File Collaboration

• Save files to OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint to quickly revert to a previous version of a file —enables you to use the collaboration features of Microsoft 365 and makes available version history for your files. If unintended changes are made to a document, you can revert to a previous version of the file quickly.
• Use @ mention to request feedback, content, or edits from another individual — When working on a file stored in OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint, @mention the person via a comment, so they receive a notification email that their attention is needed. This is preferable to emailing a copy of the file as it keeps all the work in the relevant document and prevents confusion.
• Use the request a sign-off or document approval feature — To quickly obtain a needed sign-off or approval of a document, use the request sign-off for files stored in OneDrive and SharePoint and the Approvals app for files stored in Teams.
• Use comments on specific parts of the file to make your feedback clear — Create a new comment or reply to other comments to post feedback.
• Edit shared documents in the Browser version — This allows you to see the changes made, work on the document with others simultaneously, and have real-time conversations right in the file.
• Use the Check Out/Check-In feature on files – This prevents others from co-authoring or making edits to a file shared in OneDrive, Teams, or SharePoint when you want to be the sole person making changes to the document.
• Turn on the AutoSave feature – to ensure you have up-to-the-second versions saved in case of power or system outage. To turn on, toggle the Autosave feature in the top left-hand side of the Office app (e.g., Word, Excel).

Communication Collaboration

• Set your status in Teams and consider using the Focus time feature — This allows others to know your availability status. If you need to talk to someone currently unavailable, set up a status change notification in Teams to be notified immediately when they are available again. Presence information is also shared in real-time between Outlook and Teams.
• Hold ongoing dialogs, especially between multiple individuals, in Teams chat or channel conversations —This avoids getting lost in an email chain, having some feedback overlooked, and ensures new people brought into the conversation can see historical details in the proper order.
• Show that you are planning to attend a meeting remotely — After accepting a meeting invitation in Outlook, open the meeting on your calendar, and use the Show As dropdown to indicate you are working elsewhere. This way, when people look at the scheduling assistant, they can see you plan on attending remotely.

Microsoft 365 Collaboration Tools – When to Use What?

OneDrive for Business

OneDrive For Business is primarily a place for your files and drafts (not yet ready for sharing); however, it does allow you to share documents with others and co-author them, making it a collaboration enabler. OneDrive is available from anywhere, backed up through versioning and a recycle bin, and allows sensitive data to be stored.   

• Pin the OneDrive icon to your taskbar — for easy accessibility.
• Only use OneDrive for personal, sensitive, and confidential files — store public files in Teams or SharePoint for public access.
• Use the quick share link — right-click on the file in File Explorer and click Share a OneDrive link.  OneDrive generates a short link you can send to one person or a group.
• Save files on OneDrive instead of your PC — allows access to your files from any device and frees up space on your device.  
• Keep files and folder names short and direct — easy to find and keep organized.
• Change your application autosave to OneDrive — Change the Autosave setting in the top left-hand side of the Office app (e.g., Word, Excel) and choose OneDrive as the autosave location.
• Avoid Outlook clutter by saving messages/attachments in OneDrive.
• Use Version history — to stay up to date with the latest changes to the document or restore a previous version.
• Use the OneDrive mobile app — for on-the-go access to your files on any device.
• Use the Delve App — Microsoft Delve works with the search index in OneDrive to show all of the files you have access to and displays how many times you have viewed the document.

Teams

• Use Teams for program, project, and department-level collaboration as well as general and external collaboration.
• Personalize Your User Experience — change personal settings and notifications
• Use background effects— to hide your background if you are working in a distracting or sensitive environment.
• Use the @everyone tag—in chat and channel posts to communicate with all Team members.
• Standardize tab names – The more standardized your system is, the more intuitive it will be. If you have a regular breakdown of tabs employees will always know where to look, even if there's an entirely new team and channel.
• Add important subjects as tabs – within the channel. Before creating a new tab, think about whether the tab should be a different channel altogether. It depends on how the information relates to the parent channel.
• Do not use too many tabs. If you add too many tabs on a channel, everyone will quickly lose track of information. Ideally, use as few tabs as possible. But do not avoid tabs altogether because the tabs are essential to segregate information as needed.
• Pin your most important channels — If you have many channels, pin the most important ones to make them easy to find. To pin a channel, choose one to pin, right-click, and select More channels > Pin.
• Set up Auto Favorite to make sure the channel shows up in everyone’s channel list — Go to the team’s name and select More options *** > Manage team. In the Channels tab, select Auto-favorite.
• Do not upload files directly to chat — Doing this will cause files to appear at the bottom of the General tab instead of in their proper folder in the Files tab.
• Regularly archive old information — Archive or remove old files to keep the most up-to-date files on hand and as projects are completed.

SharePoint Online

SharePoint is recommended for intranet communications, and document management, where data needs to be published and available to a broad range of people, or where historical sites need to be migrated from other systems.

• Check documents “in” and “out” — manage the versions of the document to ensure you are using the most up-to-date version by using the “checked in” and “checked out” options. Checking a document out blocks others from accessing it, so make sure you check the document back in when you are done.
• Synchronize your files — synchronize files across devices.
• Don’t create too many subsites — it will be hard to manage changes, permissions, etc.
• Set user permissions — SharePoint site administrators can set user permissions (i.e., read, write, modify, access).
• Use Search — SharePoint allows users to search across sites and configure the results to display the information they wish to see—all, by format, by date—and enables the user to define how the results to be displayed in different ways—grid, detailed, filtered, etc.
• Work with documents within the library — don’t download and upload a document as you lose the benefit of versioning, co-editing, and real-time collaboration.
• Have a naming convention for your files — to easily search for files and versioning
• Use the “tag” feature — “tag” documents utilizing a taxonomy to make it easier to search and retrieve documents.
• Use the Delve App — Microsoft Delve works with the search index in SharePoint to show all of the files you have access to and displays how many times you have viewed the document.