Stepwise Instructions On How to Create a Microsoft 365 Group
Microsoft 365 Groups allow people to collaborate and work more engagingly. Therefore, an organization whose employees have the answer on how to create a Microsoft 365 Group has an edge over its competitors. However, Office 365 group creation is a complex subject that involves quite a few variables such as permissions, policies, services, etc.
With this in mind, the objective of our article is simple, to present the most straightforward approach for forming an O365 group. Moreover, we also discuss multiple ways by which admins and users can make and operate groups on any Microsoft 365 service of their choice.
However, before we begin the setup, let’s understand what is a M365 Group, and its underlying architecture.
Microsoft 365 Group Architecture Visualized
The first step towards learning anything new is to know about its internal structure. Additionally, this is especially true if users want a sure-shot way of how to set up a Microsoft 365 Group. Given below is a crash course in Microsoft 365 Group.
In essence, M365 Group is a service that brings the different Microsoft apps together on a single platform.
It includes the following components:
- Exchange Online (mailbox, calendar)
- SharePoint Online (document library)
- Microsoft Teams (chat, meetings)
- Planner (task management)
- Yammer (social networking)
- Power BI (data visualization)
Any user who has the “Global Administrator”, “User Administrator”, or “Group Administrator” role can answer how to create a Microsoft 365 group. Moreover, this process can be automated by assigning policies through Azure Active Directory.
A user can belong to one of three categories:
- Owners – They can not only add and remove members at will but also possess exclusive authority such as the power to remove entire conversations. Moreover, owners can also rename the group, modify the description, and change its profile picture too. Apart from the other having the default admin privileges.
- Members – Members consist of the majority of the users in any group. They have free access to everything in the group, except the group settings. However, group members can extend invitations to outside individuals to join your group.
- Guests – They are temporary members of a group with view-only permissions by default. Guests are outsiders who can be asked to take part in a joint endeavor via invitations.
Admins then provide access to resources based on the category a user belongs in.
Read More: How to Migrate Computers from One Domain to Another With PowerShell Commands
Equipped with the basic knowledge of Microsoft 365 Groups, users are ready to learn about group types currently available in Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Find Out How to Set up a Microsoft 365 Group of Your Choice
The group types in Microsoft 365 are given below:
- Microsoft 365 Groups include SharePoint and Planner as collaboration tools. Moreover, it is used by MS Teams as well.
- Distribution groups come in handy when users want to send email notifications in bulk outside the organization.
- Dynamic distribution groups are utilized for simultaneous intra-organization email exchange.
- Security groups are the gatekeepers for accessing resources like Teams or Sharepoint.
- Mail-enabled security groups as the name suggests are responsible for managing security for emailing notifications.
- Shared mailboxes are not exactly a Microsoft 365 group but it works on the same basic principle. It is created when more than one person requires access to the same mailbox.
The Steps For How to Create a Microsoft 365 Group Are
Step-1. Visit Admin-Center and then click on Groups.
Step-2. Hit “Add a group”, then the “Choose a group type” page opens, pick Microsoft 365, and click Next.
Step-3. In the Basics section, type the group name, and if you wish, provide a description as well. Proceed, by clicking Next.
Step-4. Then, visit the Owners page, and choose the group manager(s)(maximum limit is up to 100). Hit Next.
Step-5. Navigate to the Members page, and appoint all the people who need to be members of the group (Microsoft recommends not more than 1000 to avoid issues). Press Next.
Step-6. Enter the Settings page, input a distinct email address for the group which was not previously used, configure the privacy settings, then press Next.
Step-7. Take a look at all the settings, and make any changes. Then press Create Group. Finally, press Close.
After knowing how to create a Microsoft 365 Group a question often arises “Are there cases where I need to Migrate Microsoft 365 Groups”. The answer is of course there are. The next section covers them in brief.
Real-Life Scenarios that Demand a Group Migration in Microsoft 365
Here are some day-to-day business situations requiring a group transfer:
- Company Merger: A merger or acquisition is a complex scenario involving multiple layers. One of the most important is data migration which in many cases also contains groups as well.
- Security Enhancement: Once a company has an answer for how to create a Microsoft 365 Group they oftentimes need a group migration to take their security up a notch.
- Cloud Adoption: More and more organizations look forward to joining the cloud-based infrastructure. A key step in that transition is moving the on-premise group setup to the cloud.
These are just a few of the reasons. However, there is a vast array of such causes that can be user-specific. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a solution.
Professional Method for Moving or Merging Office 365 Groups
To get the complete value of the Group feature users must have the ability to migrate them at will. However, the problem is that the manual methods to do so are quite complicated. Moreover, the chances of data loss and long delays make the methods all the more undesirable.
However, don’t worry as we have the finest tool in the market to resolve this issue. It is none other than SysTools Office 365 to Office 365 Migrator. Opt for the trial version and experience never seen before the simplicity of group-to-group transfer. Even experts recommend this utility as migration is the next step after users figure out how to create a Microsoft 365 Group.
Just follow these simple steps to move your groups wherever you want.
Step-1. Install and open the tool, then select Office 365 as both source and destination.
Step-2. Scroll to the Workload Section, mark the items for transfer, and add a Date Filter.
Step-3. Authenticate both source and destination via Admin Email and App ID.
Step-4. Map users and groups from source to target. Pick any one out of (Fetch, Import, Download).
Step-5. Get a Preview of all users, Select the ones that are required, Validate, and Create a New Group at Destination.
Step-6. Finally, hit Start Migration. A popup appears click Start and let the tool do the rest.
With this advanced utility, users get a friendly UI designed for all types of users whether technical or non-technical. Additionally, the tool has the features to do incremental migration, set up precise date filters, make personalized workload selections, and much more all in a single unified package.
Additional Information: Learn How to Migrate Shared Mailbox to Office 365? Elucidated Step-by-Step Guide
Wrap-Up
This guide taught users how to create a Microsoft 365 Group along with the importance of setting it up. Moreover, users now know the different group types and the rules to set up each one of them. However many occasions arise where companies look to shift or join their O365 groups. For that, the above-mentioned utility is all that’s required.