Microsoft Loop for Collaboration
Microsoft 365 has been slowly rolling out Loop, the collaboration tool, in business subscriptions. Challenging tools like Notion, Loop has the advantage of already being in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem used by many law firms. Loop lets you create collaborative clauses, checklists, and other disembodied elements not tied to a particular email or document. Update it in one place and it will be updated wherever the Loop appears in OneNote, Teams, in a document, in an email, etc. What is it, where can you find it and how might a law firm might take advantage of this tool?
Loop Components
Microsoft has been talking about Loop for quite a while. Loop is a way to collaborate within the MS 365 ecosystem that is independent of the application so that you can add Loop components to email, to a Word document, or to a Teams chat. Now Microsoft has rolled out Loop pages and Loop workspaces, and it has some similarities (and difference) to MS OneNote.
Loop components allow you to collaborate on text that is not tied to a specific application. You can add a Loop to an email and the recipient can review or make a change to the Loop and the document will Loop component will update. Or add a Loop component to a Teams chat to knock out some language without having to go into a specific document. Another benefit of Loop components is if they are used across the Microsoft applications documents with embedded Loops will be up to date if the Loop is altered – no matter where the document “lives”.
While Microsoft is still rolling out Loop, competing product Notion become the darling application of collaboration during and after the pandemic. Real time collaboration of this kind allows hybrid and remote workforces to collaborate on elements that involve them, without having to navigate through file and folder structures to find relevant text in documents and emails.
In Microsoft Outlook if you are using the MS 365 business subscriptions and the included hosted Exchange and SharePoint you may see (or soon see) a new Group in the Message tab of the Ribbon called “Collaborate” that includes Loop Components. You can drop in a bulleted or numbered lists, Q/A, tasks, a table or paragraph. Send it via email and the recipient can edit the Component and respond.
In MS Outlook, a new icon appears in the left column. Click it to quickly access Loop components and workspaces. You can see which app the component is associated with, when it was last opened, and if someone is currently editing it. You can easily open a Loop component or page from this screen and add Loops to a Favorites list.
Like OneDrive sharing, you can control whether the recipient can view or edit by clicking on the Component name and then “Manage Access”. The default setting is view only so if you want to collaborate you will need to change access rights to “can edit”. Currently you cannot share a Loop component outside of your Microsoft tenant, so this will not work with clients or those outside of the firm.
In the text you can add headings and make some minor formatting choices (bold, italics, underline). Like real time collaboration on a Word document, if you open an email that has a Loop component and someone you shared it with is editing you can see their avatar. You can also identify the last person to edit the component. Finally, you can create a link to the component to share elsewhere.
In MS Teams in chat, you can also add a Loop component. If you want to see all your Loop components in one place, simply head over to MS OneDrive and look in the Attachments folder or the Shared By You folder. Or in SharePoint look in My Files. The Loop components are automatically stored.
Loop Workspaces
If your firm subscribes to the Microsoft 365 Business versions, you have a new application called Loop Workspaces at https://loop.cloud.microsoft. In the Loop application you can create workspaces and pages. A Workspace lets you create a group collaboration site. You can associate files, like PowerPoint, Word, or Excel, in a Workspace. You can also associate existing Loop Components.
When you add a new Loop page to a Workspace there is a large template gallery to help you get started. Choose from issue tracking, problem framing, meeting notes, project planning, brainstorming, and many more.
You can, of course, choose a blank page template. Name the page and in the body type a forward slash to see preformatted options to insert a Table, Checklist, Bulleted list, Math Equation, Table of contents or divider. You can also choose text styles, templates like a task list, progress tracker or Kanban board, add labels, insert media, and more. You can also tag workspace teammates with the @ symbol plus their name. The @ symbol also let’s you insert recent Loop components and pages, as well as files.
Depending on the type of element you insert other teammates can comment, react, or boost information on the page. You can turn anything on the page into a Loop component to share in Teams or via email. You can switch views, for instance view a task list as a Kanban board. Or export to Excel. Click on the … or the mouse over an element and click on the options to see what is possible. For instance, in a Task list you can add rules. Based on the “if this, then that” principle you can program the task list to send an email to the assignee if a task is overdue.
Loop Workspaces consist of Loop pages and subpages. You can save pages as templates, link to a specific page, or share a Loop component from a page. If you worry you might miss any changes or updates to a page, click the … on a page and choose Recap from the drop-down menu to get summaries of changes.
How Can Law Firms Use Loop
Law firms can use Loop for meeting notes, task lists, marketing ideas, clause libraries, FAQs, and brainstorming. Here are some sample use cases:
Collaborative Case Management: Lawyers can use Loop components to create and manage case files collaboratively. This allows team members to update case details, share notes, and track progress in real-time, ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Task Management: Create and assign tasks within Loop to ensure that deadlines are met, and responsibilities are clear. This can help in managing workloads and ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.
Research Collaboration: Teams can use Loop to compile and share research findings, legal precedents, and other essential information. This can streamline the research process and make it easier to access and reference key materials.
Training and Onboarding: New hires can benefit from Loop components that provide training materials, checklists, and onboarding tasks. This ensures a smooth transition and helps new team members get up to speed quickly.
Meeting Agendas and Minutes: Use Loop to create dynamic meeting agendas and minutes that can be updated in real-time during meetings. This ensures that all participants are aligned, and action items are clearly documented.
As teammates make edits to Loops the edits are available as versions. If multiple people are editing a Loop at the same time a cursor with their initials will appear.
Conclusion
Microsoft Loop, challenging tools like Notion, has the advantage of already being in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem used by many law firms. Loop lets you create collaborative clauses, checklists, and other disembodied elements not tied to a particular email or document. Update it in one place and it will be updated wherever the Loop appears in OneNote, Teams, an email, etc. Loop does much of what other tools in the Microsoft 365 suite offer, but with more flexibility and collaboration.