10 Best Microsoft Teams Apps Everyone Should Use in 2021

Microsoft Teams is the team collaboration tool that just keeps getting better. It has quickly gained the reputation of being one of the best virtual team collaboration platforms. That’s not an easy feat to accomplish in today’s fast-paced tech world, especially with heavy competition from other tools like Slack and Google Workspace. Combining the best of chat, voice, video, and content sharing, Microsoft Teams apps are simple, easy to use, and offer more power than ever before.

That being said, Microsoft Teams also features a bunch of apps that’ll help you make your office work like a well-oiled machine. So, if you’re looking for a productivity boost, these are the best Microsoft Teams apps that will help you get there.

Trello: for easy task management

Popular? That’s putting it lightly. 

Trello is on the verge of becoming a bonafide productivity phenomenon, and it’s clear why. This project management tool will make your team more efficient and collaborative than ever, thanks to its Kanban-style of dividing tasks. 

Wanna know the best part? Trello does it all from the comfort of your Microsoft Teams workspace. The app features tasks, boards, and lists to enhance your team’s work productivity. Microsoft Teams supports direct access to Trello boards from the Teams app. By integrating, you will see your boards, tasks, notifications, and be able to discuss them with members.

Vacation Tracker: for supercharged leave tracking

Let’s face it: tracking employee PTO and vacations off can be a pain. Between spreadsheets, countless emails, and the messy company calendar, who has time to manage countless leave requests and data? 

That’s why your team needs to have Vacation Tracker. This Microsoft Teams app gives users a  simple way to request, approve and manage their PTO in just a few clicks. With this tool, you can create different locations, set up different leave policies, configure multiple leave types, and much more. Try it free for 7 days today.

Polly: for creating quick surveys

Polly is an easy way to ask your team questions, share results, and celebrate together.

This Microsoft Teams app is a simple-to-use add-on that enables teams to create surveys in a channel or group chat. From launching in-channel surveys for your team to the insights you get in real-time, Polly makes it easier for everyone to participate. It’s as simple as mentioning @polly in your chosen channel and creating your poll. The poll will be anonymous and optional, and Polly will show you the results in real-time.

Karma: for spreading joy

Positive reinforcement is a great tool for encouraging good behavior.

This is exactly the idea that led to the creation of Karma, a Microsoft Teams app that allows you to give points to your fellow employees through genuine praise. Rewarding your fellow employees for good behavior is as simple as giving them a “Kudo” on their behavior. They can be rewarded for anything — from good work done to just making it through a tough day, the options are endless. 

Using Karma, managers can also generate reports on employees’ performance, promote healthy competition among colleagues, and keep everyone up-to-date on their progress.

MailClark: for creating a shared inbox

MailClark is a true game-changer. 

This Microsoft Teams app solves the age-old problem of email threads, all while keeping your inboxes clean and allowing you to keep up with your daily work schedule.

In addition to creating a smart, shared inbox, the app enables teams to respond to external emails and social media messages within Microsoft Teams. The service is especially helpful for customer support, marketing, sales, and recruitment departments because everything can be found in one place. This ensures continuity in conversations with leads and customers.

MURAL: for fostering creativity

We’ve all been stuck in boring meetings, drawing a diagram on a whiteboard or doodling on a notepad. Now you can turn your team’s wall into an interactive whiteboard with the MURAL bot.

MURAL makes it easy to bring your ideas to life — add a canvas to your chat, draw with anyone you invite, and capture every moment in one place. Ultimately, this app offers its users a digital collaborative workspace in Microsoft Teams. By bringing old ways of working into the digital realm, MURAL’s visual thinking canvas adds a new dimension to video calls. Additionally, it also seamlessly integrates into Microsoft Teams by adding a custom tab, notification bot, and messaging extension to your workspace.

Hypercontext: for productive meetings

Using Hypercontext is like having a personal secretary for your meetings. 

No, the app won’t fetch you coffee. But it will keep the meeting organized, on track, and make sure you don’t waste time with pointless small talk.

The Hypercontext app, now available for Teams, makes sticking to the point and keeping the conversation flowing easy. It takes the pressure off of running meetings by eliminating distractions and keeping meetings focused. With Hypercontext, Teams users can:

• Create a collaborative meeting agenda so everyone knows what to expect
• Include said agenda items in your meeting
• Get suggestions on discussion topics, so discussions are varied and meetings don’t become boring
• Follow the progress of their team. Open discussion items are carried over to the next agenda, closed items are archived

Trivia: for old-school fun

Looking for a distraction? Trivia helps you spend 5 minutes playing quick, fun games inside Teams. 

Play over 1000 games and quizzes in one place. This Microsoft Teams app has got everything you need — from movie quotes to Harry Potter spellings and silly jokes, and more. To give you an example, here are some Trivia games:

• Quizzes: Browse categories of quizzes to get started
• (Un)popular opinions: Conduct simple native polls and learn what your team thinks in minutes
• Customized quizzes: Create customized questions and answers and integrate them with Trivia
• Gotcha: a fun multiple-choice game filled with surprises
• Word Puzzle: Test your English vocabulary

HealthHero: for a healthier workplace

Working hard? Working out even harder?

Health Hero makes fitness easy, social, motivational, and rewarding. With this Microsoft Teams app, you can compete with your coworkers and see whose health is the best. In other words, Health Hero is a new way for employees to stay fit together. 

The platform allows you to create wellness challenges and wellness activities for groups and teams of all sizes. In addition to fostering a fun and healthy collaborative environment, the application encourages culture, increased productivity, and improved recruitment and retention of employees. 

SignEasy: for effortless document sign

Want to view and sign documents in MS Teams without downloading and signing? SignEasy is here to help!

Using this app, you can request critical signatures and sign documents directly in your Microsoft Teams app. Instead of downloading additional software, you can view and sign documents in all formats, including PDF, Word, JPG, PNG, Excel, and more. Once approved, your document’s signature is verified and you can use it as a digital signature. What’s not to like about that?

The best Microsoft Teams apps are easily accessible wherever your team wants to work, whether that’s on the go or in the office. You can also rely on these apps to help provide additional services that might not be offered using other platforms. And Teams offers easy access to all your content without having to search multiple apps. Simply put, there are more ways than ever for you and your team to communicate—all within the confines of one platform.

Snigdha Gupta

An avid writer and aspiring marketer, Snigdha is a student at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.