Working with Teams and Channels
Overview
The core premise of Microsoft Teams is that you can add people to a group, which is called a Team. Within a Team, you can have as many different Channels (organized folders of chats, files, etc) as you’d like.
When you send a chat or share a file in a team, everyone else in that Team will see it – and only people in that Team. If someone isn’t in a Team, they cannot see the chats or files shared in that team.
Teams
A Team is a group of people who have something in common and need a dedicated virtual space to chat, share files, and more.
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Click on the Add (+) button and select Join team.
- A window will appear where you can:
- Search for public teams at Tufts
- Join a team using a code that has been provided to you
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Click on the Add (+) button and select Create team.
- A window will appear where you can decide to if you want to:
- Create a new team from a template (Class, Professional Learning Group, Staff, Other). For more information, visit Microsoft’s support page about team types.
- Create a new team by copying one of your existing teams
- Create a new team from an existing group
- Complete the rest of the steps in the team setup wizard to give your team a name/description, add members, etc.
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Find the team that you would like to manage in the left-hand Teams menu. Click the More options button and select Add member.
- A window will appear where you can start adding members to your team. To add team members, start typing their name and suggestions will appear from the Tufts Directory. People from outside of Tufts can also be invited to join as guests. Multiple team members can be added this way. You can also decide if you want the new members to be team owners.
- When you are done listing team members, click Add.
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Find the team that you would like to manage in the left-hand Teams menu. Click the More options button and select Manage team.
- A Settings page will load. Click Edit in the Team details section.
- Select the desired privacy level (Private or Public).
- Click Done.
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Find the team that you would like to manage in the left-hand Teams menu. Click the More options button and select Manage team.
- A page will load with tabs where you can view and manage the team’s members, pending requests, channels, settings, and more.
You can click-and-drag your Teams so they are listed in whichever order is most useful for you!
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Find the team that you would like to leave in the left-hand Teams menu. Click the More options button and select Leave team.
Channels
Channels are sections within a Team, generally reserved for particular areas of conversation and collaboration by members of that Team.
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Find the team that you would like to manage in the left-hand Teams menu. Click the More options button and select Add channel.
- A window will load where you can set up the new channel.
- Channel name – Give the channel a short but descriptive name.
- Description (optional) – Describe the channel’s intended use.
- Privacy – Choose one of the following options:
- Standard – Everyone on the team will have access.
- Private – Accessible only to a specific group of people within the team. You will be asked later to add specific team members to the channel.
- Shared - Share this channel with your entire team, as well as another person or team.
- Automatically show this channel in everyone’s channel list – Check this box if you want the channel to automatically be visible in team members’ channel list. Otherwise, it will be hidden.
- Click Create. If a Private channel is being created, you will be asked to select team members to the channel.
- Click Teams in the left sidebar.
- Click the More options button and select Manage channel.
- A page will load where you can edit options for the channel.
Click on a channel's Options button and select Pin/Unpin. Pinned channels are moved to the Pinned section toward the top of the Teams panel, making them easier to access. Pinned channels can be reordered by clicking-and-dragging.
To keep unwanted channels out of sight, you can select Hide. Hidden channels are tucked away into their own tab within the team.
To see all of a team's channels, including hidden ones, select the See all channels option.
When you are viewing the complete list of team channels, click on a hidden channel to see it or click Show to unhide the channel.