What is an org-wide team in Teams and why should I have one?

You can create an organization-wide team if you’re a global admin of a small-to-medium-sized organization. There are several benefits to using an org-wide team, which we will explore in detail within this article. But first, let’s talk briefly about what an org-wide team is.

An Org-wide team pulls everyone into a single hub, allowing groups to communicate and collaborate efficiently within the working environment. This feature is available to organizations with less than 10,000 users and allows a maximum of 5 org-wide teams per tenant.

Please continue reading our guide on everything you need to know about organization-wide teams and why you need one.

What is an Org-wide team?

An organization-wide team works by connecting people within an organization to improve communication and collaboration between distinct groups and teams. Users are also given access to Active Directory, which stores objects such as users, groups, and applications. Having access to Active Directory allows everyone in the organization to view personnel changes.

what is an Org-wide team in Microsoft Teams?

Who can create an Org-wide team?

Only global admins can create organization-wide teams, and the option to make them is only available to organizations under 10,000 users. Also, tenants can only create up to five org-wide teams.

What is a Tenant? Microsoft uses the term tenant to mean an organization. The tenant’s name will end with onmicrosoft.com (and sharepoint.com), and a user’s email address may look like [email protected].

When you create an org-wide team, all global admins and Teams service admins across the organization will be set as team owners. Meanwhile, other active users will become team members.

Who is excluded from org-wide teams?
Accounts on a shared mailbox
Blocked accounts
Guests
Resource accounts
Room and equipment accounts
Teams for Education

When an organization with 5,000 or fewer users signs up to Teams for the first time, the application automatically sets the team as organization-wide. Everyone in your organization will be added to the team, and global admins will be selected as team owners.

Note: team members must be removed manually by team owners.

How to create an Org-wide team

Global admins can create an org-wide team via the web or app version of Teams. Please start this guide by logging into Teams or opening your Teams app.

  • Click on teams icon Teams on the left menu. (1)
  • Then click on new team icon Join or create a team at the bottom. (2)
teams > join or create a team.
Note: if you can’t see the Teams panel, hover over the teams icon Teams icon or maximize the app/browser.
  • There are two options on the Join or create a team page.
  • You can Create a team or Join a team with a code.
  • Hover over the Create a team box and click the Create team button.
Create team.
  • A window will appear titled Create a team.
  • Click on From Scratch to create an org-wide team.
From scratch.
  • On the next page, select Org-wide.
Org-wide.
  • Your org-wide team will be named automatically based on your organization’s name.
  • Change the team name if required and add a description.
  • Then click the Create button.
Change name and click create.
  • Your new team will be created with a channel titled General.
  • You can edit the team’s name by clicking the three dots.
Click the three dots.
  • Next, click on Edit team in the popup menu.
Edit team.
  • Then enter a new team name and click the Done button.
Change the name then click done.

You can also use the Edit team option to turn an existing team into an org-wide team. To do that, select the type of team you’d like under the Privacy header.

Change the team under the Privacy header.

Add and remove owners from an Org-wide team

By default, all global admins will be set as team owners, and all active users in your organization will be selected as team members. To manually add or remove owners, click on the three dots next to your team name and click on Manage team.

Click the three dots and select Manage team.
  • Go down to Members and guests to turn a Member into an Owner.
Click on Member or Owner to change the Role.

Turn off @team and @member for organization with lots of members

Team chats can sometimes get filled with @mentions, especially if your organization has a lot of members. You can turn them off by following the simple steps below:

  • Click on the three dots and select Manage team from the popup menu.
Click the three dots and select Manage team.
  • Click on Settings at the top. (1)
  • Go down and click on @mentions. (2)
  • Then uncheck the boxes next to @team and @channel. (3)
Go to settings > @mentions > uncheck the boxes.

Managing channels with large org-wide teams

Organizing your channels will be necessary with large org-wide teams. We advise a topical approach where channels are used for specific projects or subjects in those cases. Important channels should also be pinned or set to display automatically.

  • Click the three dots and select Add channel from the popup menu.
Click the three dots and select Add channel.
  • Enter a channel name. (1)
  • Add an optional description. (2)
  • Check the box next to Automatically show if you want everyone to see the channel. (3)
  • Then click the Add button. (4)
Enter a channel name, add a description, check the box, and click the Add button.

Pin a channel

Pinning is an effective way of increasing the visibility of important channels. Please follow the steps below to pin a teams channel:

  • Hover over the channel you want to pin and click the three dots.
Click the three dots.
  • Then select Pin from the popup menu.
Select Pin.

Pinned channels will appear at the top of the channel list. To unpin a channel, right-click the channel and select Unpin from the popup menu.

Read More: How to pin a message or channel for everyone in Teams.

Conclusion

An org-wide team is essential for cross-departmental communication and collaboration. It’s a central hub where everyone in the company can share files and communicate. But messages can sometimes clutter the workspace when many people are messaging in a single space. To avoid congesting your workspace, you can use channels like the categories of an online forum.

By creating channels for specific content, you are keeping the conversation clear and on-topic. And for the vital channels, the best practice is to ensure that automatically show is checked when creating them.

Thanks for reading.

John Gleave

John Gleave has been a researcher, content writer, and senior editor at Business Tech Planet since 2022. John was formerly a data analyst and web designer with expertise in several programming languages, such as JavaScript, JQuery, PHP, CSS, SQL, and more! With a passion for writing and technology, he has now focused his skills on crafting tech guides for BTP. You can connect with John on LinkedIn.

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