Do you ever feel like it’s hard to keep your team members engaged, productive, and connected with your community when you’re working in a remote or hybrid environment? When people can’t easily pick up on each other’s mood or body language, key feedback can get misinterpreted and communication can break down.
You’re probably thinking “There must be a tool that exists to solve these problems!” But also, you don’t want to interrupt workflow by taking your team to another site or program on top of what they’re already using
Enter Polly, one productivity app in Microsoft 365 that your organization can use to keep your work running smoothly. This Microsoft Teams integration is designed to help you boost engagement, gain valuable insights, and work with less disruptions.
Whether it’s for HR, operations, meeting feedback, or team morale checks, Polly makes it easier to keep your finger on the pulse of your organization. Let’s explore its features and benefits, and dive into how it plays a role in improving your Microsoft 365 productivity.
What is Polly and When Should You Use It? Understanding This Key Microsoft Productivity Tool
Polly is an app that creates interactive polls, surveys, and more directly in Microsoft Teams with powerful analytics to help you get the most from recipient responses. Unlike traditional survey tools, Polly is also designed for speed, accessibility, and low-friction interaction right where people already work. You can even gain access to pre-built templates to cut down on manual labor and save you time for more important work. A trusted IT partner can ensure your Microsoft Teams productivity tools are properly integrated and tailored to your organization’s needs.
Many teams find Polly useful in a variety of situations where quick input and engagement matter most, like:
- Improve Employee Engagement and Workplace Culture: Give HR and leadership clarity about how teams feel about the work environment (culture, workload management, policies, etc.) and measure how any initiatives perform.
- Collect Meeting Feedback to Enhance Collaboration: Right after a meeting happens, get input from participants about what went well and what didn’t to improve meeting quality over time.
- Gain Valuable Onboarding Feedback from New Hires: Let your new hires tell you what is and isn’t working in their onboarding journey.
- Simplify Decision-Making with Quick Polls: Make choices fast and collect opinions easily, even if everyone isn’t in the same place.
- Foster Connection with Team-Building Activities: Have a little fun with trivia, word clouds, ice breakers and interactive polls that encourage your team to build stronger connections.
Why Should You Choose Polly Over Other Survey Tools in Microsoft Teams?
Many apps and engagement tools are available for Microsoft Teams, but Polly offers a few unique advantages.
1. Seamless Microsoft Teams Integration
One of Polly’s biggest strengths is how seamlessly it fits into Teams. Instead of needing to switch between apps or send out separate survey links, Polly is right there. People will be more likely to participate in your polls, and face less disruptions to their work. They can easily launch a quick poll during a meeting, or drop a pulse survey into a chat without needing the team to leave their current workflow.
This level of integration is ideal for busy teams, who may ignore or delay responding to traditional survey emails, but will respond instantly if you reach them where they’re already working.
2. Real-Time Feedback
Timing matters when it comes to feedback. If people can’t give their fresh impressions, insights may not be fully accurate. With Polly, your organization can collect instant reactions to initiatives, changes, or decisions. Whether you’re testing a new onboarding program’s effectiveness, deciding on a date for a team event, or checking in on team morale, you can use Polly to ask the question and see results as they roll in. This real-time feedback will help you act quickly and confidently when resolving challenges and adapting strategies to improve performance
3. Higher Engagement
Traditional surveys often suffer from low engagement because they take too long and aren’t easily accessible. Instead, the Polly app keeps the experience quick and interactive. Because Polly blends into Teams, participating doesn’t feel like a task, but rather, a natural part of conversation.
Responding to a Polly poll typically takes only seconds. There’s no long form to fill out, no log-in required, and no confusing interfaces. As a result, you can expect significantly higher response rates and better-quality feedback compared to standard survey platforms. This makes Polly one of the top productivity solutions for Microsoft Teams that drives consistent employee engagement.
4. Anonymity and Trust
Getting honest feedback can be challenging if employees fear their honest responses might lead to negative consequences in the workplace. Polly addresses this concern, allowing users to set polls and surveys to anonymous. With these settings, team members can access a safe space to share their thoughts, frustrations, or suggestions.
While it’s never fun to receive criticism, receiving anonymous responses makes it easier to detect problems that might otherwise go unreported. You may learn new information about issues with company culture, burnout, or management that are impacting your organization’s health. Armed with this information, your organization can make the necessary changes for a more productive, thriving team and strong operations.
5. Data-Driven Decision-Making
Polly doesn’t just collect feedback; it transforms it into actionable insights. With built-in analytics, you can view trends, participation rates, and response breakdowns. These insights help you understand sentiment over time, identify recurring themes, and track changes after implementing new initiatives. You can use these numbers to continuously improve how you leverage the tool to engage your team more effectively.
How to Get Started and Use Polly in Teams
Excited to use Polly in your organization? It’s easy to install the Polly app:
- Click on the three dots at the bottom of your navigation bar, left of the screen in Teams. You can search for and download any application here and pin it to your navigation bar so that it is always visible and accessible.
- Now, whenever you start a conversation in a channel or chat, you will see a Polly icon among the others (like attachments and gifs).
- You can also add Polly as a tab into any Team by simply clicking on the + sign at the top of the intended Team. Search for Polly to add it.
Now that you have Polly installed, how does it work? Wherever you’d like to access its features, simply click on the Polly icon to open it!
It’s important to note that Polly has several versions: a free version, as well as several levels of paid subscription versions, including Standard, Pro and Enterprise. Depending on your subscription, you may have access to different features. For example, the Free version limits responses to 25 engagements, restricts template and results sharing, and lacks the advanced permissions and access controls available in the Enterprise version.
Partner with designDATA to Make Microsoft Teams Productivity Tools Work for You
When so many organizations operate in hybrid and remote work environments, you can’t afford to run in the dark without understand what’s happening with your team. You should know what your teams thinks and feels, quickly and on a consistent basis. The Polly app in Microsoft Teams gives you visibility without friction and makes getting feedback feel natural, encouraging engagement feel easy, and making data-driven decisions feel achievable.
At designDATA, our experts offer comprehensive managed services for your Microsoft 365 environment and entire IT infrastructure. We’re here to help you tackle your organization’s biggest struggles with engagement, productivity, and collaboration, so you can rely on tools that empower you to achieve your goals.
Want to get more out of your technology? Contact us to discuss how you can improve engagement and productivity across your organization.
