The core objective of Microsoft 365 is to enable collaboration between teams and team members. This common theme can be seen across all Microsoft 365 tools. Every Microsoft 365 service offers a unique capability.

The beauty of a Microsoft 365 group is that it takes the best elements of each service and provides a collaborative area for a group of people or a team. So, when you create a Microsoft 365 group, you get the following:

• A shared conversation space where team conversations are stored
• A shared calendar where team members can book their meetings
• File storage to save and share all team documents, spreadsheets, and so on
• A notebook to capture and share meeting agendas and notes
• A new workspace to share group reports

It also means that you do not have to create separate instances of these services for your team, nor do you have to go through the pain of granting each member access to these separate service instances.

Creating a Microsoft 365 group creates these service instances automatically and once you add members to the group, they are automatically added to each of these services.

Microsoft 365 groups can be created in several ways. You can create a groupdirectlyvia Outlook, as described inCreating a group recipein this chapter.

Microsoft 365 groups are created indirectly when you do the following:

1. Create a planner in Microsoft 365—for more info, go to https://m365book.page.link/groups-planner.
2. Create a group in Yammer—for more info, go tohttps://m365book.page.link/groups-yammer.
3. Create a group in Power BI—for more info, go to https://m365book.page.link/groups-powerbi.
4. Create a group in Microsoft Dynamics 365—for more info, go to https://m365book.page.link/groups-dynamics.
5. Create a team in Microsoft Teams—for more info, go tohttps://m365book.page.link/groups-teams.
6. Create a modern team site in SharePoint Online—for more info, go tohttps://m365book.page.link/groups-sharepoint.

In this chapter, you will learn about the following:

• Creating a group
• Deleting a group
• Joining a group
• Leaving a group
• Adding members to a group
• Removing members from a group
• Having conversations
• Booking meetings
• Sharing files
• Collaborating on a notebook

Creating a group

A group in Microsoft 365 refers to an entity in Azure Active Directory that grants shared resources to a set of people (known as members). Members get access to common resources, such as a group mailbox, a group calendar, shared file storage, permissions, and so on, as soon as they are added to the group. Groups make collaboration easy.

In the old days, you had to request the IT department to create a distribution list (which lets you email several people by using a single recipient address) or a security group (to manage permissions to resources). A Microsoft 365 group provides you with the benefits of both distribution lists and a security group. In fact, it provides you with more features than distribution lists and security groups combined. On top of that, end users can create and manage Microsoft 365 groups themselves without needing the IT department's support.

In this recipe, you will learn how to create a group.

Getting ready

The ability to create Microsoft 365 groups depends on the model adopted by the organization, as shown here:

A Microsoft 365 group can be created directly via the Outlook client, Outlook Web Access, or the Outlook mobile app. We will demonstrate the steps that you need to follow using Outlook Web Access. There are also indirect ways of provisioning Microsoft 365 groups, which we will learn about in the coming chapters.

How to do it...

Microsoft 365 groups appear at the lower left-hand corner of your Outlook profile. Here, it will list all the Microsoft 365 groups you are a member of. To create a new group, perform the following steps:

1. In the Groups section on the left,and click on New group as shown:

2. Provide a Group name and Description:

3. Microsoft 365 creates a group email address based on the group name. You can change the email address if you like.
4. Next, specify the Privacy option.

5. Once you have filled in all the sections, click Create.

6. Your group is now ready to be shared with members. You can add other colleagues or even other groups. You should be able to invite people from outside your organization (if your organization allows this). You can add up to 1,000 members in one group. The following screenshot shows you how to do this:

Now, your group is ready. The new group should start appearing under the Groups section. At this point, members will receive a welcome email with links to common group tasks.

How it works...

When a new group is created, the group gets an email address assigned to it. You can send a single email to the group email address and all the group members will receive it.

As mentioned previously, when a member is added to the group, they receive a welcome email. The welcome email looks as in the following screenshot:

The email basically contains four links, each taking you to a specific group feature. Let's see what these four features are.

