Microsoft 365 offers many options for Teams to collaborate, share ideas, projects, and basically work together.
In this post, we will study and implement the ones that we can find most useful for our case.
Microsoft Teams
With a Microsoft 365 Business Standard license, we get access to the Microsoft Teams app desktop
We get a complete Enterprise messaging app, where we can chat, have calls and video calls, also share files:
As a test, we can see Charles requested Teddy some Reports:
Now Charles can open in Excel, Download, and copy the link:
We can see the Excel document downloaded correctly:
The problem with this approach is that every time a new file is shared and downloaded, the user who received it, will need to save the changes and send it back.
Let’s try another approach:
Onedrive
Onedrive is a cloud storage service provided by Microsoft that allows users to store files and access them from anywhere. It integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365, making it easy to collaborate and share documents with others.
Let’s set it up and see how it can help us:
Set up:
Log in to Onedrive with Teddy’s email:
Select the Onedrive folder:
Select or change what we want to backup, Documents, Pictures, Desktop:
We can review now the different icon statuses:
And we are all set:
Let’s go to our Onedrive folder and create a new folder: HR
Let’s copy here the Excel document previously shared with Charles:
Now let’s share it with Charles:
We can select the security settings for the link:
Let’s add Charles as an allowed user and hit Send (We will also copy the link):
Once sent we get a confirmation message:
Back to Charles’ computer, we see he got an email saying Teddy shared HR Reports document:
Teddy also sends the link to Charles via Teams:
Back to Charles, he can open the document using Excel:
Let’s select: Open in > Excel Desktop app
We can notice a cell that says TY (Teddy Yu), which means he has the document open on his end as well:
Now if we go to Teddy’s computer we can see CS (Charles Stevens):
Now let’s go back to Charles’ end and add some data to the document:
Once done, if we go to Teddy’s, we can see the new data almost in real-time:
With that, we can see how we can use Onedrive for File Sharing and collaboration.
Groups in Microsoft 365
KB: Learn about Group types in Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 offers various types of Groups that can help teams collaborate more efficiently. Each Group type has a unique purpose, such as managing email conversations, sharing files, or organizing events. In this article, we'll explore the different types of Groups in Microsoft 365 and what they can be used for, so you can select the right one for your team's collaboration needs.
Microsoft 365 Groups are designed for collaboration within your organization. They come with a group email address and a SharePoint site where you can share documents, notes, and meeting agendas. You can use Microsoft 365 Groups for project management, team communication, and document sharing.
Distribution groups (or lists) are used for broadcasting information and updates to people both inside and outside the organization. They can be used for sharing job updates, organizational changes, or events to a specific set of customers or employees. Previously studied Here.
Security groups are designed to grant access to Microsoft 365 resources and make administration easier. They can be used to grant access to important company resources like tools, portals, reports, and devices like printers.
Mail-enabled Security Groups are like security groups, but with the added capability of sending emails to all members. They can be used for sending news, promotions, and company updates to your sales team.
In this post, we will focus on Microsoft 365 Groups
The CEO, HR and IT will be working on a project called Project A, let’s create a Microsoft 365 Group for them to collaborate:
Navigate to: Microsoft 365 admin center Groups
Set name as Project A:
Let’s add Karl (IT Manager) as an owner:
Now as members, we will add Charles (CEO), Karl (IT Manager), and Teddy (HR Manager):
For the Group email address, we will set up: project-a@beyondbaremetal.com
Privacy: Private
Add Microsoft Teams to your group / Create a team for this group: Checked
Now we can review the settings and select Create group:
The group Project A is created:
We can verify Project A group is showing up now:
We can go to Charles’ computer and open Teams to see that we get a notification that he was added to the Project A Team:
Let’s go to the Team:
As we can see it has several sections, for Posts, Files, Notes, and a + to add more:
Let’s have Charles create the first post:
Let’s go to Teddy’s computer, he was also added to the Project A Team then he can reply to the post:
Now, let’s explore how the Files tab can help us:
Charles creates a new Excel document for the Meeting schedule:
It will be saved on his OneDrive:
Then he will upload it to the Project A Files > Documents > General:
The file will be available for all Project A members whenever they go to the Files tab:
Teddy can see it:
As in the previous example Teddy can open it with the Excel app and any modification made will be available for all Group members:
Charles (and all group members) also got a notification email:
A new section on Outlook called Groups contains the Project A mailbox now:
An external collaborator can send emails to that mailbox: project-a@beyondbaremetal.com, let’s try:
We get an error because the Teams is not set up to allow external emails:
Let’s fix it, Navigate back to: Microsoft 365 admin center Groups > Select Project A > Settings:
Let’s enable: Let people outside the organization email this team
Done:
Test again:
As we can see, the email was received under Groups > Project A
As a reminder, all Project A group members received that email in their Outlook and they can reply as well:
Charles replied and the external user got it:
Sharepoint Site
Another great feature that Microsoft 365 Group can offer is the Sharepoint sites, once we create the Group, a Sharepoint Site is created automatically:
Let’s navigate to: Microsoft 365 admin center > Sharepoint:
As we can see Project A Site (with Teams enabled) is listed under Active sites:
Once we open it we can see many sections: Conversations, Documents, Shared with us, Notebook (with OneNote), Pages, Site contents, and the Recycle bin:
Once we go to General, we can see Project schedule Excel document created and uploaded previously by Charles on the Team Files:
We can select + New and create more folders and documents:
Now a cool feature from Sharepoint sites is that we can map it to the computer File Explorer:
We can copy the Sharepoint link and go to Charles’ computer:
NOTE: the user must already be logged in to OneDrive.
We can hit Sync
Check the box to always allow Syncing with Onedrive:
After a few minutes, we can see on the File Explorer a new section called Beyond Bare Metal > Project A - Documents:
We see all folders and files:
At this point, Charles can work with those files and add/edit/delete as they are local making it a seamless experience for the user
Let’s have Charles create some new documents:
Charles creates a new Word doc called Important data and saves it on Project A Documents > Project Documents:
We can verify the document is visible on Sharepoint site web and it will be visible for any user who maps the Sharepoint site to their File Explorer:
Now let’s work with Teddy
Let’s map the Sharepoint file to Teddy and have him create some new documents to see how it works:
Teddy creates a Word document called More Ideas:
Back to Charles’ he is able to see it on his end:
Once opened, we can see Teddy Yu’s name meaning he still has it open on his end as well:
Back to Teddy, we notice CS (Charles Stevens)
Now both users can work/collaborate on the same files/folders seamlessly.
Calendar / Meetings:
Now let’s see how Microsoft 365 Groups can help us organize the meetings for this project:
On Outlook we can go to Calendar \> New Meeting
Set Project A as Required, set the date, and add the Microsoft Teams meeting link:
Once sent, all members of Project A group will receive the meeting invite and it will also be visible on the Groups > Project A Section:
Also, the entry for the meeting will be visible on the calendar:
Conclusion
In this post, we explored Microsoft 365's collaboration ecosystem, demonstrating how we can leverage Groups, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint to create seamless digital workspaces for our organization. We implemented practical solutions including developing a project group, setting up collaborative Teams channels, and utilizing shared document repositories. By showcasing real-world scenarios of file sharing, real-time collaboration, and cross-platform accessibility, we illustrated how modern digital tools can transform team communication and productivity, breaking down traditional barriers to workplace collaboration.
The next steps will be implementing an Azure app to assist HR on Onboardings for new employees.
Stay tuned for more content.
Thanks for reading!
Link to the series 👉 beyondbaremetal.hashnode.dev/series/beyond-..