I have written about this topic previously in the post “Major change to the user experience in Microsoft Teams when the “New chat and channels experience” is coming.”. The new chat and channels experience in Microsoft Teams is, in my (and many others’) opinion, an “imposed chaos”. Chats should always (and, in my personal opinion, in all contexts) be separated from teams and channels.

“A change that is not an improvement is just a change.”

I love and i embrace changes that are improvements, however, the new combined view makes it difficult and messy for organizations and individuals who want (or need or even must have) structure and order.

• Chat is a “private” phenomenon and private chats and private group chats should only be used for short clarifications.
• Teams and channels should, without exception, be used when it is important (for the organization and/or the individual) to create, find, manage and secure information in a logical and structured context.

With the new chat and channels experience, as a user, you should also be able to avoid all these frustrating reminders about “The new chats and channels experience” where, despite having previously chosen the “Separated” (order) view, you are forced back to the “Combined” (chaos) view and have to change to the “Separated” (chaos) view again.

“Freedom of choice” vs. “Structure, Control & Security”

Freedom of choice is certainly often good and the “Combined” view can certainly be experienced as positive by those individuals who work in a chaotic way and then work in this way in organizations that do not have the ability (or desire) to have control or a good information structure. OK, then let these organizations have the opportunity to choose to have it that way but “Chaos” should not be the first choice either when it comes to working methodology or information structure.

Summary

I believe that you as a user should choose to work in and with the “Separated” view. (Although you may not initially think it is the easiest, it is the best for both you and your organization. Even Microsoft 365 Copilot loves when information is stored in a logical and structured context and then becomes better at helping you in your daily work).

I believe (and hope) that the following settings in Microsoft Teams should and will be changed:

• The “Separated” view should be the Default setting.
• The “Combined” view should be “Opt-in”.
• There should be no frequent reminders sent to users to change to the new “Combined” view.

Concluding words

I would like to end this blog post by again encouraging you to test new functionality and adopt what you find useful both for you and those you work with. BUT Make sure to prioritize adopting functionality that benefits teamwork more than individual work. Together you and your colleagues produce better results than you achieve alone and it is when we use our tools in a unified way that we understand both each other and the information we produce.