How to Use Microsoft SharePoint for Teamwork

TL;DR

Access SharePoint from the Microsoft 365 app launcher, then create either a team site for collaboration or a communication site for broadcasting information. Configure privacy, assign owners and members, organize shared documents, and customize pages with components such as news posts, banners, and countdown timers. SharePoint also supports search, analytics, AI tools, and Microsoft Teams integration.

Transcript

Hi everyone, Kevin here. Today we're  diving into Microsoft SharePoint, a powerful platform that helps teams share,  organize, and collaborate all in one place. Think of it as a central hub for storing documents,  building websites, and working seamlessly as a team. Let's get started by exploring how to  get SharePoint. To get to Microsoft SharePoi... Read More

Key Insights

• SharePoint is a Microsoft 365 platform for storing documents, creating sites, organizing information, and collaborating with a team. It can be opened from the app launcher in Microsoft 365 online services such as Outlook, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
• The SharePoint start page is a personalized navigation hub that presents news, frequent sites, followed sites, and recently visited sites. Following a site pins it to a curated list, making an important site easier to revisit even when it is not opened frequently.
• SharePoint search is permission-aware, so users only see sites, files, and people they are authorized to access. Search from the start page spans SharePoint, while search from within an individual site focuses on content contained in that particular site.
• A team site is designed for active collaboration, including sharing, editing, and jointly managing documents and projects. A communication site serves a different purpose by broadcasting company news, announcements, updates, and other information to a wider organizational audience.
• Site privacy controls who may enter a SharePoint site. A public site is accessible to anyone in the organization, while a private site requires the creator or another authorized person to select the individuals who will receive access.
• Site owners have full control over a SharePoint site, including its layout, theme, and permissions. Site members can add and remove content such as files, pages, and lists, but they cannot modify the site layout or manage its permissions.
• Documents are a central part of SharePoint collaboration and can be stored where teammates can work with them together. The tutorial also identifies document management capabilities such as uploading files, adding metadata, sorting, filtering, and recovering deleted items through the recycle bin.
• SharePoint sites can be expanded with banners, countdown timers, news posts, built-in analytics, AI tools such as SharePoint agent and Copilot, and Microsoft Teams integration. These capabilities support site personalization, content insights, summaries, engagement tracking, and connected collaboration.

Questions & Answers

Q: How do I access Microsoft SharePoint from Microsoft 365?

Open Microsoft365.com or any supported Microsoft 365 online app, such as Outlook, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. Select the waffle-shaped app launcher in the upper-left corner, then choose SharePoint from the available applications. This opens the SharePoint start page, where you can revisit important sites, review news and recent activity, find files and lists, or create new SharePoint content.

Q: What is the SharePoint start page used for?

The SharePoint start page helps users find and return to relevant sites and content. It displays news from sites, frequently visited sites, recent activity, followed sites, and recently visited sites. Its navigation also provides views of aggregated news, recent files, and recent lists. A search field finds accessible sites, files, and people across SharePoint, while the creation menu starts new content.

Q: What is the difference between a SharePoint team site and communication site?

A SharePoint team site is intended for collaboration among people who share, edit, and manage documents or projects together. A communication site is intended to broadcast information to a wider audience, including company news, announcements, updates, and similar content. The correct choice depends on whether participants need to work together actively or primarily receive published information.

Q: How do I create a team site in SharePoint?

Select Create Site from the SharePoint start page, choose Team Site, and select a template. Enter the site name and, if desired, a description, then review the generated group email address and site address. Continue to the privacy settings, select public or private access, choose the language, and create the site. You can then add colleagues and assign their roles.

Q: Should a SharePoint site be public or private?

Choose public access when everyone in the organization should be able to enter the site. Choose private access when participation must be limited to selected people. In the tutorial's project example, the site is made private, so only the explicitly added team members can access it. The appropriate setting therefore depends on the intended audience and the required access restrictions.

Q: What is the difference between a SharePoint owner and member?

A SharePoint site owner has full control and can change the layout, adjust the theme, configure permissions, and manage other site settings. A member can contribute operational content by adding or removing files, pages, and lists. Members cannot change the site's layout or permissions, so the owner role should be reserved for people responsible for administration and site structure.

Q: How do I add members to an existing SharePoint site?

Open the SharePoint site and select the members indicator in the upper-right corner. Choose the option to add members, search for a person from the organization, and select the appropriate name. Assign that person as either a member or an owner, then save the change. This process allows additional colleagues to receive access after the original site creation is complete.

Q: What features are available in a SharePoint team site?

A SharePoint team site includes a home page, a shared Outlook inbox for conversations, a document area for file collaboration, a shared OneNote notebook, pages, a site contents view, and a recycle bin for recovering deleted items. Sites can also include news posts, banners, countdown timers, metadata, sorting, filtering, analytics, AI assistance, and integration with Microsoft Teams.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• SharePoint serves as a central hub for storing documents, building sites, and collaborating with colleagues. The start page displays news, frequently visited sites, followed sites, recent sites, files, and lists. Its search field can find accessible sites, files, and people across SharePoint, while permissions determine which results each user can see.

• Creating a site begins by choosing between a team site and a communication site. Team sites support shared projects and document editing, while communication sites broadcast news, announcements, and updates. Setup includes selecting a template, naming the site, choosing public or private access, selecting a language, and adding colleagues with appropriate permissions.

• Site owners have full control over layout, themes, permissions, and other settings, while members can add or remove content such as files, pages, and lists. A team site also provides conversations, documents, a shared OneNote notebook, pages, site contents, and a recycle bin for recovering deleted documents and other content.