What can Microsoft 365 Groups be used for? Explanation of creation and member management procedures

It is an end-user-oriented group that is completely different from traditional user groups, and also serves as a hub for team use of Microsoft 365 tools.

Features of Microsoft 365 Groups

In a nutshell, Microsoft 365 Group is a group with the function of “traditional mailing list + team work / collaboration support”.

Can be created without administrator privileges

The most prominent feature of Microsoft 365 groups is that “administrator privileges are not required for creation or maintenance”.

In the old system, creating and maintaining user groups required administrator privileges.

When creating a new group or changing members, you must apply to the administrator.

Microsoft 365 Group is a form that simultaneously solves the user’s inconvenience of not being able to quickly create the necessary groups and the administrator’s problem of frequent work.

However, since general users can create groups, it is important to note that groups tend to be overcrowded.

* Group creation authority can be set by the administrator.

Works with services such as Teams and Planner

Microsoft 365 Groups works with Microsoft 365 services such as:

• Teams team
• Planner plans
• SharePoint Online team site
• Yammer group

Creating these also automatically creates a Microsoft 365 group to enable team communication and file sharing in each service.

Once your new team is up and running, all you have to do is create a Microsoft 365 group to get a collaboration space.

Please note that creating a group for each service will cause duplication.

Email features in Microsoft 365 Groups

When creating a Microsoft 365 group, the address of the group is created in the specified domain.

The table below summarizes the differences between the conventional mail group functions “shared mailboxes” and “distribution lists” and the Microsoft 365 group mail addresses.

Similarities and differences with shared mailboxes

All members can check emails sent to the address of the Microsoft 365 group, so it can be used like a conventional “shared mailbox” such as a representative address.

For example, if you have a group created only by expense reimbursement staff in the accounting department, you can use this address as a point of contact for inquiries.

If you create a group based on the person in charge instead of the whole department,

• When an employee wants to make an inquiry, it saves the trouble of looking up the person in charge
• You can manage emails for specific matters in one place
• Prevents “I don’t know who is in charge, so let’s send it to all the departments in charge for the time being”, and irrelevant people are not involved

There are benefits for both the sender and the receiver.

On the other hand, there are two main differences from shared mailboxes:

• Administrative authority required
• How to handle mailboxes

In the case of a shared mailbox, creation and member management are performed in the “Exchange Admin Center” that only administrators can access, so creation and maintenance must be done by a system administrator.

Every time there is a change, the person in charge of the system will be bothered, and if the person in charge of the system decides that it is unnecessary, it may not be created.

Also, a shared mailbox is an independent mailbox, and everyone sees the same mailbox.

If someone moved an email to a folder or accidentally deleted it, it would affect everyone, so we had to be careful how we handled it.

In a Microsoft 365 group, emails are delivered to each person’s mailbox individually, so you can freely manage them by moving, deleting, flagging, etc.

Similarities and differences with distribution lists

A Microsoft 365 group can also be used as a mailing list because you can send the same email to all members of the group at the same time.

So far, there have been two ways to send an email to multiple members.

• Use a distribution list created by your administrator
• Use your own contact group

Your company may have a distribution list based on internal attributes such as department or job title, but you must create a mailing list with only arbitrary members yourself.

Furthermore, if you want to use the mailing list with all team members, you need to share the created contact group.

The address of the Microsoft 365 group can be made visible to other users, eliminating the need to share individual mailing lists.

Also, in the case of a distribution list, it was delivered to my inbox, so the only way to check whether it was delivered to an individual or a distribution list was to look at the address.

Emails addressed to Microsoft 365 groups are delivered to independent folders, so they can be managed separately from emails addressed to individuals.

[User] Procedure for creating a group

Let’s take a look at the specific steps for users to create and manage members of Microsoft 365 Groups.

Create a group/add/delete members in Outlook

Use the web version of Outlook ( https://outlook.com/ ) to create Microsoft 365 groups and manage members from Outlook .

group creation

Here are the steps to create a new group.

1. Click the arrow to the right of New Mail and select Group.
2. Enter the group’s name, email address, and description.
3. Click Edit to select your privacy settings and language.
4. If you want to send an email to everyone in the group, check “All threads and events in the group…”.
5. Click Create to create the group.
6. A screen for adding members appears. Search for members by name or email address and click “Add” to add them. If you want to add members later, click “Not now”.

Member management

This is the procedure for adding/deleting members to/from a group that has already been created. The group owner should do the work.

1. Select “Contacts” in the left menu of Outlook.
2. Select “Group”.
3. Click Owners to see the groups you own. Select the group you want to add/remove members from.
4. You can edit members by clicking Manage Group Members on the Members tab.

Create a team in Teams

A Microsoft 365 group is created at the same time you create a team in Teams.

1. Launch Teams and select Teams from the left navigation.
2. Select Join or create a team.
3. Click the Create Team button.
4. Click “From Scratch”.
5. Select the type of team (Private, Public, Entire Organization).
6. Enter a name and description for your team and click Create.
7. Add members.

Create a team site in SharePoint Online

Microsoft 365 Groups are also automatically created when you create a team site in SharePoint Online.

1. Sign in to the Microsoft 365 portal ( https://www.office.com/signin ).
2. Click “App Launcher” on the top left.
3. Click SharePoint.
4. Click Create Site and select Team Site.
5. Enter a site name and description.
6. Make public settings and language settings.
7. Add members and click Done.

[Administrator] How to create a group in the admin center

For admins to create Microsoft 365 teams, use the Microsoft 365 admin center ( https://admin.microsoft.com/ ).

1. Go to Microsoft 365 admin center and click Groups.
2. Click Add Group.
3. Select “Group type: Microsoft 365”.
4. Enter the group name and description.
5. Specify the group owner on the Owners page. At least one person must be set.
6. Add members on the Members page.
7. Enter the group’s email address.
8. Set your privacy options.
9. Click Create Group to create the group.

Article Summary

By simply creating a Microsoft 365 group, you can arrange collaborative workspaces such as email groups, Teams, and SharePoint sites.

Moreover, since it is possible to create and manage members without going through an administrator, end-user-centered speedy collaboration is now possible.

The use of Microsoft 365 Groups will be a trigger for innovation that transcends departmental boundaries.