Managing and Maintaining your Team

A team is a specific group of users with functionality for messaging and file sharing. All teams you own and are a part of are located in the Teams tab of Microsoft Teams, represented by the icon of three people.

If you own a team there are many features available to better help you manage it, some of which are highlighted below.

User Types

There are three categories of user for a team. Owners, Members, and Guests. The table below summarizes what each member type can do within the team.

Source: Team owner, member, and guest capabilities in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

Managing Permissions

The team owner is able to control a variety of permissions for the team. To access the permissions click on the three dots beside the team name, then Manage Team. Then click on the Settings tab and a list of permissions will appear. Simply check or uncheck the permissions you want. Additionally in these settings you can change the team picture, name, description and more.

Source: Manage team settings and permissions in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

Adding Members

Members of the team can request to add a member by clicking on the three dots beside the team name, Add member, then typing in the name of the person they would like to add and clicking Send Request.

For the team owner, to accept or deny requests to add members click the three dots beside the team name, Manage teams, Pending invites and then you can see all the requests and choose to accept or deny.

Source: Add members to a team in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

Adding Guests

Guests are users external to the University (without a uwaterloo.ca email). Guests can only be added by a team owner. To add a guest, click the three dots beside the team name, Add member, then type in the guest’s email address. You also need to input the guest’s name and then click Add. This will send an email to the guest inviting them to the team.

Source: Add guests to a team in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

Adding Owners

The owner of the team can convert members into owners. To do this click the three dots beside the team name, Manage team, and then go to Members and guests. Every user will have their role listed beside them. To make a member an owner click the dropdown of their role and change it to owner. You can also add an owner through the same process as adding a member and selecting the owner user type.

Source: Make someone a team owner in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

Analytics

All owners and members of a team can view the team’s analytics. Analytics allows you to see activity in the team for a selected date range, 7 days, 30 days, or 90 days. To get to the analytics click on the three dots beside the team name, Manage team and then click on the Analytics tab at the top. In Analytics, you can see the number of users in the team as well as look at engagement. In the engagement, you can see the number of posts, replies, mentions, and reactions for your selected date range.

Source: View analytics for your teams in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support

Additional Resources:

Manage team settings and permissions in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Support - Microsoft’s Help Pages for Teams

Teams Commands and Shortcuts - Health Computing Article on Commands and Shortcuts in Teams