Group Emails

The Microsoft 365 group reserves a conversation area for the group where all group conversations are saved. All emails sent to the group email address will appear in the Group mailbox. These conversations remain in the group, even if the participants leave the group at some stage. Having conversations in one place is useful because new group members get access to all past conversations.

Group team site

The Microsoft 365 group provisions a SharePoint site for the group, where all the group files can be saved. The members of the group are granted access to the site. SharePoint offers additional capabilities, such as news articles, content pages, and so on. The following screenshot shows the landing page of the SharePoint site that is provisioned for the group:

Sharing files

The SharePoint site that is provisioned with each Microsoft 365 group, comes with a default document library called Documents. The group files can be stored in this library, or in additional libraries. Lists can be provisioned by the group members. Staff outside the group will not have access to these files.

A group member can invite someone outside the group or even outside the organization (if adding users outside the organization is enabled).

Connecting your apps

The Microsoft 365 group lets you connect to a host of other apps from the Microsoft 365 store, as shown:

These apps can be used to facilitate tasks within the group. For instance, you could add the Twitter connector to receive tweets from an account or track certain hashtags.

See also

• The Creating a group using Teams recipe in Chapter 11, Microsoft Teams
• The Creating a Yammer grouprecipe inChapter 12, Yammer – The Enterprise Social Network
• The Creating a group usingPlanner recipe in Chapter 17, Planner

Deleting a group

Groups are created with a specific objective in mind. Once the objective is achieved, the group can be deleted to free up system resources. It is recommended that you move any documents that you might need in the future to another location before deleting the group.

In this recipe, we will learn how to delete a group.

Getting ready

Microsoft 365 users can only delete groups created by them. You can do this via the Outlook client, Outlook Web Access, or the Outlook mobile app.

How to do it...

On Outlook Web Access, you can see all the Microsoft 365 groups that you are part of in the lower left-hand side navigation section. Follow these steps to delete a Microsoft 365 group:

1. Select the group you want to delete and click on the Settings symbol next to the group members:

2. This should bring up the Group Settings pane. Click on Edit group, as shown:

3. Click on the Delete group link at the bottom of the pane.

After completing this step, you have now deleted a group.

How it works...

Deleting a group is a permanent action. It deletes all conversations, files, notebooks, and tasks. There is no concept of a group recycle bin, where you can go to restore the group. However, the administrator has the option of restoring the deleted group within 30 days.

If you want to restore a Microsoft 365 group that got deleted, follow the instructions provided in this article:

https://m365book.page.link/m365-restore

See also

• The Leaving a group recipe in this chapter

Joining a group

Before creating a new group, it is worth checking whether another group has already been created for the same purpose. If a group already exists and is public, you can join it straight away or ask the owner to add you if the group is private. This recipe will show you how to join a group.

Getting ready

You can join groups that are not created by you. On Outlook Web Access, if you right-click on Groups and click Discover, it lists all the groups in the organization. Some of these groups might be private, while others will be public.

How to do it...

To join a group, do the following:

1. Right-click on Groups and click Discover. This will bring up the Discover pane with a search box. Start typing the group name you would like to join, as shown here:

2. Click on Request to join or Join. If you are joining a private group, you will need to provide the reason for making the request, as shown here:

By clicking Send, your request to join the group will be logged and the group owner will take the appropriate action.

How it works...

If you wish to join a public group, you simply click Join and become a member of the group. You can then participate in group conversations and have access to group files.

In the case of a private group, the owner of the group receives an email informing them about your interest. They can then choose to grant you access or ignore your request. The email will look something like this:

If the owner approves your request, you will receive a group welcome email.

See also

• The Creating a group recipe in this chapter

Leaving a group

If you think you do not need to contribute any more to the group, or you find that the group is not relevant to your work, you can leave it by following the instructions in this recipe.

Getting ready

You can leave a group at any time. You do not need any special permission to leave the group.

How to do it...

