How to Build and Manage the Best Teams: Proven Practices and Tips

Want to create and manage the best teams? This article provides practical steps on team creation, collaboration, guest access, tagging, ownership, lifecycle management, and more, aimed at making your teams effective and high-performing.

Key Takeaways

• Effective team creation involves clear planning, defining roles, and establishing governance to enhance collaboration in Microsoft Teams.
• Managing access controls and external guests through role-based access control (RBAC) is critical for data security and compliance.
• Regular audits and policy reviews are essential for maintaining effective governance, ensuring compliance, and balancing security with user productivity.

Plan for Effective Team Creation

A well-organized team structure is the backbone of efficient collaboration in Microsoft Teams. Planning for team creation lays the foundation for structured collaboration across the board. Syskit Point offers features that provide visibility and management of team ownership and member roles, making it easier to plan and create teams systematically and complete the task effectively. Creating teams should be viewed as part of a broader team lifecycle management process, including planning for the formation, development, and eventual disbanding of teams within your organization.

A structured approach to team creation minimizes confusion and enhances collaboration. This involves defining clear roles, responsibilities, and workflows that align with your organizational needs. You can also leverage existing groups, such as Office groups or security groups, to quickly establish new teams and streamline member management. Consider how teams collaborate based on the specific requirements of your projects and departments to build successful teams that were created through department wide collaboration.

Anticipate future needs during team creation. As your organization grows, so will your new teams. When planning for future team growth, consider default settings such as default channels or privacy settings to ensure consistency and scalability. Scalability and flexibility plans accommodate changes without disrupting workflow. A well-planned team collaborates seamlessly, whether in large teams or across departments.

Define Team Requirements

Defining team requirements ensures teams are fit for their purpose. Before creating a new team or resource in Microsoft Teams, perform a search to verify whether it already exists to avoid duplication. Start by using standard naming conventions to prevent the creation of duplicate teams in Microsoft Teams. Establishing clear governance rules for naming conventions and ownership criteria is necessary.

An organizational requirements document should outline how to create, name, and classify teams based on needs. This document serves as a blueprint for team creation, ensuring that every new team aligns with your organization’s goals and operational requirements.

Manage External Guests and Access Controls

Managing external guests and access controls is a critical aspect of ensuring security and governance in collaborative projects. Unauthorized access can lead to data leaks and other security challenges, making it essential to implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). This approach helps prevent unauthorized access and mitigates risks associated with data exposure. When onboarding new team members or external guests, best practices include sending an invite with clear join options and controlling who receives invitations to ensure only authorized users are added.

An approved apps list can significantly reduce the risks associated with third-party integrations. Regular reviews and updates ensure compliance with security policies and minimize vulnerabilities. Participants can join teams or channels to facilitate collaboration, provided they meet the necessary access requirements.

Maintaining strict app permission settings controls safeguards sensitive data from unauthorized access. Managing participant roles and access within teams and meetings is also essential for effective collaboration and security.

Pre-deployment Planning

Before deploying Microsoft Teams, consider the following for effective guest access management:

• Establish clear organizational requirements and policies regarding guest access.
• Plan for governance of guest access.
• Prepare processes for onboarding external users.
• Prepare processes for offboarding external users.

Tools like ShareGate can automate these processes, making guest access management more efficient and secure. Here are some tips to enhance your experience.

Develop a Robust Tagging System

A structured tagging system boosts engagement and findability within Microsoft Teams. However, allowing everyone to create or edit tags can lead to chaos. Creating and maintaining a structured tagging system ensures effective governance practices.

Employee resource groups can especially benefit from a robust tagging system, as it helps facilitate collaboration among members with shared interests and supports organized communication within large communities.

A robust tagging system optimizes channel organization, enhancing productivity and collaboration. This system should be well-documented to ensure all team members use tags consistently and effectively, thus creating a hassle-free experience. Please take note of the importance of this system.

