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.
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 user@tenant.onmicrosoft.com. |
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 on the left menu. (1) - Then click on
Join or create a team at the bottom. (2)
| Note: if you can’t see the Teams panel, hover over the 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.
- A window will appear titled Create a team.
- Click on From Scratch to create an org-wide team.
- On the next page, select 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.
- Your new team will be created with a channel titled General.
- You can edit the team’s name by clicking the three dots.
- Next, click on Edit team in the popup menu.
- Then enter a new team name and click the Done button.
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.
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.
- Go down to Members and guests to turn a Member into an Owner.
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 on Settings at the top. (1)
- Go down and click on @mentions. (2)
- Then uncheck the boxes next to @team and @channel. (3)
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.
- 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)
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.
- Then select Pin from the popup menu.
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: 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.