find them in your frontline Pilot in a Box.

Measure

• 3 minutes remaining

Empowering your frontline workers is more about people than technology. To understand the impact of Teams, stay focused on your frontline workers’ experience. Survey them before, during and after the pilot in order to understand their needs, pain points, and reactions. If you are iterating your pilot and adding new features over time, this feedback can help guide the order, pace, or even whether additional features are needed. In order to help you evaluate the success of your pilot, you can find them in your frontline Pilot in a Box.

Best practice

Nurture your champions and highlight your wins. Reward your frontline workers for embracing these new tools and using them in innovative ways that relate to business outcomes for your company. This, above anything, will ensure continued adoption of Teams and value to your company.

Iterate

• 2 minutes remaining

Now that you’ve successfully completed your first pilot with an initial group of frontline workers, it’s time to expand! It’s time to go back to Step 1 with one of the several expansion options below. We recommend working through this process as many times as needed to arrive at a solution, set of best practices, and training documentation for all of your frontline workers.

• Expand the number of teams
  • Instead of one location, can you do one region? Would you want one team for the whole region or individual teams for each location?
• Expand the features provided.
• Was there a key feature that your frontline workers suggested I your feedback forms, like Shifts, that you didn’t include in your initial feature set?

Next steps

• 100% complete!

We covered the following key learnings in this training:

• Planning for a frontline worker pilot in Teams
• Configuring the pilot
• Communication, measuring and iteration based on the pilot implementation

Next steps

1. Continue using Teams for your organization's changing frontline worker needs.
2. Send us feedback:
   • Post in the comments section at the bottom of this page.
   • To give us Teams product feedback or to request a new feature, go to Teams UserVoice.
3. Stay up to date:
   • Follow the Teams Blog.
   • Read the Teams Roadmap.
   • Learn about the latest released features in the Release Notes.
4. Explore more training and tutorials.