Microsoft will be rolling out a change to Teams in February that will replace Wikis in channel tabs for OneNote — a change everyone should get behind.
Organizations continue to evolve how they are using Teams to improve how people and process drive productivity. While the Wiki doesn’t always get a lot of attention, for some organizations, it is a part of their Teams governance structure.
Why OneNote is Better than Teams Wiki
Regardless of whether you love, hate or totally overlook it, replacing the Wiki with OneNote is notable (pun not intended) because it helps to focus attention on the use of team channels to drive collaborative note-taking and ideation work — not just as a repository for chat and files.
Even with a clear agenda, meetings can often meander and don’t always result in linear note taking. The Wiki provides note taking capability, but is highly structured, making collaborative note taking too hierarchical. OneNote provides a more fluid structure, with additional layout features for a less formal — yet still structured — note taking experience. For example, the ability to have separate, moveable “boxes” for parking-lot items or to-do lists; the ability to insert drawings, pictures, icons, and more; and the ability to embed audio, tables, and even add-ins from the Office store.
OneNote – not just for notes
OneNote uses a “notebook” approach — a single OneNote document can hold multiple sections, with multiple pages per section. This approach to note-taking is particularly helpful for recurring meetings, where each instance can be a separate page. Alternatively, OneNote can be structured topically, with separate pages that hold a variety of content in separate, but related sections.
Coupled with a built in search functionality that lets you find information in sections or pages, the flexibility of OneNote makes it a highly relevant and powerful team tool.
How will this affect how organizations use Teams?
In my experience working with a variety of organizations, the Wiki is mostly used as a tool to introduce new team members to the norms and basics of the Team or Channel. This is typically how we recommend utilizing it. Personally, I never felt the Wiki served a great purpose beyond that type of utility.
That said, OneNote has always been accessible within Microsoft Teams. Users can add OneNote in Files tab (as a new or existing document type) or add a OneNote notebook as a new tab (alongside the wiki).
With the introduction of OneNote as the default, organizations can re-think how Teams and Channels are used for greater efficiency. For example, the ability to hold ideas and running meeting notes in a single repository outside of the chat window. This has many benefits, including the ability to increase the searchability of that content from within a SharePoint based intranet.
How to Migrate Existing Teams Wiki to OneNote
If you currently use the Wiki, you will have the option to export the content to OneNote notebooks in Teams standard channel. Once you’ve migrated your content, find the Notes tab in channels to collaborate in the new environment.
It’s important to note that users will be able to continue accessing and editing existing wikis, but new wikis will not be created in Teams channels.
Curious how to use this, or any other feature in Teams better? Reach out to us at StitchDX!