Creating Teams within Microsoft Teams is a critical process for organizing your work, and it’s important to understand how to manage it well. This is one of the key exam topics in MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams certification. In this post, we explore the steps for creating and grouping teams into logical structures that meet your collaboration needs. To add context to this discussion, we provide examples from active working environments.
Creating Microsoft Teams:
- Select Teams: In the left-side navigation bar, choose the ‘Teams’ icon.
- Choose ‘Join or Create a Team’: Located at the bottom of the teams list.
- Create a team: Click on ‘Create Team’, and a new box will appear.
- Select ‘Build a team from scratch’: You have the option to create a brand-new team or build one around an existing Office 365 group or team.
- Choose the team type: There are four types of teams:
- Private: Only invited users can join.
- Public: Anyone within your organization can join.
- Org-wide: Everyone in your organization is a part of this team.
- No Microsoft 365 group: Create a team without a Microsoft 365 group connected.
- Name your team: Give your team a unique name (consider including the project, department, or team function in the name for easy identification). You can also add a short description which will be helpful for potential members to understand the team’s purpose.
- Invite members: Look up the names or email addresses of your team members and select them.
Note: You can always add more members to your teams, change the team’s settings, and even modify team type after its creation.
The following table shows the comparison between the various team types:
Team Type | Who Can Join | Visibility |
---|---|---|
Private | Only invited users | Team Owner can choose to make the team visible in search and discovery, or only visible to team members. |
Public | Anyone within the organization | Visible to everyone. |
Org-wide | Automatically include everyone in the organization | Visible to everyone. |
No Microsoft 365 Group | Anyone within the organization | Team Owner can choose to make the team visible or hidden to non-members. |
Organizing Teams into Structures
After creating teams, you can organize them into structures that best suit your organizational or project needs. With Microsoft Teams, you can:
- Channelize your teams: Channels are where the work actually gets done. These can be dedicated to specific topics, projects, or departments within a team. You can create standard channels that are open to all members or private channels for smaller group discussion.
- Add tabs to your channels: Tabs provide quick access to frequently used documents and cloud services. For example, you can add a tab for a shared Excel workbook or a cloud app used by your team.
- Use tags: Tags are a simple way to communicate with specific groups of people in your team. For example, you can use a ‘Marketing’ tag for all the marketing members in a cross-functional team.
The flexible structure offered by Microsoft Teams enables you to create environments that boost collaboration, streamline communication, and accelerate productivity.
Remember, your approach to structure your teams should align with your organizational or project needs.
To conclude, creating and organizing teams in Microsoft Teams is a critical element in fostering a collaborative work environment. Understanding and implementing these aspects effectively will be key in your preparation for the MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams exam.
Practice Test
Microsoft Teams allows you to create multiple teams based on different projects or departments.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Microsoft Teams is designed to allow users to create multiple teams for different purposes. Each team can be dedicated to a particular project, department, or group.
You can only create a team from scratch in Microsoft Teams.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: In Microsoft Teams, you can create a team from scratch, however, you also have the option of creating from an existing group or team.
Which of the following roles can create a team in Microsoft Teams?
- a) Regular Member
- b) Guest
- c) Team Owner
- d) All of the above
Answer: c) Team Owner
Explanation: Only team owners and users with administrative privileges have the permissions to create a new team in Microsoft Teams. Regular members and guests do not possess these permissions.
The maximum number of members in a single team in Microsoft Teams is
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Microsoft Teams currently supports a maximum of 5000 members in a single team.
Can you restrict team creation to certain users in Microsoft Teams?
- a) Yes
- b) No
Answer: a) Yes
Explanation: Administrators can create a custom team creation policy to limit team creation to certain users in Microsoft Teams.
There is no limit to the number of channels that can be created within a team.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: The current limit for the number of channels (both private and standard) that you can create in a single team is
In Microsoft Teams, you can create a team based on an existing Office 365 group.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Microsoft Teams allows you to create a team based on an existing Office 365 group, essentially importing the group’s settings and content.
In Microsoft Teams, a single user can only create 100 teams.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: The limit for the number of teams that a user can create is 250, not
Select the correct sequence of steps to create a new team from scratch in Microsoft Teams.
- a) Click Teams > Join or create a team > Create team > Build a team from scratch > Select privacy settings > Type team name and description > Click Create.
- b) Click Teams > Create team > Build a team from scratch > Select privacy settings > Click Create.
- c) Click Teams > Join or create a team > Build a team from scratch > Click Create.
Answer: a) Click Teams > Join or create a team > Create team > Build a team from scratch > Select privacy settings > Type team name and description > Click Create.
