The Why, What and How of Microsoft Teams Governance Strategy

There is a perception that users will “get” Microsoft Teams, and there is no need for the governance controls associated with products like SharePoint.

At ProvisionPoint, we have seen various examples where there has been little or no consideration to governance as part of a deployment of Microsoft Teams. We find that organisations do not understand: 

• Why they need a governance strategy for Microsoft Teams? 
• What are the areas they need to consider as part of a Microsoft Teams governance strategy? 
• How can they implement their governance strategy for Microsoft Teams? 

 We will consider each of these questions individually as part of a three-part blog post series on Microsoft Teams governance. 

Why do you need a Governance Strategy for Microsoft Teams? 

The first thing most people associate with the word governance is control, or possibly restriction. Organisations, often under pressure from IT, are concerned users will set something up incorrectly or give the wrong users access to confidential information.

These concerns are amplified when considering Microsoft Teams because the default position is that all users can create new Teams and manage who has access.

The result, unfortunately, is that the creation process of Teams is frequently locked down to submitting an IT service desk request. This draconian approach to governance of Teams will stifle adoption and increase the risk of Shadow IT. 

Governance in the context of Microsoft Teams is therefore still about IT and business controls, but it is also about empowerment of the users to get the maximum value from Teams. While there are numerous examples of users organically adopting Teams, there is an equal number of cases of them being unclear how to use Teams. This confusion resulting from a lack of a governance strategy leads to inconsistency and sprawl in Teams, which will ultimately harm adoption. 

Every governance strategy for Teams will be unique, but there are common reasons why an organisation need to have one: 

• To encourage collaboration in a platform which the organisation can manage 
• To make it easier for users to find the correct information  
• To ensure that content is appropriately secured  
• To manage information overload by effectively managing the risk of sprawl 
• To reassure IT while still empowering users 

Hopefully, the first part of this series of blogs has made you think differently about Teams and the word governance. Don’t listen to the hype and assume that Teams does not require any governance.

Equally don’t just panic and lock-down Teams, stopping any chance of engaging your user community. Instead, think about the challenges unique to your organisation and why you need to develop a governance strategy for Microsoft Teams. 

Photo by Alvaro Reyes on Unsplash