Mirosoft Teams Group Creation: The Ultimate Guide to Creating Teams

The Difference between Microsoft 365 Group and Teams Group

The Microsoft platform offers two digital work environments: Microsoft 365 Group and Teams Group, each with distinct functions and purposes.

Microsoft 365 Group is a user group that shares common resources, including Exhange mailbox, calendars, SharePoint Site Collection, OneNote notebooks, and Microsoft Teams conversations.

It's primarily used for collaboration and communication, particularly for sharing tools like email, calendar, and document sharing in applications such as Exchange Online Calendar, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.

In contrast, Teams group is a digital workspace that enables real-time chats, video conferencing, file sharing, and document collaboration, making it ideal for multi-site collaboration or when real-time communication is necessary.

When you create a Teams group in Microsoft Teams, a Microsoft 365 group is automatically generated in the background, serving as an umbrella structure to link different Microsoft 365 services like SharePoint, Exchange Online, or Planner.

This group handles permission synchronization between different services for members, making managing permissions easier and saving time. Once someone is authorized for a Microsoft 365 group, they can automatically access the other services within the group.

Teams vs. Chat Group

There are two distinct ways to communicate in Microsoft Teams - the Teams channel (referred to as Teams) and the chat group.

A chat group functions like a private group of friends where you can message, share files, and initiate calls.

The main focus here is on personal exchange and social interaction.

A Teams channel, on the other hand, is like a dedicated workgroup that focuses on a particular project or topic.

The main focus is on completing tasks and working together on documents.

Within a team channel, you can create multiple sub-channels that address different aspects of the project.

For instance, you can create a team channel for a project and set up sub-channels for planning, budgeting, and implementation.

The advantage of a team channel is that it promotes collaboration within the group and makes it easier to access all essential information.

Teams Groups: Different types and uses

Private Teams groups are suitable for collaboration between a limited number of users, such as a specific team within a department or a project team.

Members of a private Teams group have access to shared resources such as chat, file sharing, and shared notes.

This type of group is particularly suitable for confidential projects or topics where only authorized people should have access.

Public Teams Groups are designed for teams to collaborate with a broader audience, including colleagues from other departments or locations.

They allow ideas and resources to be shared, and meetings and brainstorming sessions to be held.

A public Teams group is particularly useful for tackling projects or issues that are relevant to the entire organization or to specific community work or interest groups.

Unlike the org-wide group, public groups require members to be added or removed manually.

An org-wide Teams group is a special type of public group that automatically adds everyone in the organization as members.

It enables collaboration and communication at the enterprise level.

For example, such a group can be used to inform employees about important company-wide decisions or to gather feedback and suggestions from employees.  

To clarify the limitations of the org-wide Teams group feature, it is worth noting that it is only suitable for organizations with a maximum of 10,000 users.

It is possible to create up to five org-wide teams groups.

Importance of naming for successful teams groups

It is crucial to choose an appropriate name and description for a Teams Group to ensure its success in collaboration.

The name of the group should be easily recognizable and reflective of its purpose.

A clear and concise description can convey the goals of the group and increase understanding for potential members.

The right name can also attract attention and entice potential members to join.

By providing a clear description, the group can ensure that only relevant members are invited to join.

How to create a Microsoft Teams team:

1. Sign in to your Microsoft Teams account. 
2. Click on "Teams" in the left-hand menu. 
3. Select "+ Create Team" located in the upper right corner of the screen.
4. Choose the type of team you want to create, such as "Private," "Public," or "Restricted." 
5. Provide your team with a name and description to help identify its purpose and members. 
6. Configure your team's settings to match your desired preferences. 
7. Invite members to join your team to start collaborating.
8. Add channels to your team
9. Create and customize channels within your team to allow for specific topic or project discussions, and customize the settings of each channel by adding tabs, files, or apps as needed.

Important notes before you create a Teams group

Before creating a Teams group, it is important to consider various settings and options to ensure security, privacy, and effective collaboration within the group.

Security and privacy should be top priorities when creating Teams Groups.

Make sure the group is accessible only to authorized users and clarify in advance who you will be collaborating with.

Check if there is a privacy agreement in place for the group collaboration, and make sure that the group collaboration has been approved by the company.

Define the settings for channels within the group, such as who can create new channels, delete and edit posts, and which users receive notifications of new posts.

These settings allow specific topics or projects to be organized into individual channels.

This means that teams can allow group members to discuss in their respective channels without disturbing other members who are working on other projects or topics.

Review the settings for apps within the group, such as which apps can be installed and used and who can install or uninstall them.

Make sure the right apps and tools are selected for the group to increase efficiency and productivity.

Establish a consistent naming convention for Teams Groups to create a clear and consistent structure.

This makes it easier to find and use Teams Groups.

Define the settings for external access to the Teams group by ensuring that the privacy settings for external users are configured appropriately.

Always consult with and obtain approval from the business owners.

Verify that sensitivity labels are required within the group to protect sensitive or confidential information.

Establish metadata and keywording options to ensure the Teams Group is effectively organized and structured.

Consider which categories or attributes best describe the content of the group and assign them accordingly.

Review the SharePoint-side settings for Teams to determine where files will be stored within the Teams group and which users will have access to them.