Explanation: The correct sequence to create a new team from scratch in Microsoft Teams involves several steps which include navigating to Teams, choosing to join or create a team, opting to build from scratch, selecting the right privacy settings, providing a name and description and finally clicking on ‘Create’.
Private Teams can only be joined by invitation from the Team Owner, whereas Public Teams can be joined by anyone in the organization.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: Public teams allow anyone within the organization to join without needing an invitation. On the other hand, private teams restrict membership and only the team owner can add members.
In Microsoft Teams, the user who creates the team becomes the owner by default.
- True
- False
Answer: True
Explanation: When a user creates a team, they are automatically assigned the role of team owner. They can add other members and assign user roles, including making others team owners.
It is not possible to create a private channel within a Microsoft Team.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: In Microsoft Teams, it is possible to create a private channel within a team. This private channel can only be accessed by certain members of the team, as specified by the team owner.
Once created, the name of a team in Microsoft Teams cannot be changed.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: The name of a team can be changed at any time by the team owner or an admin. This can be done by going to the team settings.
It is not possible to delete a team in Microsoft Teams.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: A team in Microsoft Teams can be deleted. However, it should be noted that deleting a team will also delete all its channels, files, and chats.
It is not possible to restore a deleted team in Microsoft Teams.
- True
- False
Answer: False
Explanation: It is possible to restore a deleted team within 30 days of its deletion. The restoration can be done through the admin center.
Interview Questions
What are the steps to create a team in Microsoft Teams?
To create a team in Microsoft Teams, follow these steps: Click Teams on the left side of the app, then click Join or create a team at the bottom of your team’s list, after that click Create team, now you choose from scratch or from an existing group or team, then choose a team type, give the team a name and description, and choose your team’s privacy settings.
Can you convert an existing Office 365 group to a team?
Yes, you can convert an existing Office 365 group to a team by clicking on “Teams” in the sidebar, then “Join or create a team” and selecting “Create team”, then you can choose “From an existing Office 365 group”.
What are the different types of teams that can be created in Microsoft Teams?
The types of teams that can be created in Microsoft Teams include: standard, private, and public. Standard teams are accessible to anyone in the organization, private teams require a team owner’s permission to join and public teams appear in search results and are open for any user to join.
What is the maximum number of members in a single Microsoft Teams team?
As per Microsoft Teams limits and specifications, a single team can accommodate up to 10,000 members.
Which permission levels are available in Microsoft Teams?
In Microsoft Teams, there are two permission levels available: Team owner and Team member. Each team can have multiple owners, but every team must have at least one owner.
Can a guest be a team owner in Microsoft Teams?
No, a guest cannot be a team owner in Microsoft Teams. Only members within your organization can be made owners of a team.
How can you add members to a Microsoft Teams team?
You can add members to a team by going into the team of choice, clicking on the three-dot icon at the top, selecting “Add members”, and then entering their names or email addresses.
How can you control who can create teams in Microsoft Teams?
You can control who can create teams in Microsoft Teams by setting up security groups in Azure Active Directory and setting the security group as a restriction.
Can you limit visibility of teams to certain sections of your organization?
Yes, you can limit visibility of your teams by setting up information barriers which allow you to limit which individuals can communicate and collaborate with each other in Microsoft Teams.
How can you manage external access in Microsoft Teams?
You can manage external access in Microsoft Teams through the Microsoft Teams admin center. Choose Org-wide settings -> external access, and then switch the external access slider to On or Off to enable or disable it.
In terms of privacy, what’s the difference between public and private teams in Microsoft Teams?
Public teams are visible to everyone in the organization and anyone can join without approval. Private teams, on the other hand, require approval from a team owner to join and are not visible to everyone in the organization.
What are naming conventions in Microsoft Teams and how can they be enforced?
Naming conventions in Microsoft Teams are a set of rules that dictate how Teams and channels should be named in an organization. Naming conventions can be enforced using Microsoft Teams policies in the Teams admin center.
What action should be taken to delete a team in Microsoft Teams?
To delete a team in Microsoft Teams, go to the admin center, select Teams -> Manage teams, find your team, and select more options -> Delete.
What is the guest access feature in Microsoft Teams?
The guest access feature in Microsoft Teams allows individuals outside of the organization to join, participate in chats and meetings, and collaborate in teams.
What does a team owner do in Microsoft Teams?
A team owner in Microsoft Teams is responsible for managing members, channels, settings and permissions within a team. They can add or remove members, create channels, manage tabs and apps, change team settings, and delete the team.