You can now add the Games For Work app to your team meetings by digging into the Apps button in the top menu bar, the one with the People and Chat buttons, and this one. This will give the option to play four games within Teams by clicking and typing away while the meeting continues to discuss TPS reports and “wash status” in the background. Some games are competitive, some are cooperative, and some you can watch other people play. The four in this pack are:
Solitaire, which comes in Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Pyramid and TriPeaks variants. Minesweeper, including the option to play co-op to clear a field with your conference calling colleagues. Probably the best idea I’ve ever heard to destroy team cohesion and create resentment. IceBreakers, a conversation starter where you vote on things like whether or not waffles are the best fries or if you’ve ever muted a meeting and left to run errands. Wordament, a high-score puzzle game by finding words that cross grids of letter tiles, with choices limited by requirements like using Gs in the corners or ending with that -ES tile.
I’m not sure I’d trust IceBreakers to not report responses to admins “More than 3 billion people around the world play games, playing a critical role in bringing people together – especially in recent years,” said Jill Braff, general manager of integrations and casual games at Microsoft, in the announcement blog post . “Games promote creativity, collaboration and communication in powerful and unique ways, and we look forward to seeing how the Games for Work app in Microsoft Teams inspires productivity and helps strengthen connections in the workplace.” For business reasons, I tried Solitaire myself during my teams meeting this morning. I’m sure everyone was inspired to be productive by me yelling GET IN and THERE IT IS. How could they not? I worked with the teams so hard, doing so many jobs.
