Itβs time to tidy up your Microsoft 365 workspaces: Ten easy tips
Apr 05, 2024
Reading time: 7 minutes
Are you in a productive paradise or a data dumping ground?
Here in the UK, the passing of the Easter holidays normally signals the turn in the seasons! The gardens are blooming, the evenings are lighter and the weather… well come on, it is Britian!
When I visited the supermarket (the orange one) late on Bank Holiday Monday, already gone was the quantities of chocolate from the eye grabbing first aisle, having been replaced overnight with mops, brushes and grease-busting sprays ready for the traditional spring clean. (Everyone groans)
So, if several hours expelling the cobwebs from the corners doesn’t appeal, top up your personal kudos instead by being a good Microsoft 365 community citizen and invest in a few minutes of digital decluttering each day.
Here’s some suggestions for your personal ten-day tidy-up campaign!
Day one: OneDrive
Your OneDrive is magnet for data, so many other Microsoft 365 applications pop their parcels of content in there too! Luckily things like Teams meeting recordings look after themselves and delete after 30 days unless you tell them not to. (Take care not to delete .loop files they are busy collaborating with others!)
No doubt there are plenty of old drafts or quickly shared documents that can go. A super easy way to seek out valueless content is to click ‘My files’, then filter by ‘Modified’ to find those long-abandoned ideas.
βοΈTop-tip: If you click on the amount used under Storage (bottom left-hand corner) OneDrive will show you your biggest files too.
Day two: shape up your sharing
While we’re looking at OneDrive, take a check on the files you’ve shared.
It’s really straightforward, click ‘Shared’ then ‘By you’. Hopefully nothing in there that surprises you, but you might want to take extra thought to any that you've shared externally.
Clicking the … three dot menu on any file, then ‘Manage access’ will show you who it’s shared with and let you stop sharing.
Day three: over to Outlook
Is Outlook’s Focused mailbox keeping your head above water, carefully fending off the spam, sales and nuisance mail? It’s a great feature but all those diverted distractions are still there, clogging up your search results and taking space on your organisation’s email storage.
Flick over to the ‘Other’ tab to find what it’s been hiding from you.
βοΈTop-tip: Sorting by sender is a quick way to confidently identify mail with no value to delete.
Day four: flick through those folders
File your mails in Outlook folders? This is a classic clutter collector!
Take a review to see if there any that you really don’t need to keep. (Christmas meal menu responses can probably go right?)
βοΈTop-tip: include the year in folder names to help with future housekeeping.
Day five: time for Teams
You’re probably the owner of a few teams, have you been keeping up with your good ownership responsibilities?
Check out who has access to your Teams, it’s quick and easy (… Team three dot menu, then ‘Manage Team’).
It’s not uncommon for people to move around a workplace, do all those members and guests really need access to your important files? Perhaps you can remove a few.
Day six: need to switch Channels?
Got some Channels that are no longer actively used? You can hide or archive them, but if they are really not needed pop them in the recycle bin.
It’s worth remembering that if you delete a Channel you’ll not be deleting any of the files that were shared in it, they will all be retained behind the scenes in the attached SharePoint site. So, if you don’t want to keep the files either, in Teams, it is easier to delete the files first, then the remove the channel.
Day seven: learn to say goodbye (we know it’s hard)
The art of being a good house guest is not outstaying your welcome.
Cast your eye down that long list of Teams that you’re a member of, should you still see all that stuff? Members can leave Teams that they longer need access to. (…Team three dot menu, then ‘Leave Team’)
So why not politely exit those old projects and workgroups that you’re no longer contributing to? You’ll be helping with data security, and it will also improve your own Search experience.
Day eight: secure your SharePoint
There’s always plenty of tasks to keep your SharePoint in order.
Similar to Teams, it’s a good idea to regularly check the site permissions for Communications and Teams sites that you own to make sure only those who need to have access.
SharePoint sites linked to Teams will have updated any changes you made there. Access to sites that live in SharePoint only, can be checked and managed from the site homepage. (Top right-hand corner, ‘Site access’)
Day nine: dress the shop window
SharePoint Intranets are a very popular, easy way to keep colleagues in the know about processes and news. But nothing is sadder than an unloved out-of-date intranet, soon people lose trust to self-serve and your job is made harder with queries.
Make time to review and tweak your site pages and documents, are they all still valid? Only keep current content on your intranet. Delete old pages because legacy content in the background muddles Search for your colleagues.
If you really must keep old page content for reference paste it into a Word document and file it away somewhere safe.
βοΈTop-tip: adding extra columns for a Content Owner and Review Date to your site pages and documents library can help establish and (share out!) a regular review process.
Day ten: day of rest (and massive smugness)
Today’s for enjoying your peace-of-mind and cleaned up collaboration space. And, for telling everyone else what a good workplace buddy you are doing your bit (Suggesting they do the same!) π
Reward yourself to a doughnut or the extra expensive coffee – you’re worth it!
In reflection
Did you find any sharing shockers? Filing faux-pas? Keep close to Your 365 Coach, we’re here to help you become more productive with the Microsoft 365 tools you already have.
Follow us on LinkedIn to enjoy our:
π‘regular hints, tips and how-to posts
π‘insights into new products and features
π‘links to latest video walk-through content
Perhaps you’re responsible for your organisation’s Microsoft 365 estate? Data build up and poor housekeeping by the team giving you worries? Contact us for a chat to see if we can help you.
If you like the contents of this blog find out more our YouTube tutorials.
π₯ How to use the new OneDrive files experience
π₯ How to use the new Microsoft Teams
π₯ Working with documents in SharePoint
Published: 5 April 2024
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