2. Creating and Managing Teams

Currently for Staff only

For Instructors: MS Teams is not supported for teaching and learning at RRU. You can contact your CTET liaison to explore existing tools that can support online learning in groups.

For students: MS Teams is not supported for teaching and learning at RRU. Please contact your instructor to explore existing tools that can support online learning in groups.

Video Tutorial

A general video covering the information on this page can be found here.
A LinkedIn Learing course can be found here
Additional detailed info on Teams can be found here

Please note that some of the information is not relevant for our setup of teams.

Creating a team in Teams

If you would like a team to be created in Teams, please contact Computer Services through the Online Request Form. The request will be assigned to the appropriate team for action.

Joining a Team

If you were already added to a team, you can see a list of your teams by selecting the teams icon on the left hand column.

If you have no teams listed then you can join a team

Started by clicking on the Join or create team link in the top right
Choose Join a Team
Enter the code provided by the team owner

Add a Member to Teams and assign them roles

Once your team has been setup the way you want it, you can add members to the team.

Select your Team
Press the three dots next to your team name and choose Add Member
You can now search by name, username, or email address. As long as they have a valid RRU account, you should be able to find them. Please be aware that some people might have a Student and Staff account. Please be careful to select the appropriate account. You cannot add shared accounts like "Admissions" or "Computer Services" or distribution lists (despite it saying you can)
Once you find the name, select it if you want to change the role. By Default the role will be member. "Owner" gives them the ability to add names themselves

Multiple Owners

Computer Services does not have any special admin powers to manage the teams and channels created by each department. We recommend that multiple owners be added for each team so that there is redundancy due to sickness or if staff leave.

Please note however, with multiple owners it means multiple people could add or remove names. If you see a strange name show up as a member, IT has no easy way to check to see who or when someone was added to this team. I suggest checking with the other Owners and hopefully someone will recognize the names and admit to purposefully or accidentally adding the names.

Now you can search for more names or press the Send Request button
An email will be sent to the person. When they click on the invitation, Teams will launch. They will need to log in, but then the team will appear in the Teams list

Should I make a channel, private channel or request a team?

Criteria for decision making:

Is there already a team that has these people as team members?	Does this work need to be kept private from others?	Are there multiple distinct topics to discuss?	Recommendation
Yes	Yes	Yes	Create a private channel in the existing team or consider creating dedicated private channels for each topic.
Yes	Yes	No	Create a private channel in the existing team.
Yes	No	No	Create a channel in the existing team.
No	No	No	Consider creating a new team.
No	No	Yes	Consider creating a new team and then, depending on the confidentiality of each topic, consider creating separate standard or private channels for each topic.
No	Yes	No	Create a new team and consider creating a private channel.

Create a channel

Teams can have multiple channels, which are the conversations or rooms you have with your teammates. Each channel should be dedicated to a specific topic, department, or project.

So start, Right click on your Team and select Add a Channel
Provide a Name and a Description (optional)
You can also make this room Standard (accessible by all) or Private (You decide who has access)
When you are satisfied with the settings, click Add

Additional information can be found here

Additional Options

Customize channel notifications

By default the channel notifications might be "off". It is recommended that you change these notfications if you want to stay on top of the conversations.

Select the 3 dots → Channel notifications
Choose the settings you want for All new post, replies and channel mentions.
(Banner and feed means you will get a small notification banner pop up on your computer)
Click Save to save the changes

Hide or show a channel

A great way to clean up your list and focus on the teams and channels you're active in is to hide the ones you are not interested in.

From within the channel click on the 3 dots and select Hide
If you want to unhide the channel, select hidden channels → Show.

How to Pin Channels

Global pinning is not currently functional, so users will have to pin their own channels.

Click on the 3 dots → Pin (to the right of the channel that you want to pin)
The pinned channel will now appear at the top of the left panel

Must be in List View

You have to be in list view to pin. Grid view doesn't allow you to pin.

To change the view click on your name icon in the top right and select Settings
Select General on the left
Choose List under Layout
Close the

Contact Computer Services for assistance

As always, should you need further assistance, please contact Computer Services by phone, email or Online Request Form.