Creating teams: These are the challenges

1. One of the potential challenges when creating teams is the lack of communication when establishing rules and guidelines. Without clear rules and guidelines, misunderstandings and confusion can occur, leading to miscommunication and ineffective collaboration.
2. Another difficulty can be the lack of governance guidelines. If your governance policies are unclear, it could be difficult to properly manage Teams Groups.
3. Improper settings can also lead to security issues or unwanted collaboration. Settings must be configured for each team to meet the needs of its members while also meeting privacy requirements.
4. Another problem can be inadequate customization to meet team needs or a lack of training and education. Teams Groups should be tailored to the needs of the members, and all members should have the necessary skills.
5. Ambiguity can arise when working with external partners without a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Define who has access to Teams Groups and how collaboration with external partners is governed.
6. Finally, manually creating SharePoint structures, channels, and apps can lead to errors and waste time per Teams Group created.

Creating a Teams group - the best way to proceed

1. To proceed with creating a Teams group, it is important to first identify the different usage scenarios and how the group will be used. 
   For example, the group may be used to coordinate a project or to conduct training sessions.
2. Once the usage scenarios have been identified, create templates for each scenario to ensure consistency in the Teams groups created.
3. Implement a self-service approach where users can choose the appropriate Teams group template and request the creation of the group.
   However, the creation of the Teams groups should be disabled for end-users and should only be possible through a self-service solution.
4. Before a Teams group is created, department managers should approve the creation of the group to ensure that the content is relevant and aligned with the business objectives.
5. Automate the creation of Teams groups to save time and ensure consistency.
6. Use lifecycle management methods to manage the lifecycle of Teams groups.
   Identify and archive inactive Teams groups to maintain data integrity and security.

How automation helps with the creation of Teams groups

Automation in creating Teams groups by using templates, PowerShell scripts or APIs can lead to faster creation of teams.

This can save time and minimize human errors.

Using Teams Templates: Teams Groups can be created with predefined settings, channels and apps.

You can either use Microsoft's default templates or create and customize your own.

Using PowerShell: Teams groups can be created and managed using PowerShell scripts.

For example, you can use scripts to create Teams groups based on existing Microsoft 365 groups or create them in bulk.

APIs make it easy to create and interact with Teams using custom applications or services.

Microsoft Graph API, for example, makes it possible to automatically create Teams groups or access data in Teams.

Automation with 3rd party solutions

There are currently only a few 3rd party solutions on the market that make automating the creation of teams groups easier and faster.

A good 3rd party solution should definitely have the following features/options:  

Compared to Microsoft templates, 3rd party solutions offer advanced templating options.

Automatically create templates for Microsoft Teams and SharePoint to control access to specific templates for specific user groups in the organization.  

Archive inactive Teams groups and securely retain data after projects are complete.  

Set guest permissions via security levels and add an expiration date to automatically remove them from Teams groups.

How can Teams Center help with this?

Teams Center from Valprovia is a tool that can assist with the automation of Teams group creation.

Templates and approval processes: It offers templates and approval processes to regulate who can create new Teams, as well as automatically generating templates for Microsoft Teams and SharePoint.

Archiving: Teams Center also features archiving capabilities to securely retain data after projects are completed and inactive Teams groups are archived.

Security: Users can select different security levels in Teams Center and assign Sensitivity and Classification Labels to improve governance of Teams groups.

By assigning sensitivity labels with different security levels, such as Confidential, Highly Confidential, Strictly Confidential, and Secret, you can target and protect your data.

External user management can also be automated to ensure that permissions for external users are regularly checked and access rights are adjusted accordingly.

This ensures that external users are regularly checked for their permissions and their access rights are adjusted accordingly.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Who is allowed to create a team in Microsoft Teams?

Every user in Microsoft Teams basically has the permission to create a new team.

By allowing your employees to create teams on their own according to their needs, you can increase the adoption of the tool.

It is difficult to decide when a team is necessary and when a channel or chat is sufficient.

Multiple creation of teams with the same purpose of use can lead to confusing results, significantly reduce the usefulness of teams and employee productivity.

Why can't I create a Teams group?

Your organization may have set certain policies for creating Microsoft 365 Groups or Teams that restrict users and prevent Teams and Teams Groups from being created.

This may be intentional and part of your company's governance policies.

To understand these policies, you should contact your IT administrator.

Join Teams Group

To join a specific team, click the Teams icon and select "Join a Team" or "Create a Team."

In the next step, enter the desired team name in the search box at the top right.

Start the search by pressing the Enter key. When you find the team you are looking for, click "Join Team" to become a member and increase your productivity. Done!  

But this process can only be implemented with a public team as described above.

By default, Microsoft Teams does not offer the possibility to list private teams, meaning your search will remain without any result.

As a result, you won't be able to join a private team at all.

Teams Center by Valprovia has solved this problem via a user-friendly interface, optimized search functionality and appropriate template configuration.

Thus, users in Teams Center have the ability to view private teams as well and make join requests there.

Disabling the creation of teams in Microsoft Teams

To control the creation of Microsoft 365 groups, a group must first be created that specifies who can create groups.

The second step is to run PowerShell commands to change the settings.

Finally, verify that the changes are effective by logging in with a user account that does not have permission to create groups, and then try to create a new project in Planner.

If the changes are effective, you will receive a notification that group creation is disabled.

Microsoft Teams: Create Team option is not displayed

If you don't see an option to create a new team, you may lack the necessary permissions.

In this case, it is recommended that you contact your IT administrator.

Your IT administrator can either create a team for you or enable the appropriate permissions through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.