Category: Modern Workplace

Cloud Productivity, Collaboration, Document Collaboration, File shares, Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 Governance, Microsoft Teams, Modern Workplace, OneDrive for Business, Planning, SharePoint Online, Tips & Tricks, User Adoption

Information structure in Microsoft Teams – Where should I save (and later also find) the documents?

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.

Continue reading “Information structure in Microsoft Teams – Where should I save (and later also find) the documents?” →
Cloud Platform, Cloud Productivity, Cloud Security, Collaboration, Dynamics 365, ERP, Integration, Microsoft 365, Modern Workplace, Security & Compliance, User Adoption

From Skill to Evidi

What does this actually mean?

Many people have contacted me believing that I have changed employers. It is very nice but not entirely true.

I have been with Skill on our whole wonderful memorable journey from the establishment until now. This has been a time in my working life that I will never forget. We have accomplished so many good and great things together and we have had so much fun together. We have had an incredibly good culture and genuine friendship and kindness and, not least, lots of knowledge.

I have not changed jobs, instead it is just time for a new chapter. The companies eSeven, Pilaro, Communicate, AITC and Skill have now joined forces and can now offer the entire portfolio within Microsoft technology and solutions.

I have met the vast majority of my new colleagues and the fact is that I feel that we are now getting even better. So many friendly, helpful and knowledgeable people in one place. Everyone is different, yet we are very similar.

For me personally, this means that I now have access to many more colleagues and much broader skills and this gives me (and us) a much greater strength when working with our customers.

Together we now gather under the name Evidi and I have a good feeling and genuine belief that we will accomplish great things in the future. Feel free to follow us on our website to get all the news that will come in the future.

File shares, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Community, Microsoft Teams, Migration, Modern Workplace, MVP-dagen, Office 365, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, SharePoint Online

Migration is easy (when you know how to do it)

Most things are easy once you master them. Migration is no exception.

Wednesday, October 19, it’s time again for MVP-dagen in Oslo and it is a great pleasure for me to be able to participate and give a presentation here. The title of my session this time is “It’s easy to migrate files properly to Microsoft Teams (once you know how to do it)“.

In short, my session is about the following:

“Your new Teams are set up and configured with the structures that are suitable for your business. All employees have received the training needed to be able to work in the right way and in the same way. Now all that remains is the fun of moving in.

In my session you will get some good tips on how you and your colleagues can migrate files from “old sources” to your new Teams (and in the right way). You will also get tips on when you need to use migration tools.”

The scenarios we are going to go through are the following:

  • Move documents from OneDrive for Business to Microsoft Teams.
  • Move documents from existing sites in SharePoint Online to Microsoft Teams.
  • Move documents from existing sites in SharePoint On premise to Microsoft Teams.
  • Move documents from file shares to Microsoft Teams.

Everyone is welcome to this event which has many great sessions and many topics so there is something of interest for everyone. Hope to see you there!

Follow this link to stay up-to-date on the schedule, speakers and registration.

Photo by Hans-Peter Gauster on Unsplash
Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 Governance, Microsoft Teams, Modern Workplace, Planning, Prepare for Change, Security, User Adoption

Shared Channels in Microsoft Teams – What do you need to start thinking about now?

Microsoft Teams Connect (Shared Channels) is about to being launched and many are impatiently waiting to use it. I think that Shared Channels will be very useful, and I clearly see its value as you do not have to be a guest in many organizations and change tenant as often as you need today. BUT here is some well-meaning advice in place. You who may think that it is only to activate the functionality and then everyone can use it (just as many did when Private Channels was launched) should stop a bit and think beforehand. If you want this to work well and not lose control (again), then you need to do proper homework with planning, configuration and training before you roll this out in the organization.

“With Microsoft Teams Connect we are making it easier to collaborate with anyone outside your organization. You can use Team’s full suite of collaboration capabilities with external partners in other Azure AD orgs the same way you use them with colleagues from your organization. Shared channels enables people from different orgs to work together as one team in a shared space for a more structured, deeper and longer-term collaboration.”

