In Episode 58 of the Microsoft 365 Voice, Antonio, Mike, and I discuss how we use OneDrive to create, share, and manage files. Listen in to see if your use of OneDrive mirrors #TeamMike, #TeamSarah, or #TeamAntonio.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Using OneDrive consumer for personal content
  • Backing up household and family files
  • Syncing photos from mobile phones to OneDrive
  • Using Personal Vault to store passport information, vaccine information, travel ID numbers, etc.
• Using OneDrive at work
  • Storing & sharing work files with clients or co-workers. We all have different methods for creating and sharing files – Antonio creates files locally when traveling and then uploads to Teams and SharePoint when he’s ready to share. Mike and Sarah create files in OneDrive by default and then upload files to Teams for collaboration.
  • Using the OneDrive Sync Client to save files locally (especially when you’re working across multiple devices)
  • Hydrating files for offline access. (Mike does a great job explaining how file hydration & dehydration works)
  • Syncing local folders to SharePoint and OneDrive for Business
• Organizational considerations
  • Known Folder Move & automatic backup (backing up pictures, My Documents, etc. to OneDrive)
  • OneDrive silent sign-in (GPO setting that automatically signs users into their OneDrive Sync Client)
  • Disabling the sync to OneDrive consumer accounts (protects companies from having company data synced to consumer OneDrive accounts)

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In Episode 57 of the Microsoft 365 Voice, Antonio, Mike, and I discuss (and debate) how we use and organize our OneNote notebooks. This was an interesting conversation…and it came with clear differences in how #TeamMike, #TeamSarah, and #TeamAntonio work.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Methods for organizing OneNote notebooks:
  • Using a single shared notebook for each client or project we’re engaged in
  • Moving older notes to an “archive” notebook
  • Using OneNote sections, pages, and notebooks to sort & distinguish content
• Methods for finding content in our OneNote notebooks:
  • Building out an information architecture & organizational system (#TeamMike)
  • Using search to find content across our notebooks (#TeamSarah)
• Trends we see:
  • Each of us have 15-20 work notebooks we access regularly
  • We all have different methodologies for creating and storing shared OneNote notebooks
  • We regularly see users bypass email retention limits by saving emails to OneNote
  • We use OneNote differently at home than at work…

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How does your organization manage the creation of new SharePoint sites, Microsoft Teams teams, Yammer communities, etc. in Microsoft 365?

Is it better to centrally control the creation of new sites, teams, and communities or should you enable your users to create new groups themselves?

What (if any) governance controls do you need to put in place? How much control should you give your end-users?

How do you balance governance versus usability?

Do you have enough staff to support a centralized model for creation of new Microsoft 365 groups?

Episode 56 of the Microsoft 365 Voice focuses on Microsoft 365 governance and information architecture. We discuss the continuum of self-service versus centralized group creation and highlight key drivers companies should consider when defining their governance controls. Key themes we discuss in this episode:

• Finding the balance between user enablement and governance controls
• Defining the legal and regulatory requirements that drive your governance policies
• Determining the level of trust you have in your end-users
• Balancing the desire for centralized group creation against the staffing needs this type of policy requires
• Determining how and when to govern group creation (e.g. requiring pre-approval before group creation versus requiring registration after group creation)
• Understanding why you want (or need) governance controls

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We discuss one of my favorite soapbox topics in Episode 55 of the Microsoft 365 Voice – how to plan for, manage, and control self-service licensing in Microsoft 365.

What is self-service licensing?

Microsoft announced self-service licensing in late 2019 and rolled it out in January 2020. Self-service licensing enables individual M365 users to purchase product licenses directly from Microsoft without tenant administrator approval. This means your users can purchase a product license, pay for it with a credit card, and use it in your tenant without asking you first.

Which products offer self-service licensing?

As of July 2021, self-service licensing is available for Power Platform (including Power BI, Power Apps, Power Automate), Microsoft Project, Visio, and Windows 365.

What types of controls can you put in place to manage self-service licensing?

