By Ben Neo.
As more and more organisations shift to remote work, the need for an effective collaboration tool has become more important than ever. One such tool that has seen a surge in popularity is Microsoft Teams, a platform that allows teams to communicate, collaborate, and share files in one central location.
However, as with any collaboration tool, it is crucial to have a governance strategy in place to ensure that teams are working effectively and securely. So, we need to start to think about how we can place controls on our team’s environment before it becomes too late. To do this we should be putting governance as a priority where Governance of Microsoft Teams shouldn’t be the last thing, we think about but one of the first things when implementing Microsoft Teams.
What does governance actually mean?
Microsoft Teams Governance refers to the policies, procedures, and practices that an organization implements to manage and secure its use of the Microsoft Teams collaboration platform. This can include guidelines for creating and managing teams and channels, controlling access to sensitive information, and ensuring compliance with security and regulatory standards. Some key components of Microsoft Teams Governance include:
- Team and channel creation and management: Guidelines for creating and managing teams and channels, including naming conventions, ownership, and archiving policies. By having these guidelines in place, organizations can ensure that teams are created and managed in a consistent and organized manner. Allowing a more effective use of Microsoft Teams reducing the time spent looking for teams and managing Microsoft Teams.
- Security and compliance: Measures to protect sensitive information, such as data encryption, access controls, and monitoring for suspicious activity. As teams share sensitive information through the platform, it is crucial to have measures in place to protect this information. By implementing these measures, organizations can ensure that sensitive information is kept secure and in compliance with regulatory standards.
- User training and resources: Providing training and resources to help users understand and adhere to governance rules. This can include training on the platform’s features and functionality, as well as guidelines for communication and collaboration within teams and channels. By providing users with the tools and resources they need to work effectively, organizations can help teams to be more productive and efficient.
- Regular review and audit: Periodically reviewing and auditing teams and channels to ensure compliance with governance rules, as well as identifying any potential vulnerabilities. This can be done via the Teams owner or through multiple Microsoft policies. By regularly reviewing and auditing teams and channels, organizations can ensure that they are staying up to date with the latest best practices and security guidelines.
- Communication and collaboration guidelines: Establishing guidelines for communication and collaboration within teams and channels.
- Integration with other tools and platforms: ensuring that Microsoft Teams integrates with other tools and platforms within the organization and ensuring data flow is secured and compliant.
Power of the Beast
In conclusion, Microsoft Teams is an incredibly powerful tool that can help teams to communicate, collaborate, and share files more effectively. However, it is important to have a governance strategy in place to ensure that teams are working effectively and securely. By implementing a governance strategy that includes guidelines for team and channel creation and management, security and compliance measures, user training and resources, and regular review and audit, organizations can help teams to be more productive and efficient, while keeping sensitive information secure.
Ben is presenting Taming the Teams beast at the Digital Workplace Conference.
