Why MS Teams Is Now Private
IM protects (y)our data by making MS Teams sites private by default.
To reduce the chance of a serious personal data breach, all Microsoft Teams and associated Teams sites have automatically been changed to private by default.
IM’s Data Protection team has taken this step so that content can only be accessed and viewed by members of a Team, rather than everyone in the company.
Why are we doing this?
Previously, anyone in Anglo American could find ‘public’ sites and search their contents, including any uploaded documents. This meant colleagues were accessing data they were not authorised to view.
The change ensures company documents and data are stored securely and accessed appropriately, in line with the Information Security Policy, available on the Group Policy Hub.
But what if I need a public Teams site?
We have created an automated process which kicks in when a Teams site is made public (this could be a new Teams site, or an existing private Teams site made public).
This allows you to send a request to IM’s Data Protection team who will review it and decide if it makes sense for your site to be public.
Keep your Teams site secure
You can find more information on the difference between a private and public Teams site and how you can keep your Teams site secure on this Eureka! page. Also, here are some useful security and data protection links and contact details to save.
Five habits of effective MS Teams users
1. Keep in touch despite being “hidden”
Set up priority access for colleagues whose messages you want to receive even while notifications are paused (eg. when on ‘do not disturb’), in your privacy settings.
2. Organise the order of your teams and channels
Keep the teams and channels you visit most frequently at the top of the list by marking them as favourites. Click the three dots next to the team or channel name and select Favourite.
3. Use Microsoft Whiteboard to collaborate
Get all your team members to contribute and share by using the Microsoft Whiteboard at your next meeting.
4. Write it down right away
Take notes during meetings to keep track of important information.
Meeting notes can be viewed or updated live by everyone in the meeting.
To add meeting notes during a meeting:
- Select ‘Notes’ and add an agenda, notes, or even assign a task to a colleague.
5. Use @ mentions to get a colleague’s attention
Make sure your chats and mentions don’t get lost or missed by getting the colleague’s attention – type @ into the message window, followed by the person’s name. The person you mentioned will receive a notification which they can select to read your message.
Do you know these MS Teams keyboard shortcuts?
- Ctrl + shift + M – Mute/unmute yourself
- Ctrl + shift + O – Turn on/off your camera
- Ctrl + N – Start a new chat
- Ctrl + E – Quick access to the search bar at the top of Teams.
- :word – Type a colon “:” immediately followed by a word to discover additional emojis (e.g. :person or :apple)
- Ctrl + Shift + E – Share your screen