In my daily work, I meet far too many companies and organizations that take the information structure too lightly. Sometimes due to lack of time, but sometimes due to carelessness. Either reason will sooner or later lead to chaos and irritated users. In the best case scenario, one has in any case gotten away from storing files on file servers and instead got over to Microsoft 365 with Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive as storage areas.
BUT
Unfortunately, it is far too common to just dump the files where you see that it is possible.
Here are some examples of Basic misuse (which many actually do).
- Put all files on OneDrive
- Put all files in one Document Library on a SharePoint Site
- Put all files in the General channel in a Team
The reason for this blog post
On the first of September 2022, I will participate in Kai Stenberg’s PodCast “Teams Cast away“. There we will talk about information structure in Microsoft Teams. This blog post is written with the aim of sharing some tips with others who might wonder how to build a smart and logical structure in the simplest possible way so that you know where documents belong and can easily find them again when working in Microsoft Teams.
“Create and store documents in their logical/intuitive context. Then you and your colleagues don’t need to waste time searching for them later”
A golden rule in the handling of documents in Microsoft Teams is that the documents must always be created and stored in their relevant context. In my world, there should always be a relevant channel where a document fits. If you have relevant channels, you store documents and conversations in a relevant/logical context, and thus you don’t have to look for them. They simply have a natural place where they belong and your other team members should know (and practice) that too.
Below I will give you some simple and basic tips on what to keep in mind when you have a document that you are wondering where it belongs.
Providing Tips 