Q&A: Supercharging Microsoft Teams with NEW SharePoint Features

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I recently conducted a webinar with AvePoint’s Dux Raymond Sy on “Supercharging Microsoft Teams with NEW SharePoint Features” where we covered a lot of information on the new features of SharePoint 2019 Server and Microsoft Teams. Since we didn’t have time to answer most of the questions by the end of the session, we decided to compile some of our favorites in this post. Let’s get into some questions and answers!

With organization-wide Microsoft Teams, does this replace Yammer?

Not at all–Yammer is here to stay. The best way to think about it is that Yammer is best for company-wide communication and networking. Nowadays, with more geo-dispersed employees, it’s become slightly more difficult to connect and share information. Yammer is great at that. Microsoft Teams is more so for focused groups that are dedicated to an objective or task. Microsoft Teams spins up all of the necessary resources to collaborate and get things done.

Can Microsoft Teams (with Planner integrated) link to the Microsoft SharePoint task list (which links to Microsoft Project)?

At this time, there is no integration between Planner and Project. However, you can add a Planner view to a SharePoint site with the Planner web part.

Is the Oslo template in SharePoint Online also available in the Microsoft Teams interface?

Microsoft Teams currently uses an interface that best displays its capabilities and functions. While the Oslo template is great for a pure SharePoint site, it doesn’t quite capture all of the assets that Teams ties together.

Can we integrate notifications from Microsoft Teams to SharePoint sites so users can see all notifications across platforms?

The goal of Microsoft Teams is to be the hub by which you get things done. When you create a team, you will also have a SharePoint site that you will be able to launch based on which team you are working on. Due to this, the suggestion of seeing all Microsoft Teams alerts from SharePoint isn’t currently possible. However, if you start with Microsoft Teams, you will see a seamless experience when navigating between workspaces.

Is there plan to support private channels in Teams?

Microsoft is currently considering this feature. They are currently collecting feedback from the community so they can make sure they properly address the requirement. You can view more information about this here. No matter the future state, do always consider how you structure your Microsoft Teams teams so that you optimize for the right access by the right people without hindering them across varying permissions.

Currently, only SharePoint pages can be added as tabs. Can you reference other non-SharePoint pages? And if you remove the tab, what happens to the comments for that tab?

Depending on whether you are on the Commercial or Government environment, your Microsoft Teams experience may differ. The nature of Teams is that you are able to add a multitude of tabs that differ in nature and that can assist your team in accomplishing your tasks. The comments of the tabs will be displayed in the “Conversations” for the respective channel.

Deleting the tab will not delete the comments, it will only delete the link to the tab. You can add SharePoint pages, news article, lists and libraries using the SharePoint tab connectors. And if you use the website tab connector, you can associate most any URL as a tab in Microsoft Teams barring permissions to that asset.

Can you connect to a SharePoint site other than the site connected to the Team? For example, can you show news from one SharePoint site in multiple Teams?

You definitely can. Instead of selecting “SharePoint” when adding a new tab, select “Website.” You can then reference the URL from another SharePoint page. We suggest using the URL that points to the “See all” off of any given News webpart (barring in mind permissions to that page and the people who can access that tab from that Team).

How do you automate and enable the news feature in Microsoft Teams from a news article in SharePoint for all teams?

You use the SharePoint News connector, available from any channel. Click the ellipses and choose “Connectors” and then search for the SharePoint News configuration. Click here for more.

In terms of Azure Information Protection, can you access the labels in Teams / Word Online, etc.?

Labels can be applied to the libraries within the Teams. This can be accessed within the “Library Settings” menu that you can get to by launching SharePoint.

How do document library permissions interact with channels in teams?

Anyone who is a member of a Team will have access to the contents within the overarching document library. The idea of the folders is to logically separate the content within the channels.

If one has an existing SharePoint On-Prem site, what is the recommended practice for bringing Microsoft Teams into the loop?

You can add a tab in Microsoft Teams that simply links to and displays the SharePoint On-Premises site. And for true integration for groups that wish to collaborate in the new modern workplace, you can consider moving content into a group-connected site in SharePoint Online and then adding a Microsoft Teams team instance to it.

When will the SharePoint views be available in the Microsoft Teams client?

This is coming soon with the new Files experience coming to Microsoft Teams before the end of calendar year 2018.

Do you know if there will be a way coming up to edit metadata in the Microsoft Teams Document editing experience (i.e. in Word Online within Microsoft Teams from a new template)?

This would come first in the new Files experience coming to Microsoft Teams before the end of calendar year 2018. We don’t have anything to share about metadata management with Office Online (that which is used to view and edit documents with Microsoft Teams).

Blog: The Definitive Guide: How to Become a Microsoft Teams Super User!

There was a folder that was created as a system folder for Microsoft Teams. Are there any plans to make that folder stand out as a system folder so that users don’t try to change it?

People would not be able to delete or rename this folder, or any that a channel automatically creates – unless you delete the channel from within Teams.

When migrating from SharePoint On-Prem to SharePoint Online does the On-Prem content move to the cloud or is it just copied when using Microsoft’s migration tool v2?

Content will be copied, and not moved or deleted from the source. This ensures proper testing and validation prior to sunsetting the on-premise environment. More here about the SharePoint Migration tool.

Have any additional questions you’d like answered that weren’t asked in the webinar? Please feel free to leave them in the comments below!

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