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Microsoft 365 Insights

Updates from the
Simply Office 365 lab

Microsoft 365 Insights - Dec 2020

9/12/2020

 
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Teams

When talking about SharePoint and Teams, it is a bit like asking the Chicken or the Egg question, and which comes first.

As Teams has becomes more prominent, we find that most people start by creating Teams without giving any thought to where the content really should exist. This often results in more Teams than are necessary for communication and collaboration needs, purely to give additional content a home.

For this reason, we always start with SharePoint - to map out and implement a client’s content and then, where communication is required around the content, a Team can be created that pulls in relevant content across the SharePoint site libraries and lists when needed.

Microsoft is now releasing an enhanced “wizard” for when you create a new Team based on an existing SharePoint site, so that it is easier to perform this action and to integrate content across the site. We think this adds extra validation to our Chicken or Egg approach!


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To add more credence to the Teams or SharePoint question, this next enhancement will make it easier in Teams to pin SharePoint document libraries to a channel, regardless of which SharePoint site those libraries reside in. So once again, make sure you focus on getting your SharePoint sites correctly identified and designed before going anywhere near Teams.

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There are three enhancements to the meeting experiences in Teams announced this month:

1.  More support for switching between Full Screen and Focused (when you want to just focus on a presentation or screen share).


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2.  Changing the way participants access meeting chat messages both during and post the meeting.

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3.  Further integration between Teams and Microsoft Forms making it really simple for a meeting presenter to add a “poll” into the meeting to get participant feedback and then publish the responses to all meeting participants.

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SharePoint

More great changes for SharePoint Lists.

If you are a fan of SharePoint Lists (and who isn’t) and use the “Grid View” to perform editing tasks, then you will soon be getting the ability to “undo” and “redo” changes you have made.


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Without reverting to PowerApps, you currently, you have little control over the layout and format of a SharePoint List Form. Soon however, you will be able to configure each forms header, footer and body sections.

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Coming soon is the ability to create simple rules based on the contents of a SharePoint list enabling you to set reminders or send notifications.

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Microsoft is also improving the ability for you to brand your SharePoint sites by providing more flexibility, including a new “minimal” header size to reduce space and bring content such as News closer to the top, together with more control around site logos and the ability to hide the title of the site.

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OneDrive

It is now easy to add shortcuts to folders with important documents, or just those you need to access regularly, from any SharePoint library and for those shortcuts to then appear in your OneDrive app so that they can be easily found.

What is also fantastic, is that if you sync OneDrive to your device, then the folders and documents behind the shortcuts are also synced, so that they are always available. This means you do not need to sync the additional libraries where those folders exist.  More and more, OneDrive can become your personal information manager where you can create your own view of the corporate world in which you work with quick access to the content you need.


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Microsoft Planner

Although we're not convinced this will be a major “wow”, but a new feature of Planner will be the ability to add different backgrounds to each Plan. Backgrounds will be “recommended” based on the title of the plan - which could be interesting!

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Add Microsoft Teams to your SharePoint team site

MC227312

Category

Teams
​SharePoint


​When associating the Teams app with an existing SharePoint group, access a new wizard which make it easy for a group owner to select the lists, libraries, or pages to incorporate into Teams as tabs. Make the selection, then click the Add Teams button.
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Once in Teams, it is easy for group members to collaborate around existing SharePoint content. Users can select a list they had been just working on in SharePoint and then engage team members in chat alongside the list, directly in Teams.
 

Use SharePoint tab to add pages, lists or document libraries to a channel in Teams

MC227278

Category

Teams
​SharePoint


Microsoft has improved the SharePoint tab experience to now allow pinning of document libraries, by selecting from the backing team site, or by providing a link to any other document library to which the user has access. Also added is a new "Recommended" section in the SharePoint tab to help users easily find the most relevant content from their site to pin in their channels.

Once available, Teams users will be able to pin their SharePoint content; pages, news, lists and document libraries using the SharePoint tab.
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More from Microsoft

​Add a SharePoint page, list, or document library as a tab in Teams - Office Support (microsoft.com)
 

Full screen support in new Teams meeting experience

MC226680

Category

Teams


​Microsoft is bringing Full Screen support back in the new meeting experience for Teams desktop applications.

The feature is accessible via meeting controls under More options (…) > Full screen. On Mac OS, you can also access it by using the native “Full screen” control on the top left corner of the meeting window. 


  • On Mac OS, the meeting window fills up the whole screen in Full screen mode. The title bar on the top and task bar on the bottom of the window are hidden.
  • On Windows OS, only the taskbar is hidden in Full screen mode.

To focus attention on content that is shared during a meeting, use Focus mode, accessible via More options (…) > Focus mode. In Focus mode, content uses the entire meeting window. By removing other Teams elements from the window, this mode makes it easier to focus on content.
 

Updates to meeting chat membership in Teams

MC226407

Category

Teams


Microsoft is updating a meeting participant's access to meeting chat. These changes will manage a users access to a meeting chat based on how they were invited to the meeting. Once this has rolled out, the changes will apply to new meetings. These changes will not be applied to previously scheduled meetings.

A participants access to meeting chat will be dependent on how they were invited to the meeting:

 Single meeting

  • Original and forwarded invitees maintain access to chat.
  • Directly added participants have access to chat for the duration of the meeting. Chat access is removed at meeting conclusion but they will be able to review the meeting chat history.

