Here is another post from me where the message can be summed up with the following phrase: “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should”. This time, the well-intentioned admonition is about Shared Channels in Microsoft Teams.

First of all: What are Shared Channels in Microsoft Teams? In short, you can say that they are channels that can be shared internally within your organization, and they can also be shared with external organizations. Sharing channels with external organizations should not be confused with Guest Access, Guests cannot be members of Shared Channels.

“Using Shared Channels internally within an organization is easy, almost too easy.”

Using Shared Channels internally within an organization is easy, almost too easy. If you are the type that easily gets hives from the consequences of improper use of “Private Channels”, then the same ailments often occur with “Shared Channels”.

Do not misunderstand me. I find both Private Channels and Shared Channels very useful, but as with anything else, misconfiguration and misuse only lead to poor control and information chaos. You can quickly create this type of chaos if you do not have governance routines prepared for the use and control of Shared Channels.

A good tip is to start by directing who in your organization should be able to set up Shared Channels. If you don’t have control over it and open up this functionality to everyone, you’ve guaranteed to create chaos for yourselves. To control the establishment of Shared Channels and limit this only to those who have knowledge and understanding of the benefits and consequences, you can deactivate the option in your Global Policy and create a Custom Teams Policy that is assigned to those who should have the option. You can see how to create this type of policy here: Manage channel policies in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn and here you can read about how to then assign this policy to selected users: Assign policies to users and groups – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

The differences in functionality and limitations between Standard Channels, Private Channels and Shared Channels.

What are the differences in functionality and limitations between Standard Channels, Private Channels and Shared Channels? You can read about that under the heading Channel feature comparison in the article Overview of teams and channels in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn . Additional good useful information about channels and cooperation with external guests, is available here:

• Shared channels in Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
• Collaborating with people outside your organization | Microsoft Learn

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