Reporting is available in the M365 Admin Center to see who has purchased and/or deployed self-service licenses in your tenant. If you want to prevent users from purchasing self-service licenses entirely, you’ll need to block self-service licensing via PowerShell. Unfortunately, Microsoft requires you to block self-service licensing for each individual product. This means you’ll need to monitor the Message Center and hope to see announcements when new products are enabled for self-service licensing. If you don’t prevent self-service licensing for each new product, your company may be left exposed.

Listen in for our thoughts on self-service licensing and the practical steps you need to take to manage your tenant. And check out Microsoft’s self-service purchase FAQ page for additional details.

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We’re thrilled to welcome Mike Fitzmaurice, Chief Evangelist for WEBCON, to Episode 53 of the Microsoft 365 Voice. The focus of this episode is the difference between automations and business processes.

In simple terms, an automation is a ‘widget’ or task you optimize (e.g. building a macro or automating an email to be sent automatically by Salesforce). A business process is broader and deeper with a formally scoped business need and a series of automated steps that connect to form a complete cycle. Business processes are formally managed, supported, and adapted over time to meet emergent business needs.

Here’s a few of the topics discussed in this episode:

• Supportability is key. A spelling error shouldn’t break a business process. Nor should your business processes require reverse engineering to determine WHAT the process is doing and WHY it is doing it. Processes should be built to withstand or prevent errors, should be fully documented, and should be supportable over time.
• Processes need to be managed. New employees need to be educated on your business processes so they can do their jobs effectively. Evolving goals and customer needs need to be accounted for. If your business processes don’t evolve, they will become less effective over time.
• Automate what you can, but don’t forget to turn widgets into formal business processes. End-users can drive improvements by automating individual tasks. But make sure you’re evaluating the need for larger business processes that can drive deeper value to your organization.
• Business processes ensure accuracy. If you have a series of steps that must be performed correctly 99.9% of the time, you need a formal business process that is measurable, managed, supported, and adapted to changing needs.

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All of us have felt it. What should we do when don’t feel seen or heard at work? How do we regain our footing if we’ve lost control of a meeting?

On Episode 52 of the Microsoft 365 Voice, we share our experiences and share practical tips for being “seen.”

• If you’re leading a meeting, be proactive. You’re responsible for meeting cadence and timing. Lean in and ensure important voices are heard.
• If you hear someone being cut off in a meeting, create space for them to speak. Say “I’m interested in what Mike has to say…” and give him the floor to share.
• Take the high road when you can. Don’t assume bad intent if you’re interrupted.
• Be resilient (and persistent). If you have key content to share, don’t censor yourself. Keep trying to break into the meeting dialogue. If you can’t get a footing to speak, send an instant message to someone else on the meeting and ask them to be an ally for you and give you an entry point.
• Pave the way for others to share. Be a champion and an advocate for others on the meeting. Give them the floor and show interest in their perspective and ideas.
• Encourage others. Be a mentor for someone who doesn’t like to speak up in meetings. Ask them how you can support their ideas.
• Deal with meeting regret. Often we regret the things we didn’t say–the answer we didn’t give and the details we didn’t provide. Our fear of saying the wrong thing leads us to say nothing at all.
• Learn how to deal with ‘interrupters.’ We’ve all seen meetings and presentations derailed by someone who consistently interrupts. Learn how to effectively handle these interrupters and retain (or gain) control of a meeting.

Have a Microsoft 365 question? Submit it online! Your question may be featured in a future podcast episode.

It’s springtime in the northern hemisphere, and we’re dreaming about a return to in-person conferences. Most of us have been home for over a year due to the pandemic, and we’re hoping to travel and see friends again soon. In episode 50 of the Microsoft 365 Voice, we discuss our upcoming virtual, hybrid, and in-person events.

Here’s a list of the events we have coming up in 2021:

• Microsoft 365 Virtual Marathon (April 26-28)
• Microsoft 365 Collaboration Conference (June 8-10 hybrid; Dec 7-9 in-person)
• SP Fest Chicago (July 26-30 in-person)
• North American Collaboration Summit (Aug 9-11 hybrid)
• SP Fest DC (Sept 20-24 in-person)
• SP Fest Dallas (Oct 11-15 in-person)
• European Collaboration Summit (Nov 29-Dec 1)

Have a Microsoft 365 question? Submit it online! Your question may be featured in a future podcast episode.