Documentation Practices

Documenting tagging systems enhances governance within Microsoft Teams. Proper documentation ensures effective and consistent tag usage by end users. A well-documented tagging plan can streamline the onboarding process for new team members by clearly outlining tagging protocols.

A documented tagging plan improves governance practices. It provides clarity on how tags should be applied, reducing misuse and confusion among users. This documentation should be accessible to all team members to ensure compliance and consistency.

Ensure Active Team Ownership

Active team ownership enhances collaboration and accountability in Microsoft Teams. Every team member should have at least one designated owner to manage membership and oversee shared data. The team owner plays a critical role in managing team settings, permissions, and governance, ensuring effective team management and preventing ownerless teams. It ensures that someone is always responsible for the team’s activities and data management.

A clear owner list policy prevents lapses in team management and ownership transitions. Clear ownership roles enhance collaboration and improve security by ensuring only authorized individuals access sensitive information.

Automated Ownership Management

Automated ownership management revolutionizes the handling of ownerless teams. Tools like ShareGate can automatically assign personal ownership to the most active member of an ownerless team, so teams do not forget who is responsible by joining the effort and have joined the initiative.

An owner list group policy ensures smooth ownership transitions and prevents management gaps.

Lifecycle Management for Teams

Lifecycle management addresses the handling of outdated teams and their content after project completion in project management. An effective plan prevents teams from remaining inactive indefinitely, thereby avoiding workspace clutter and resource consumption. When managing large teams or large groups, it is important to follow best practices throughout their lifecycle, from creation to disbanding, to ensure smooth collaboration and efficient resource use.

To maintain an organized and efficient environment in Microsoft Teams and office groups:

• Use automation tools like ShareGate to identify inactive teams.
• Establish clear guidelines for retaining and deleting team content.
• Ensure only active and relevant teams are maintained.

Expiration Policies

Expiration policies notify team owners about unused teams, preventing clutter. These policies maintain an organized environment by managing inactive teams automatically. A notification about these details helps ensure that team owners stay informed.

Upon expiration, a team’s associated resources, including SharePoint and email, are disabled to prevent continued access.

Archiving and Deleting Teams

Archiving teams preserves content while freeing up resources for active teams. Archiving a team preserves its content for future reference instead of permanent deletion. This method benefits teams that are inactive but hold valuable information.

The Microsoft Teams admin center’s Manage Teams section offers tools for archiving and deleting teams. This enables administrators to manage team lifecycles effectively, ensuring outdated teams do not clutter the workspace and valuable data is preserved.

Implement Data Retention Policies

Data retention policies maintain compliance and manage user access effectively. Without a data retention policy, organizations risk compliance issues, clutter, and access disruptions. A common retention policy duration for chat messages in Microsoft Teams is 90 days.

Managing meeting recordings is also essential, as these recordings should be archived and accessible to support compliance, training, and documentation requirements.

E-discovery helps preserve relevant content by placing the team mailbox and SharePoint site, including conversations and shared files, on hold. This is crucial for legal compliance and secures all necessary data.

Governance Integration

Governance integration with data lifecycle management ensures compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Effective governance frameworks improve retention policy efficiency by clearly defining data handling roles. This integration enhances accountability by supporting better tracking of data access and usage.

A governance plan for guest access established before deployment mitigates security risks. Governance integration with lifecycle management supports effective data retention strategies, ensuring compliance and security.

Educate Users on Teams Usage

Educating users on Teams usage ensures everyone can leverage the platform effectively. Regular training sessions and webinars familiarize new users with Microsoft Teams and its functionalities. Training should also cover how to add people to teams, channels, or chats to enhance collaboration and streamline onboarding. Regularly communicating best practices keeps users informed and improves their Teams usage.

Recruiting enthusiastic users as champions enhances the scaling of Microsoft Teams. Monthly meetings with internal champions, attendees, and participants should focus on new features, feedback, meeting chat, and self-service tools to boost engagement as a meeting organizer. It is important to address each person individually to improve communication and engagement within the team.

