SharePoint/Teams site management guidelines

Minimum two owners per SharePoint/Teams site

To ensure continuity, security, and proper governance across Microsoft 365 collaboration spaces, all SharePoint sites and Microsoft Teams must maintain a minimum of two active owners at all times. 

1. Each SharePoint site and Teams team must assign two or more owners responsible for site/team management. 

2. Owners must be active members of the department or project the site supports. 

3. If an owner leaves the team or organization, a replacement should be assigned as soon as possible. 

Rationale 

• Helps ensures access continuity if an owner is unavailable (vacation, sick leave, role change, departure). 

• Prevents orphaned sites and Teams that no one can manage. 

• Distributes workload and reduces bottlenecks. 

• Supports proper permission management and governance. 

• Helps ensures someone is always available to assist users and maintain structure. 

Responsibilities of site owners 

• Manage permissions and membership (add/remove users). See adding additional site owners below.

• Oversee site structure, content organization, and settings. 

• Maintain compliance with organization data governance policies. 

• Coordinate retention or archiving when a project or team ends. 

Notification to meet site management requirements

An email message will be sent to current site owners/site admins/manager of previous site owner (if that information is available) if a site does not currently meet the new site management guidelines. An example of this email is below:

Open

 Adding additional site owners to a site

SharePoint/Microsoft 365:

• Method 1: Click the gear icon > Site permissions > Advanced permissions settings > Site Owners > New > Add user.

• Method 2: Go to Site Members, add a user, and set their role to Owner.

• Method 3: Use the SharePoint Admin Center under "Active sites" to update group membership.

Site Permissions (Modern/Team Sites) 

1. Navigate to the Site: Go to the SharePoint site homepage.

2. Access Permissions: Click the Settings (gear icon) in the top right, then select Site permissions.

3. Add Owner: Click on Add members (or "Share site") and enter the name/email of the user.

4. Assign Role: Click the dropdown next to the member/visitor role and change it to Owner (or Full Control).

5. Save: Click Save or Add. 

Via Advanced Permissions (Classic/Detailed View) 

1. Open Advanced Settings: Click Settings (gear icon) > Site permissions > Advanced permission settings.

2. Locate Owners Group: Click on the group labeled [Site Name] Owners.

3. Add Users: Click New > Add Users.

4. Invite: Type the user's name or email and click Share. 

 Via Microsoft 365 Group (Team Sites)

1. Open Members Panel: On the top right of the site, click the Members link (which shows the number of members).

2. Add Member: Click Add members.

3. Set as Owner: After selecting the user, click the arrow next to their name and change their status to Owner.

Alternatively, you can contact your IST Account Rep for assistance.