Microsoft Teams has become the primary solution for collaboration amongst work teams. In Episode 49 of the Microsoft 365 Voice, we discuss whether we’d use SharePoint without Microsoft Teams.

Of course, Microsoft Teams relies heavily on SharePoint Online for its file storage and document library controls. But SharePoint has several key advantages that keep it a frontrunner in the collaboration space:

• SharePoint team sites & Communication sites are still important. SharePoint is a great solution for publishing content to a large group of people for ongoing consumption (e.g. news sites, intranet sites, etc.). Audience targeting enriches these publishing capabilities, enabling discreet data dissemination to the right people at the right time.
• SharePoint home sites drive utilization of key new features like the SharePoint App Bar, global navigation, etc. Failing to take advantage of SharePoint will limit your navigation opportunities within Microsoft 365 as a whole (including Microsoft Teams).
• SharePoint news is a critical component of your organizational content. Even if everyone in your organization is using Microsoft Teams, the ability to publish and manage dissemination of news via SharePoint is vital. SharePoint news enables cross-publishing across Microsoft 365, integrates page and Yammer comments, etc.
• SharePoint Syntex integration for document understanding & forms processing. As we’ve discussed in previous episodes, SharePoint Syntex deploys models to your document libraries. These models leverage machine-learning and AI to analyze, route, and tag documents and forms.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

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Episode 47 of the Microsoft 365 Voice is all about task management!

Mike, Antonio, and I share details on how we track our personal and professional tasks. Key highlights include:

• Yes, we still love Outlook tasks. All of us use Outlook tasks for managing individual work deliverables. I love seeing my tasks alongside my Outlook calendar. It helps me plan my day and my week.
• Dates are critical (for some of us). All three of us handle task prioritization and due dates differently. I manage tasks daily, Mike manages his week-to-week, and Antonio has a custom approach. Listen in for ideas on how you can track your daily, weekly, and global tasks.
• Task categorization (or task ordering) is vital. Some of us use color coding/categorization of our Outlook tasks, while others order tasks by priority.
• Planner is key for projects. We all have experience using Planner for tracking projects, customer deliverables, etc. Planner is a great way to “live out loud” with shared tasks that others can see.
• Task organization is related to email organization. I move emails out of Inbox constantly. Simply put, I want to be as close to Inbox zero every day as I can. This same methodology ties into my daily management of Outlook tasks. Mike and Antonio have a different way of managing their email Inbox and their tasks. There is no one-size-fits-most strategy.

Enjoy the episode!

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We took another deep-dive into MIP on Episode 46 of the Microsoft 365 Voice. This episode focuses on the importance of defining your label strategy, including the use of a default label. Here are a few of the topics Antonio, Mike, and I covered in the episode:

• Plan your Compliance strategy up-front. Determine who needs to be involved in your Compliance strategy and carefully consider what labels you will use. Changing your sensitivity labels mid-stream can have dire effects on both your users and the veracity of your information protection program. Taking extra time to plan your strategy up-front will serve you best in the long run.
• If you’re requiring sensitivity labels, you should set a default label. If you don’t, your users will hit a speedbump each time they try to save a file or send an email. Having a default label applied automatically will fulfill the requirement for a label, streamlining the employee technology experience. And as Antonio mentions in the episode, companies that have rolled out required labels without a default label have run into mechanical issues with file syncing, etc.
• Can you have more than one default label in a single tenant? As Antonio explains, you can set up a default label for each of your sensitivity label policies. Depending on your information protection needs, you may want (or need) several policies. You can set up different policies for different users in your organization (giving users in Group A a different default label than users in Group B, for example). You cannot set up different policies based on type of content (e.g. emails vs. files).
• Setting up different default labels for different departments can be a slippery slope. Too many exceptions and differences in the rules can fracture your users’ understanding of how MIP works. And as employees change roles or department reorgs occur, you’ll be in a never-ending swirl of moving users between policies and re-educating users on what their default label is.
• Consider label exceptions carefully. To be effective, your information protection strategy needs to reach all your users. Granting exceptions that exclude some users in your organization from having to apply labels can erode your security posture and effectiveness.

Have a Microsoft 365 question? Submit it online! Your question may be featured in a future podcast episode.