In the ever-changing world of M365, there have been winners and duds when it comes to new apps, new ideas, or new functionality. Microsoft Loop was released November 2, 2021. It has been out for a while now. Yet here we are in the beginning of 2024, and I am just sounding off about it. The thing is, I have not heard anything from my peers, acquaintances, or friends until just recently. Thanks to Richard for throwing the nerf grenade into my camp regarding Microsoft Loop. Following an amazing conversation with him, I investigated Microsoft Loop for myself. The results are what I would like to share with you.

First Impression

The way I see Loop components could be compared to SharePoint web parts for Microsoft Office. Sorry, Microsoft Office 365 Apps… yeah… moving on. Loop has different types of information models to choose from. (See Image 1) These loop items can be attached to an email, OneNote, and/or Teams. It is a great way to quickly collaborate with your team, peers, etc. when sharing quick data.

Image 1 (Taken from Outlook)

Let’s face it, having the ability to send an email with a table is good. BUT! Having the ability to embed a Microsoft Loop table into an email that is live and multiple people can edit, make changes, alter, rearrange that data in real time is so much better. A great example is throwing together a table that could potentially be included in a RFP to win your business one million dollars. One table, one version of the truth, one solution will be available to the entire team and save time, heartache, and potential data loss or overwriting. Another example would be a quick task list that is living in your teams Microsoft Team OneNote. Use that as a quick way to do odd tasks outside of the norm. A little thought could make the list of possibilities grow exponentially.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

This section will most certainly be up for debate, however, from what I understand about Loops at this point, I’ll give my thoughts around the strengths. One of the biggest things is the Microsoft Loop components’ versatility. The ability to have the same component show up in email, Teams, and in OneNote could allow quick solutions that could over time be grown into something greater. As expected, if the idea starts to roll into something greater, then upgrading to a more suitable solution is recommended. Loop is a great tool for small data sharing solutions. A great example is the use of the Q&A Loop component. If you find it is getting to the point numerous people are using it, it may be time to upgrade to Viva Engage. (I would have loved to say SharePoint discussion board, but it is still from the 2003 Portal Server dark ages of a solution and needs serious love and care.)

Nearly all the components are used in business daily. So, using them will only be a slight variation in how you add them to your email, lists in OneNote, or tables in Teams. Ease of utilizing the power of Loop is guaranteed with the simplicity it brings. With how busy companies have become during this information age saving time is essential. Using these as tools will be one way to approach fixing the issue of time saving.

Lastly, I want to bring up the fact each of the components are easy to use. They are not overly complex or over engineered. They give information workers a leg up when working with a time crunch.

Weaknesses

There is only one to bring to your attention. As of right now, when you create a Loop component it is saved to your OneDrive. This is the only place it can be saved to currently. This means, a long living Microsoft Loop component with a lot of time and information placed into it can disappear if the owner of the component leaves the company. This is Microsoft Loop’s Achillies heel. The way I can see this being fixed is by having the option to have the Microsoft Loop component save destination be a document library in the associated SharePoint site of the Microsoft Team of your choice.  SharePoint library anywhere for that matter!