Facilitating User Adoption With an Effective Microsoft Teams Governance Approach

When you are thinking of a digital workplace, Microsoft Teams will probably come to mind as the ideal candidate. It serves as a central hub where communication and collaboration are cornerstones of effective teamwork.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the use and adoption of Microsoft Teams has exploded in the past year, as the global pandemic had a huge and lasting impact on our traditional way of working.

But with and increased adoption, there are also increased concerns:

• Teams Explosion
  By opening up Microsoft Teams to the organization, IT departments and business stakeholders are concerned that the number of teams will grow beyond control.
• Teams Duplication
  With an ever-expanding collection of teams, the risk of ending up with multiple teams that are created for the same purpose will increase and people will get lost in confusion.
• Unclear Purpose
  Explosion and duplication of teams will be amplified by not having a clear and consistent naming, resulting in people not understanding the purpose of them.
• Complexity
  When a team is provisioned, a lot of things will happen in the back and you will end up with more than you bargained for. A Microsoft 365 Group is created, a SharePoint Online site collection will be provisioned, an Exchange Online shared mailbox will be created, and you will get a OneNote notebook. Managing teams quickly gets complicated, as you need to manage settings on different levels.

Not addressing these concerns will cause frustration, as people don’t find information and don’t understand how it works. It will eventually lead to a failed user adoption where people will stop using Teams and will look for better ways of collaborating.

It will also increase investments in IT maintenance, because managing Microsoft Teams will be difficult, and they are required to put more effort in supporting and helping people.

With an adequate and effective governance in place, these concerns can be addressed and even avoided, as you will be equipped with knowledge, tools and procedures to address them before they even occur. Drafting a Microsoft Teams governance blueprint where all decisions are documented, is a necessity for a successful adoption. Using this blueprint, you can implement your governance strategy in separate modules that allow you to keep an overview of your Teams implementation. But what's most important is the understanding that a governance strategy is a living thing. By organizing periodic governance board meetings to review your strategy, to discuss changes in Microsoft Teams, and to adapt your strategy when needed, you are effectively managing your Teams investments and ensuring a successful user adoption.

Our CTG team of specialists can assist you to successfully adopt Microsoft Teams in your organization, no matter what the current stage of adoption is that you are in. We will provide more insights in possible automation and a workable governance approach for your organization.

We are also qualified to assist you in automating all processes related to MS Teams governance. Depending on your specific situation, we can discuss a customized approach. Our team has experience with Nintex, Microsoft Power Automate, and other 3rd party vendors for this purpose.

Don’t wait until the chaos hits you! Get in touch with us. After a non-binding conversation we can provide advice and technical expertise to provide a successful, chaos-free implementation.

Want to know more? Contact us: [email protected]