On Outlook Web Access, you can see all the Microsoft 365 groups that you are part of in the lower left-hand side navigation section. To leave a group, do the following:

1. Select the group you want to leave and click on theSettings symbol next to the group members
2. Click onLeave group.

How it works...

When you click the Leave group option, all your permissions to the group resources are revoked. If you want to retain access to the group but just do not want to receive notifications about the group activities, you could update your email preferences in the group settings page, as shown in the following screenshot:

See also

• The Deleting a group recipe in this chapter

Adding members to a group

You can add members while creating a group or after the group is created. The members will gain access to all the group resources as soon as they are added. At times, you might need to invite members from outside your organization. Say you are organizing the staff Christmas party and you need to get input from a food vendor; you can invite them to the "Christmas Party" group so that they can participate in the conversations in the group. To add new members to the group, follow the instructions in this recipe.

Getting ready

If you are a group owner, you can add additional members to the group. You can also invite people from outside your organization (if your organization permits this).

How to do it...

You can add new members to the group while you are creating a new group. If the group has already been created, take the following steps:

1. Select the group and click on the number of members, as shown here:

2. The new screen lets you add new members by searching for them in the company directory, as in the following screenshot:

3. Clicking on Add members brings up a text box that lets you type in the email address of the team member.
4. When you start typing the email address, the text box displays suggestions from the company's active directory. To invite external users, type in their email addresses:

5. When you select a member from the list, they get added to the group.

How it works...

Adding members grants them access to all the group resources. Microsoft 365 manages the permissions automatically for you.

See also

• Creating a group recipe in this chapter
• Removing members from a group recipe in this chapter

Removing members from a group

As a group owner, if you think you do not need any input from any of your group members, you can remove them from the group. To remove one or more members from a group, perform the following steps.

Getting ready

If you are a group owner, you can add or remove members from the group. This will revoke their access from the group resources.

How to do it...

On Outlook Web Access, you can see all the Microsoft 365 groups that you are part of in the lower left-hand side navigation section. You can remove members from the group by following these steps:

1. Select the group and click on the number of members:

2. Remove the user from the group by clicking the X icon, as shown here:

How it works...

Removing a member (which includes external users) revokes their access from all the group resources. Microsoft 365 manages the permissions automatically.

See also

• The Adding members to a group recipe in this chapter

Having conversations

The conversation feature is powered by Exchange. All your group emails arrive in the group mailbox, which can be accessed by everyone in the group. The conversation area displays all the group emails in one place and lets you respond from within the group interface.

Getting ready

You will have access to the conversation space if you are a group member. Users who are not members of the group can, however, send an email to the group's email address.

How to do it...

On Outlook Web Access, you can see all the Microsoft 365 groups that you are part of in the lower left-hand side navigation section. To initiate a conversation, do the following:

1. Select the group, click Send email:

2. Type your message and press the Sendicon.

How it works...

The conversation space is like a group mailbox, where everybody in the group can view all the conversations. All recent conversations appear at the top.

Conversations in a public group can be read and responded to by anyone in the organization. In the case of private groups, only group members can participate in conversations.

Conversations can include attachments, emojis, and rich text content. They also support @mentions to notify specific people of a message.

By default, conversations appear in the group's conversation area, but you can choose to receive conversations in your personal inbox by following the group by clicking on the Follow icon in the group team site, as you can see in the following screenshot:

See also

• The Booking meetings recipe in this chapter
• The Sharing files recipe in this chapter
• The Collaborating on a notebook recipe in this chapter

Booking meetings

Sometimes, a situation requires all group members to come together to discuss their ideas. Meetings provide you with that platform. The meetings that you set appear in your calendar as a group meeting, alongside your personal meetings. The following are the instructions for how to book a group meeting.

Getting ready

You will have access to the group calendar if you are a group member. You can book group-specific meetings or group events using the group calendar.

How to do it...