Source: Microsoft 365 Roadmap

Some examples of what you need to think about:

  • Just as with Private Channels, each Shared Channel gets its own SharePoint area. How should you have control over this?
  • Is the access for the external users affected if you implement (or have implemented) Conditional Access and MFA?
  • How do Shared Channels work in Teams that are blocked from inviting guests?
  • How to do with Sensitivity Labels? Does it work and when (and where) can you use it?
  • Is it enough that you just configure your organization’s tenant for it to work?
  • When should I use a team of guests, when should I use a Private Channel and when should I use a Shared Channel?
  • How are Shared Channels related to M365 Groups?
  • Do all Apps work the same way as in regular channels?
  • Should everyone be able to create Shared Channels or can I control this with a policy?

I am sure that more questions will arise over time, but these are good to start with finding the answers to.

Strategy, Planning, User adoption and Governance

“If you do not do things the right way from the beginning, sooner or later you will have to pay for it afterwards.“

To start using Shared Channels is no exception. As always, Strategy, User adoption and Governance are of great importance here too. This time do not make the same mistakes that many others have made by just rolling out new functionality without first familiarizing yourself with both opportunities and challenges. I have seen many examples of this when it comes to rapid implementation of Microsoft Teams and not least when it comes to Private Channels. You must ALWAYS plan for how new functionality will be implemented in the organization and not least how the new functionality will be received and embraced by your end users. What information should be communicated to them, how should you communicate the information and what training do they need to complete.

Even though we do our work in the cloud and Microsoft 365 is our plane, we can not rely on there being any magic cruise control. You actually need Governance on all services and features and Shared Channels in Microsoft Teams are no exception.

I’m really looking forward to the launch of Shared Channels and I will, without a doubt, use it. However, I will spend a lot of time in advance getting to know how it really works and how we will use it in our organization.

If you are curious to know more about Shared Channels, you can read more here:

Tony Redmond’s article “Diving into the Details of Microsoft Teams Shared Channels“

AvePoint Blog article “6 Things You Need to Know About Microsoft Teams Connect (Shared Channels)” by Kevin Joy

Good luck and do not forget that with good planning you always get the best result!

/Magnus

Photo by Yukiko Kanada on Unsplash
Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Teams Apps, Modern Workplace, Power BI, PowerApps, Prepare for Change, SharePoint, SharePoint Online, Tasks, To Do, Yammer

The wonderful feeling that your toolbox is complete

Microsoft Ignite is in full swing with almost limitless amounts of information about news regarding improvements and new functionality we can soon expect to be served on our table.

I must say that it has never been so inspiring and exciting to work with collaboration solutions from Microsoft. The toolbox grows and grows and I can, with a clear conscience, say that now we probably have everything (or at least most) we need in Microsoft Teams. It has really and finally become a workspace where you can make all your tools and all your information available in the right context.

(Photo by CDC on Unsplash)
With a little planning of how to put the whole thing together, you and your colleagues can actually soon perform all your daily activities without having to leave the Microsoft Teams interface to open additional systems.

“Everything in one place!”

Here is a selection of some important building blocks that we can use to achieve this:

  • All tasks in one app (Tasks)
  • Build workflows with the new “Power Automate app” in Teams
  • Build your own company-specific apps with integrations with your business systems with Power Platform and make these
    apps available to your teams.
  • Use Power BI to visualize your data in dashboards and reports.
  • Use the new “Home Site App” app to link your Modern SharePoint Intranet to teams and get an overview of news, links, quality systems, handbooks, etc.
  • Use the Yammer app to integrate relevant Yammer networks into different Teams

(Photo by Barn Images on Unsplash)

The possibilities do not stop here. For me, however, this is the most relevant functionality (for the moment) I need in my toolbox to help companies and organizations work in a smooth and modern way.

If you are eager to learn more about the possibilities with the news in #MicrosoftTeams, please take a look at “What’s New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2020“

Document Collaboration, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Word, Modern Workplace, Problem Solving, SharePoint Online, Tips & Tricks

Easy use of Office Document templates in Microsoft Teams

I think most of us, at some point, have missed the opportunity to add and use document templates in Microsoft Teams. It would have been great if, in “Files”, you could just click “New” and then choose an Office template that you want to start from when creating a new document.

