Microsoft Teams

What is Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a service that combines several parts of Office 365 into one package. The main interface is a community chat window.  Other apps include an attached document repository and group mailbox. Microsoft Teams can be used from a web browser, or from an app on your computer or mobile device. This service is available to any active faculty, staff or student. Outside guests can also be added to existing Teams.

Contents

What to use Teams for
Basics for using Teams
Creating a Team
Adding members/owners
Naming conventions
Additional channels, directories, and access
Further documentation 

What to Use Teams For

• Microsoft article with videos: Use Cases with Microsoft Teams for Higher Education
• Use Teams to chat with your group or another group. It's a great tool for groups in separate locations.  A chat allows for a quick exchanges of information.  The document repository can be used for group documentation.
• This service is approved for Level II data.

Contents

Basics of How to Use Teams

Tools in Microsoft Teams

• Chat – for one on one or group communication
• Team list – lists the teams you are a member of
• Channels – Conversation groupings.  As an example, For a course, you might have a channel for each class meeting.  For an IT project, you might have one channel for feature requests, one for bugs, and so forth.
• Conversations – appear within each Channel.  Conversations are chat windows.
• Files – unique to each channel. These are files.  (probably need some details on sharing from here).         
• The + - you can add other tabs too.  Some of the more useful and common:
• Planner – links a Kanboard or calendar to your team.
• Wiki – links a wiki to your team.  (Housed in a SharePoint site.)
• OneNote – adds a notebook.  A notebook is added by default to a class or professional learning community (PLC) type team.
• NEW: Shared Channels – This option allows internal collaboration in Teams by creating shared channels for those within UD, but individuals on the channel do not have to be a member of the whole Team. Learn more about Shared Channels. 

Be cautious before using

• Email – Microsoft recommends against using this feature.
• Uploading a lot of files. Start moving documents slowly, and make sure you are on a stable wired connection.
• Sharing files from a Team site to non-team members is not recommended.  It may work, but is not the expected way to use teams.  If a document needs to be shared out, save a copy to your OneDrive, or send a copy via email.
• Videoconferencing – UD's primary videoconferencing solution is Zoom. Teams should only be used for videoconferencing when Zoom is disallowed by an external collaborator's institution.

Contents

Creating a Team

At the bottom of a Team list there is a Join or create a team button. Click this button and follow the on-screen instructions.  Review the UD Naming Conventions for advice on naming your team.  We recommend adding a description to identify what your Team is for.  Depending on your Team's purpose, you may want to include some document tabs that cover some basic information; for example, “Community Guidelines”, “Usage”, or “Etiquette Guidelines”.

Contents

Adding Members/Owners

To add Team members or owners, click the ellipses next to team name.  Select add members.  An owner must also be a member.

Contents

Naming Conventions

All teams must start with “Team-“.  We do maintain a list of blocked words that you cannot use.  Those are the only limitations.  However, we do have some guidance:

• Name teams specifically to avoid confusion. 
• Do not assume a top level name when a sublevel name is more appropriate. For example, “Team-advisement” for a departmental advisement group would be a bad choice. 
• Try to follow a sensible naming pattern (see below for some examples).