How do I request a Team?

A Team is a workspace where a group of people collaborate by sharing conversations, files, and tools for a unique purpose at The University of Winnipeg.

To create a new M365 Team, follow this step-by-step guide to plan and request the Team. Please give thought to the following considerations:

1. What is the Team’s purpose?
2. What is the Team’s name?
3. Who are the Team owners? Note: a minimum of 2 owners are required.
4. How will you structure the Team?

Once you have completed all steps, visit the MyServiceDesk self-service portal and select Service Request>M365>Teams.

Step 1. What is the Team’s Purpose?

This article describes the first step to planning a Team – the Team’s purpose.

A new Team can be created to collaborate with a group for the following purposes at The University of Winnipeg:

• Administrative/operational work for departments/areas/units
• Projects or campaigns
• Committees or councils
• Research
• Course sections
• Special interest groups

Before proceeding with a new Team, please consider the following:

• Is this Team going to be used for a relatively short period of time (e.g. 2-4 weeks)? If so, we recommend using a group chat.
• Do you have an existing Team with the same members? If so, it may be preferable to create a new channel within the existing Team.
• Is this team for an academic purpose (e.g., a course section)? If so, consider using the Nexus/Learning Management System to keep all collaboration and communication for the course section in a consistent space for students.

Step 2. What is the Team’s Name?

This article describes the second step to planning a Team – the name.

Once you've confirmed that creating a new Team is the solution that meets your needs, the next step is to determine a name for your Team.

Note: The suffix “- UW Teams” will be automatically appended to all team names.

• For example: Technology Sector – UW Teams

We recommend leaving out the word “UW” or “team/s” from your Team name.

In addition, your Team’s name should adhere to the following guidelines.

Your Team name must:

• Indicate the purpose of the Team.
• Be specific enough to be identifiable and separate from other Teams.
• Contain only letters, numbers, hyphens, and spaces.
• Contain less than 80 characters.

Your Team name must not:

• Attempt to masquerade as another entity at UWinnipeg.
• Appear to have relationship to any academic activity.
• Contain profanity.
• Contain any special characters, except hyphens.

Step 3. Who will be the Team’s Owners?

This article describes the third step to planning a team, the team’s owners.

Each team needs to have at least two team owners who has elevated privileges on the team. Only current UWinnipeg faculty, staff or students can become a team owner.

To determine the team owners of your team, identify at least two individuals who will be taking responsibilities of the following items:

• Adding or removing members/guests.
• Managing member/guest permissions in the team.
• Answering questions and providing training to members/guests on Teams.
• Adding, deleting, or managing channels.
• Archiving or deleting the team when team is no longer needed.
• Renewing the team prior to the expiration date, if required.
• Preserving the name and description of the team as created by the M365 Administrator (no changes are permitted).

Step 4. How will you Structure the Team?

This article describes the fourth step to planning a team, team structure.

Before requesting your new team, draft a list of members for your team. Consider how you will manage adding and removing members once the team is created.

In addition, draft a list of the channels you'd like to create in this team and decide which channels will be public, shared, or private. These channels will inform your team members/guests on the location they can start conversations and collaborate.

You are now ready to submit a Team request. Visit the MyServiceDesk and select Service Request>M365>Teams.

For more information on M365 at UWinnipeg, visit the Tech Sector website.