Internal forums for collecting service satisfaction data provide insights into user experiences and areas for improvement. Ensure all users have a stable internet connection for optimal participation in training sessions and Teams meetings.

Training Programs

Continuous training keeps team owners informed about the latest features and functionalities in Microsoft Teams. Regular training sessions enhance user understanding of new governance policies and ensure smooth transitions. On-demand resources like videos and tutorials further enhance user training.

Ongoing training and webinars improve user engagement and skill acquisition. Regularly updating training materials based on feedback significantly improves Teams usage.

Set Guidelines for Chat and Channel Conduct

Clear guidelines for chat and channel conduct maintain a respectful and productive work environment. Moderation policies should address inappropriate language, harassment, and abuse. Team owners can enable moderation to control posting in new channels and create channels to ensure respectful communication in chats and message exchanges. Managing conversation threads in channels helps keep each conversation organized and productive, making it easier for team members to follow discussions and collaborate effectively.

Establishing consequences for rule violations upholds community standards. Moderators enforce guidelines and manage discussions to ensure respectful interactions. When creating a post in a channel, it is important to follow best practices by making the post clear, relevant, and professional to promote effective communication and engagement.

Clear behavior expectations enhance team collaboration and minimize misunderstandings, which is what we expect. Setting up moderation controls for posts, such as limiting who can create or reply to posts, helps maintain order and productivity within Teams channels.

Manage App Permissions and Integrations

Controlling app permissions ensures:

• Only authorized applications are accessible, reducing potential security vulnerabilities. Managing file sharing permissions is crucial to ensure that sensitive documents are only accessible to authorized users.
• Sensitive data is safeguarded from unauthorized access through strict app permission controls. Best practices for sharing a link to files or resources within Teams help streamline collaboration and maintain security.
• Teams administrators can create custom app permission policies for specific user groups.

Regular app permissions reviews maintain compliance with organizational security policies. An approved apps list ensures only verified applications are used, enhancing control over app permissions and preventing unauthorized access.

Approved Apps List

An approved apps list controls access and reduces security risks in Microsoft Teams. An approved apps list streamlines processes and ensures only vetted applications are used in the Teams app.

Regular reviews and updates of the approved apps list maintain security and operational integrity.

Use Sensitivity Labels for Data Protection

Sensitivity labels can be customized to fit specific classification needs, such as Public, Confidential, and Highly Confidential. These labels enable encryption and content markings to safeguard sensitive data, preventing unauthorized access. Sensitivity labels persist with content, ensuring ongoing protection.

Automating sensitivity label application based on predefined conditions enhances compliance and security. Requiring users to customize sensitivity label changes, for example, ensures accountability and ability.

Sensitivity labels are a powerful data protection tool in Microsoft Teams.

Establish E-discovery and Legal Hold Policies

E-discovery and legal hold policies:

• Ensure security, compliance with regulations, and prevent legal liabilities.
• Ensure appropriate data retention for legal and regulatory compliance.
• Require the IT department to establish a policy for preserving all relevant data for legal proceedings.

Implementing e-discovery and legal hold policies mitigates risks associated with data retention failures in Microsoft Teams. These policies provide a structured approach to data management, ensuring all necessary data is preserved for legal and compliance purposes.

Conduct Regular Audits and Reports

Regular audits track user activities and ensure adherence to policies in Microsoft Teams. Audits identify potential security risks and ensure compliance with data regulations. Compliance tools can automate monitoring and enhance auditing workflow efficiency.

Defining KPIs measures auditing process effectiveness. Microsoft 365 data can guide improvements by informing decisions based on user engagement metrics. Regular audits and reports uphold and continually improve governance practices.

Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) enhances security by assigning specific permissions based on user roles. This approach is crucial for preventing unauthorized access during the auditing process and minimizing security risks.