On Outlook Web Access, you can see all the Microsoft 365 groups that you are part of in the lower left-hand side navigation section. To book a meeting, follow these steps:

1. Select the group and click on the Calendaricon:

2. The screen will look as shown in the following screenshot:

3. To book a new meeting, click on New event. Specify the event information, including the following:
   • A title for the event
   • The event location
   • Participants
   • The start time
   • The end time
   • Recurrence
   • The meeting agenda

You can see these fields in the following screenshot:

4. Once the fields have been filled in, click Send to send the invite.

How it works...

The meeting created in the group's calendar appears when you select the group from the navigation pane:

The meetings from all the selected groups are superimposed on top of each other but coded in different colors:

You can change the view to take a wider or closer look at your schedule:

See also

• The Having conversations recipe in this chapter
• The Sharing files recipe in this chapter
• The Collaborating on a notebook recipe in this chapter

Sharing files

Every group needs to collaborate by sharing digital assets. These can be images, documents, spreadsheets, or presentations. Uploading files to your group is always better than adding attachments in an email. In a group, you can share files and maintain versions of the files when they are edited. You can also restore files if they are deleted by a member.

Getting ready

Every Microsoft 365 group has a SharePoint site associated with it. All the group files are saved in the SharePoint database in one or more document libraries. Every group member has "contribute" access to the files.

How to do it...

On Outlook Web Access, you can see all the Microsoft 365 groups that you are part of in the lower left-hand side navigation section. To share files, do the following:

1. Select the group and click on the Files icon. This displays all the files stored in SharePoint's default Documentslibrary:

2. To add a new Office document (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint), click on New:

3. The new file will be created in the library.
4. You can also upload an existing document by clicking on the Upload option.
5. To download the file, click on it and then click on the Download option from the ribbon or the context menu:

How it works...

The Files management in Groups is limited when accessed from within the Microsoft 365 group. But the same files can also be accessed by going to the SharePoint site associated with the group. You can navigate to the SharePoint site by clicking on the Site menu option:

By navigating to SharePoint, you will not onlyhave access to the default documents library but you can also create additional libraries, not to mention the other benefits it brings along, including the following:

• Versioning
• Metadata
• The recycle bin, and so on

The following is a screenshot of a SharePoint landing page provisioned for the group:

See also

• The Viewing and editing documents in the browser recipe in Chapter 5, Document Management in SharePoint Online

• The Having conversations recipe in this chapter

• The Booking meetings recipe in this chapter

• The Collaborating on a notebook recipe in this chapter

Collaborating on a notebook

Microsoft 365 provides a note-taking application to capture notes during meetings. OneNote lets you capture ideas in any form, including typed text, a link, an image, an embedded video, or even handwritten text. To collaborate on a writeup, follow the instructions in the next section.

Getting ready

Microsoft OneNote is primarily a note-taking application. Its simple user interface allows it to be used as a canvas or a notebook. It supports both handwriting and typed text. In OneNote, users can create notes that include text, tables, pictures, and drawings. You can add links to your notes with a web page, a link to Office documents, and more. Your work is automatically saved as you go along.

OneNote offers a very good platform for channeling your creativity. As a member of the Microsoft 365 group, you get access to a team notebook, which lets you create and share team notes and capture team meeting minutes.

How to do it...

The notes in OneNote can be organized in pages and sections. You can think of sections as chapters in a book. Each section can contain several pages. You get a blank notebook, to begin with:

1. To create a section, click on + Section and give it a name.
2. To create a page, click on + Page and give it a name.
3. To draw a picture, go to the Draw tab and select Pen. Use your mouse or a pen (for touch screen devices) to draw.
4. Switch to the text mode by selecting Text and capture your notes.
5. Use formatting options, such as bullet points or to-do controls, accordingly:

How it works...

OneNote lets you share your notebook with others. Anyone who has access to the notebook can see all the sections and pages. The Microsoft 365 group creates a notebook that the entire team can access. You can use this to capture, compile, and share minutes, thoughts, and ideas with your teammates. You can switch between your notebooks by clicking on the three lines as shown in the following screenshot:

See also

• The Having conversations recipe in this chapter
• The Booking meetings recipe in this chapter
• The Sharing files recipe in this chapter