Recurring - Single instance of a meeting series
​
  • Original invitees maintain access to chat.
  • Forward invitees or directly added participants have access to chat for the duration of the meeting. Chat access is removed at meeting conclusion but they will be able to review the meeting chat history.
 

Forms polls in Microsoft Teams meetings

MC225995

Category

Teams
Forms


​Any meeting presenter can add the Forms app as a tab in the Teams meeting.

Before the meeting, the presenter can create draft polls. During the meeting, the presenter can create and launch polls that any attendee can view and answer. All attendees will be able to see the results in real time, and respondents can respond to a poll after the meeting if the poll has not been closed.
Attendee view of Teams meeting poll that has been launched.
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After the meeting, meeting presenters can evaluate responses in the meeting tab, export responses to an Excel workbook, or review responses on the web in the Forms app.
 

Microsoft Lists undo and redo commands

MC226055

Category

SharePoint
Microsoft Lists


​With the release of undo and redo capabilities, users who edit their lists when in grid view will be able to retract any unwanted changes or bring back previously entered information.

Two changes are part of this feature rollout.

First, users will now be able see Undo and Redo commands as they modify lists, whether they are working on the list in SharePoint, the Lists app in Microsoft 365, or the Lists app in Microsoft Teams. 
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Second, users will be able to use the following keyboard shortcuts to perform undo and redo operations while editing from grid view.

  • Undo for Windows: Control + Z
  • Redo for Windows: Control + Y AND Control + Shift + Z
  • Undo for Mac OS: Command + Z
  • Redo for Mac OS: Command + Shift + Z
 

Configuring list or library forms for Microsoft Lists and SharePoint

MC227452

Category

SharePoint
Microsoft Lists


​​With this update, anyone who can create and manage views in a list can configure the list or library form with header, footer, and body sections for both Microsoft Lists and SharePoint.

Once available, list and library users with appropriate permissions will be able to configure an associated form to include a custom header, footer, and body with one or more sections. The form configuration doesn’t change the data in the list item or file; it changes only how the form is displayed to those who browse the list or library.

More from Microsoft


Configure the list form | Microsoft Docs
 

List rules make it easy to set up notifications of changes

MC227447

Category

SharePoint
Microsoft Lists


​With this update, SharePoint users with edit permissions on a list can create simple if / then rules, based on changes to list information, to set reminders and send notifications. Users with edit permissions on the list can create and manage rules. Users with read-only permissions can’t create or manage rules.

Once the feature is available to your users, they’ll be able to create a rule by selecting Automate and then Create a rule in the list command bar near the top of the page. These notifications emails will be sent from Microsoft 365 to one or more users in your organization, as shown below. 
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Once rolled out, the feature will be available to all list users in Microsoft Lists and SharePoint. Users will be able to create a maximum of 15 rules per list.
 

SharePoint site header updates

MC227307

Category

SharePoint


Microsoft is expanding the SharePoint branding options that make it easier to customise your site, including new header configurations for modern sites.
For all sites created after the updates, the default site header for new SharePoint sites will be the compact header instead of the standard header.

Modern SharePoint site owners will see updated options in the Change the Look panel for Headers (see image).


  • A minimal header uses a reduced height to provide quick visual access to content.
  • An extended header layout includes an optional background image, expanded site logo widths, and options on site logo alignment.
  • Control all aspects of how your site logo appears across SharePoint with a site logo thumbnail and a site logo.
  • Easy to toggle site title label visibility on or off.​
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These updates will not impact existing sites and or any current site customisations.

You might want to notify your SharePoint site owners about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.
 

Add to OneDrive is generally available

Category
OneDrive


​Files are the building blocks of our work— helping us collaborate with others to construct the end results. Research documents, data spreadsheets, sales reports, presentations, product videos and other content-rich files are the components that hold up our final deliverable.

 "Where can I find that file?"
​
It’s a question we’ve all asked our colleagues, our teams, and, most often, ourselves countless times but not anymore. Microsoft has now announced that the previously disclosed Add to OneDrive feature is now generally available. Now, instead of figuring out who sent us that file or remembering the original location of the shared content, we can swiftly get back to the files we need, directly within our OneDrive.

Add to OneDrive makes it easy to add a shortcut to the shared folders directly to our OneDrive. Shared folders include content that others have shared with us through their OneDrive, which surfaces in the "Shared with me" view or content that is a part of a shared library in Microsoft Teams or SharePoint.
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Add to OneDrive makes it easy to add a shortcut to the shared folders directly to our OneDrive

With Add to OneDrive, not only can we bring all our shared content into one place, but we can also work with the shared content with the same power and flexibility as if they are files we own. This means we can easily sync and access these folders from anywhere on any device; securely share and co-author files in the added folder; and stay up to date with @mentions, activity, and notifications. Added folders respect all existing policies, compliance, and security settings, too.
Added folders can be synced to your device for anytime anywhere access.
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Introducing smart backgrounds for Planner

MC227304

Category

Planner


​Users will be able to add a relevant and unique background image to a Planner plan from a list of recommendations. 

This new Planner feature allows users to view smart image recommendations and add a relevant and unique background image to each plan, Powered by Designer. The image recommendations are based on the title of the plan. 
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Author: SO365 Insights


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