Do you need to organise and work with a team on a project? Office 365 Groups is a collaborative tool, enabling you to work collectively when writing documents, creating spreadsheets, working on project plans and scheduling meetings.
The benefits of using Groups in Office 365
Members of a created group will have access to a shared:
- Inbox for group conversations.
- Calendar that all members can see and contribute to.
- 1TB Files Library in OneDrive to store, share, and collaborate on documents, workbooks, presentations, or just about any kind of file.
- OneNote notebook to gather ideas, collaborate and store research/meeting notes.
Accessing Groups in Office 365
- Sign in to your Office 365 account with your username in the format universityID@newcastle.ac.uk and your university password. E.g. nmc84@newcastle.ac.uk or b1013456@newcastle.ac.uk
- In the list on the left you should see an expandable section called ‘Groups’ with options to ‘Discover’ or ‘Create’ Groups.
Using Groups in Office 365
Create a group in: Outlook on the web | Outlook 2016
Join a group in: Outlook on the web | Outlook 2016
Have a group conversation in: Outlook on the web | Outlook 2016
Schedule a meeting on a group calendar in: Outlook on the web | Outlook 2016
Share group files in: Outlook on the web | Outlook 2016
Things to consider
Time Sensitive Group Projects:Consider creating a Microsoft Team for your group. This further enhances group collaboration by offering instant messaging on desktop and mobile in addition to the ability to schedule video meetings and screen sharing.
Audience: Groups/teams can be made public or private and you can invite members outside of the University to a group or team.
Group/Team Name: Searchable to all staff and students within the University so please take care when naming your group.
Spring Cleaning: Leave the Office as you found it by deleting your inactive groups.
Make it Private and add a Description: Add a description to your private group as this will help prevent unwanted joining requests from staff and students.
Group Members Visibility: Staff and students can see who is a member of a group, even if it is private.
Additional Resources
Office 365 at Newcastle University
Learn more about Office 365 Groups
Training: Unite your team with Groups
Frequently-asked questions (FAQs) and further ‘How-To’ documentation