Pasting your favorite inspirational quote to your workstation, leaving a reminder for a coworker (or for yourself), or jotting down a grocery list —the reasons to reach for a Post-it® Note are numerous, especially in the workplace. When it comes to brainstorming with colleagues, Post-it® Notes can help be a catalyst for great ideas. “Brainstorming is synonymous with the Post-it® Brand,” says Liz Thompson, New Product Marketer for Post-it® Brand. Yet as hybrid work becomes the norm, collaborating with colleagues in various locations can be a disjointed experience, lacking the easy flow of ideas that often happens when people come together in the same room. “With people scattered here, there, and everywhere, it’s more challenging to get that creative magic to come to life,” says Thompson.
It was exactly this dilemma that inspired 3M, owners of the Post-it® Brand, to collaborate with Microsoft and develop the Post-it® App for Microsoft Teams. The result is an app that digitizes hand-written notes, enables people to brainstorm together in the Teams meeting experience, and even surfaces relevant documents from internal and external sources to help produce even better results. “We asked ourselves how we could make ideating in a hybrid meeting as simple as writing an idea down on a Post-it® Note,” says Thompson. “Creating the Post-it® App was all about bridging the analog and digital worlds to help people have the most effective collaboration experience in Microsoft Teams.”
“Creating the Post-it® App was all about bridging the analog and digital worlds to help people have the most effective collaboration experience in Microsoft Teams.”
Liz Thompson, New Product Marketer, Post-it® Brand
3M and Microsoft collaborate to create more inclusive hybrid meetings
Heather Green, Global Vice President of Stationery and Office Supplies at 3M, describes Post-it® Brand’s simple but powerful mission: “Our vision is to help people win their day.” When that day began to include digital, hybrid meetings, Post-it® Brand’s mission evolved from creating analog tools to bringing the beauty of analog processes into the digital space. “The unique challenge we faced was how to ensure the same level of engagement between people participating in a meeting face to face and those joining remotely,” says Green. Add to that the various ways people like to collaborate—some prefer to scribble down notes, while others like to type—and the stage was set for a new application with inclusivity at its core. “This is where we came together in collaboration with Microsoft and asked, ‘How can we build an experience that’s inclusive for all?’”
When searching for the right platform for the nascent Post-it® App, they chose Teams because of the ubiquity of the tool in corporate environments, Post-it® Brand included. “In many workplaces, the most used tools are often Microsoft tools,” says Thompson. “We ourselves use Teams on a daily basis, and we saw the relationship between 3M and Microsoft as a natural fit.” Surrounding the Post-it® App with Teams functionality, for instance the chat capabilities, helps create a rich, immersive brainstorming experience that rivals an in-person meeting. “Reactions are another great Teams feature that help build up some of the magic that’s lost when people join a meeting from various locations,” says Thompson. Of the collaboration with Microsoft, Green has this to say: “Microsoft 365 and Teams provide a leading ecosystem in the digital space, and we want to partner with leaders. And by embedding the Post-it® App in Microsoft 365, we also benefit from the security features of the Microsoft platform.”
“Microsoft 365 and Teams provide a leading ecosystem in the digital space, and we want to partner with leaders.”
Heather Green, Global Vice President of Stationery and Office Supplies, 3M
3M joined the Microsoft Modern Work Customer Co-Innovation (MWCCI) team to create an application that would marry the simplicity of a Post-it® Note with the technology behind a Teams meeting. “It was great to work with the MWCCI team to develop the Post-it App for Teams,” says Thompson. “The folks on the Microsoft team worked with us to quickly and effectively build solutions that were right for both of our brands.”
Bridging the digital and analog worlds with one ultra-simple application
Simplicity, a key pillar of the Post-it® Brand, was part of the Post-it® App vision from the start. “Anyone can easily open the Post-it® App in Teams and begin a collaboration session without the need for a trained facilitator,” says Green. “One of the great benefits of the Post-it® App is that it’s available in Teams,” adds Thompson. “That’s where so many people spend their workdays. It was important that the app helps people consolidate tools and keep everything in one place.”
“Anyone can easily open the Post-it® App in Teams and begin a collaboration session without the need for a trained facilitator.”
Heather Green, Global Vice President of Stationery and Office Supplies, 3M
Thompson describes the Post-it® App as “an application you can use to quickly and spontaneously collaborate in a visual way with team members.” It’s a powerful tool in its straightforwardness. “With our Post-it® App solution, you can brainstorm by writing or drawing on a Post-it® Note and seamlessly translate that note onto a digital whiteboard,” explains Green. Whether the brainstorming session produces a wall full of Post-it® Notes or a single written reminder, employees can use the Post-it® App in Teams to ensure that no idea is forgotten after a meeting is over. If a poll was taken in the meeting, the Post-it® App can also be used to automatically tally votes, reducing the need to manually count responses.
And after a team generates ideas, its members can use the Post-it® App to put those ideas into practice. “Ideas are only ideas until you take action on them,” says Thompson. “For that reason, it was important for us to engage with the capabilities Microsoft 365 offers and help people bring their ideas into action.” One of those capabilities came via Microsoft Planner, a solution that helps teams assign tasks and plan projects. “We’re super excited about the task assignment feature in the Post-it® App,” says Thompson. “People take tasks directly from the digital brainstorming boards and assign them to team members in Planner. It’s a great way to keep the momentum going after a session.”
While collaborating with Microsoft, Post-it® Brand was eager to bring AI features into the application. “We’re thinking about opportunities for AI to add another layer of value to the app,” says Thompson. Those opportunities include finding subject matter experts and relevant articles.
3M and Microsoft co-innovating a solution to better serve customers
The way people meet is changing fast, and it’s likely to keep changing. 3M and Microsoft are working together to create tools that meet the moment. “3M and Microsoft are both companies that focus on innovation. Our collaboration through the Modern Work Customer Co-Innovation program means that our two brands become stronger together and are better able to serve our customers by bringing new solutions into the marketplace,” says Green. “The relationship has been an outstanding experience, and the Post-it® App for Microsoft Teams is proof of that.”
Find out more about Post-it® Brand on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
“3M and Microsoft are both companies that focus on innovation. Our collaboration through the Modern Work Customer Co-Innovation program means that our two brands become stronger together.”
Heather Green, Global Vice President of Stationery and Office Supplies, 3M
Follow Microsoft