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For those of you who lacked this functionality, I can inform you that there is a solution for this. Continue reading “Easy use of Office Document templates in Microsoft Teams” →

Exchange, Microsoft Teams, Modern Workplace, Outlook, Tips & Tricks, User Adoption, Yammer

Is it difficult to adapt and to stop sending internal emails?

It is now May in 2020 and spring has come to the Nordic countries. Most of us still work from home. For some it works great and some feel it more cumbersome. For me, it’s more or less Business as usual and the only thing I miss sometimes is meeting my clients and colleagues in real life. Technology is our friend these days, but it is important, of course, to dare to use it and to use it properly.

Just over a year ago I wrote the article “Why do you continue to send (and reply to) email?”

When I wrote the article, I had, for a short time, made a complete conversion and more or less stopped sending internal emails. In the past year, the number of e-mails sent has been a minimum and then limited to responding to e-mails that I have received. Usually when I receive an internal email, I don’t even reply via email, but I continue the conversation in Microsoft Teams instead. Do I miss the internal email? The answer is a resounding NO. I now exclusively use Microsoft Teams and Yammer for collaboration with my colleagues and it flows on incredibly well. Continue reading “Is it difficult to adapt and to stop sending internal emails?” →

Document Collaboration, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, Modern Workplace, Office 365, SharePoint Online, TeamsFest, User Adoption

Why Microsoft Teams is the key to successful collaboration

Collaboration in the past

I would like to start by telling you how i went from Lotus Notes, via SharePoint to Microsoft Teams.

Since 1997 I have been working on building systems for “collaboration”. The first few years I worked as a Lotus Notes-developer. Lotus Notes was at that time, in my personal opinion, the most effective platform for building good collaboration solutions. With Lotus Notes, i built document management solutions, good process support with automated workflows, ordering and booking systems, intranets and HR solutions. You could basically build most of it.

Best of all was that once you had built a good solution you could save it as a template. This template could then be used to quickly build the same, or similar solution elsewhere.

The replication in Lotus Notes means that you can distribute the load over different servers and you as a user can also replicate the databases so that you can work offline on your local computer when you do not have access to the Internet (this was during the time you did not always have access to fast internet everywhere and all the time).

Files were attached to Notes documents and you could use the email to attach links to the Notes documents which in turn contained those files. That’s how you (or at least i) did it “at that time”…

david-klein--94oJK3PDQw-unsplash
Photo by David Klein on Unsplash

SharePoint shows up

Continue reading “Why Microsoft Teams is the key to successful collaboration” →

Photo by Daniel Gonzalez on Unsplash
IT Governance, Microsoft Teams, Modern Workplace, Office 365, Office 365 Governance, Planning, Prepare for Change, Security & Compliance, Tips & Tricks, User Adoption

Things to Know Before Your Organization Opens Up to Use Private Channels in Microsoft Teams

Let me start by saying that I love new functionality that creates opportunities and solves concrete needs, BUT: Having a holistic perspective when managing your organization’s productivity platform is a puzzle with many pieces. In my opinion, there are mainly three pieces you need to fit together as soon as possible if you are to succeed in introducing new functionality into an organization. These pieces are: Continue reading “Things to Know Before Your Organization Opens Up to Use Private Channels in Microsoft Teams” →

Microsoft 365 Governance, Modern Workplace, Office 365, Office 365 Governance, Security & Compliance, Tips & Tricks, User Adoption

Do you use Private chats instead of Channel Conversations? Think about it and do it right.

Private chats in Microsoft Teams is super easy and intuitive to use but are you sure you are using it for the right purpose? When you start a Private Chat and share files in this chat, the files are saved on your OneDrive for Business folder and they are only available to the participants in the chat conversation. Are you sure it is so smart to save these files to your OneDrive? Continue reading “Do you use Private chats instead of Channel Conversations? Think about it and do it right.” →