Security groups can be used to manage permissions and access control within Microsoft Teams and SharePoint environments, helping to organize user access and maintain security.

Implementing RBAC effectively minimizes unauthorized access by defining specific permissions based on user roles. Role-based training ensures that users receive relevant information tailored to their specific needs in Teams, enhancing both security and productivity.

Custom Roles Creation

Custom roles in Microsoft Teams can be tailored to provide specific permissions to different users based on their responsibilities. Establishing custom roles enhances security and ensures that users have appropriate access based on their needs.

This approach allows organizations to meet specific easy access control requirements in different ways effectively.

Review and Refine Governance Policies Regularly

Regular review of governance policies is essential to adapt to the evolving goals and needs of the organization. An effective strategy for updating governance policies should include:

• Clear assessment methods
• A defined approach for implementing updates
• Gathering user feedback, which is critical in crafting governance policies that balance security and productivity.

Continuous improvement of auditing procedures is vital to adapt to evolving security threats and ensure governance practices are upheld. Regularly reviewing and refining governance policies ensures they remain effective and relevant to organizational needs, promoting best practice.

Policy Update Strategies

Regular audits and updates of governance practices are crucial for adapting to user needs and compliance requirements. Utilizing a structured approach for policy updates can streamline the process and improve user compliance. Comparing existing policies with best practices can provide insights into necessary updates, ensuring that governance policies remain effective and up-to-date. Additionally, aligning with best practice can enhance overall governance effectiveness.

Gathering user feedback frequently helps refine governance policies. This feedback loop ensures policies are practical and enhance productivity without compromising security. Regular reviews and updates are key to maintaining an effective governance framework.

Balance Governance Rules with User Productivity

Balancing governance rules with user productivity is essential to prevent frustration and shadow IT. Over-restrictive governance policies can lead to user frustration and resistance, increasing the likelihood of shadow IT. When implementing governance policies, it is important to consider the needs and communication preferences of the whole team to ensure policies support everyone effectively. Creating a change management strategy is vital for fostering user adoption of Microsoft Teams.

Maintaining a balance between security and productivity ensures both compliance and user satisfaction. Effective governance should empower users while minimizing unnecessary restrictions, enhancing overall productivity. Finding this balance is crucial for a successful Teams implementation.

Feedback Mechanisms

Implementing feedback mechanisms allows users to share their experiences, which can guide adjustments in governance without hindering productivity. Regularly soliciting user input helps ensure governance policies remain relevant and effective. Establishing regular feedback channels can help identify and overcome adoption challenges within Microsoft Teams.

Creating a dedicated feedback hub within Teams allows users to voice their opinions and suggestions easily. Recognizing and thanking users for their feedback builds trust and encourages further contributions. This approach ensures continuous improvement and user satisfaction.

Boost Adoption with Self-Service Options

Effective governance strategies should empower users while minimizing unnecessary restrictions to enhance productivity. A recommended approach to empower users in Microsoft Teams is to match the governance plan with self-service options. This approach helps increase adoption without obstructing productivity.

Finding a middle ground between governance and user freedom is essential to enhance overall productivity. IT plays a crucial role in user empowerment by setting up guardrails and providing templates. The governance strategy for Microsoft Teams should focus on promoting adoption. It should not create barriers that hinder user engagement.

Summary

Building and managing the best teams in Microsoft Teams involves a multifaceted approach that includes planning, governance, training, and continuous improvement. By following these proven practices and tips, organizations can enhance collaboration, improve productivity, and ensure compliance with security policies. From structuring teams effectively to managing lifecycle and retention policies, every step is crucial for creating a cohesive and efficient working environment.

The key to successful team management in Microsoft Teams lies in balancing governance with user empowerment. By implementing these best practices, you can build and manage teams that are not only productive but also secure and compliant. Remember, the goal is to create an environment where every team member can collaborate seamlessly and contribute to the organization’s success.