How to get the most out of using Microsoft Teams

Following on from last weeks article about my top tips to using Zoom for Remote working, here is this weeks installation on using Microsoft teams.

Avoid Team Duplication

Before you set up a new Microsoft Team, check to see whether another team already exists that does the same thing. This is particularly important if you allow for the self-service creation of Teams and Office 365 groups as Teams software doesn’t check for duplicate team names and the result could cause some confusion. The way around this problem is to set up a review of all new groups or teams  one day after they are created to catch the issue early.

Naming Conventions

Having a strong naming convention for teams and groups is a good idea, but it can be tough to enforce if you allow for self service Team creation. You can automate it to an extent through the Office 365 Admin Centre by blocking certain words from being used or specifying certain suffixes and prefixes to apply to all Group or Team names.

Remember a Team is also a Group

Every Team is also a Group. When you create a new team you will also create a new Group. If you are already the owner of a Group and you need to add a new Team, remember to connect it to your Group otherwise it will automatically create another Group with the same name as an existing Group but a different ID number.

Give each project its own Team

You may have some of the same people working on different projects, but it is important to ensure that each project has its own Team. This makes it easier for your Teams to stay focused as well as to find and organise documents, and it will become even more important when Microsoft Teams is updated to allow external users to join a Team.

Don’t overdo the planning

A little upfront planning to establish initial channels is a good idea, but don’t overdo it. Each channel has its own Files tab in the Team’s documents library. Setting up a channel which then remains empty adds to the number of tabs that people have to search through to find documents. Better to start with a few channels and add new channels as the project evolves.

Aim for a consistent user file experience

With Microsoft Teams it is possible to use two interfaces to connect to files – through the Teams chat facility or through the team site in SharePoint. If you create tabs using SharePoint for every document library on your Team site and another tab with the Website tab connector on the Team site, this will ensure that all members of the Team will be able to see new files wherever they are created.

Make connections two-way

You can make a two-way connection between your Team and SharePoint by creating a link to the Teams team on SharePoint, copying the URL of the Teams team and add it to the Quick Launch links. This link will then open the Team when you access Microsoft Teams.

Most importantly, the idea of using these tools is to make remote working easier during these difficult times. However for any IT support or requirements, CoRE Educational is on hand. Feel free to email Abbygail at abbygail@coreeducational.org.uk or call on 0330 223 5229