These are the apps that allow you to write, to calculate, to present, to share with others.  Once you become comfortable working online, you will probably choose to work that way because you can simultaneously collaborate with your colleagues, in or out of your organization.

• Microsoft insists that anyone who collaborates must have a MS account.  It does not need to be with your organization, but they must have one.  They can sign up for free.

• The desktop versions still have more bells and whistles, but many people won't miss them.

• In 2024 and beyond MS, like most organizations, is entranced with AI, adding it to everything. I'm a bit of a skeptic about its current benefits, but believe it will continue to increase in importance.

For many small offices MS Teams and its parent Sharepoint will be the center of their collaborative efforts, particularly now that many work remotely.

Think of it as a hub from which you can do many things:

• Create and edit, individually or collaboratively, files

• Store and retrieve those files

• Hold written conversations asynchronously with your team

• Chat with co-workers

• Hold scheduled or impromptu large and small meetings - voice or video

  • Including recording them if you wish

• Access many other apps - you add them as you wish

• Search all of this when necessary

One of the most common questions is how to think about where files belong within the ofttimes bewildering MS world of possibilities.  While there are no absolute answers, I suggest the following as a useful way of thinking.

• Onedrive - Files that an only an individual needs should be stored in their Onedrive account.  If that individual leaves the organization, the folders in onedrive can be deleted with no loss to the organization.

  • There are, of course, short-term exceptions to this.  An individual may develop a draft and "share" it briefly.  If that draft becomes important to the organization it should be moved to Teams or Sharepoint.

• Teams - Each Team (think: individuals who have equal access to information) has its own files associated with a "Channel" (think "Topic").  Those files are equally available to all Team members.  If the creator leaves the organization, the file is not deleted.

  • I'd argue that most files belong in a Teams channel.

  • Note that files can be in folder hierarchies if you wish.

  • The MS search function is very powerful (though a bit confusing initially for those used only to Google) for finding forgotten information

• Sharepoint - Files that have long-lasting importance probably should ultimately be put in a SharePoint site, most likely in a "Document Library."  Examples of this might be Annual Meeting reports or drawing files.  Perhaps once a year a staff member should ask, "what should be moved from Teams to SharePoint?"

  • Becoming familiar with setting up a SharePoint site involves a noticeable time commitment.  As a rule of thumb, it's probably not worth it for organizations less than five years old.  And then, only if there's a continuing need to refer to older documents.

  • SharePoint has many other uses (MS focuses on its Intranet use).  I'm only considering the file storage issue here.

Setting up a small organization (10 people or less) on MS 365 can be easy, if you accept the MS defaults.  As soon as you start wanting to refine settings, life gets more complex.

The Simplest Setup

What you'll need to spend money on.

1. Computers (or tablets) with web access.  I heartily recommend TechSoup.org for both hardware and software for 501-C(3)s.

2. An internet domain for your organization (e.g. JEMHelp.net here, and JEMHelp.info for my MS 365 account).  You probably already have one.

3. MS 365 Licenses for those who will use the services, probably everyone on the staff.

   • In 2021 Techsoup says that the "basic" solution is free, and the license that allows desktop versions of Word Etc. is $3/user/month - $36/year/staff  member.  

     1. Note that Techsoup levies a small fee for themselves

What you'll need to spend time on, to plan.

1. Who is going to be the MS 365 administrator?

   • Typically it will be Executive Director for small orgs.  If so, they're going to need to learn some basic system administrative skills.  I'd guess(!!!) that about 10 hours of time might be enough and then a couple of hours/quarter.

2. Can you accept the default settings?

   • There are hundreds of settings that might be important in some cases.  The defaults are probably reasonable, but learning about those settings and changing them can be a big job.  For those ambitious in this area I recommend the excellent courses in LinkedIn Learning - many libraries subscribe.

3. What policies do you need to establish for how you'll use the capabilities.

   • Will you use Outlook/Exchange as your email service, and its associated calendar and contacts?  There are many benefits to doing so, and tools to migrate from another service.

   • Will you try to push for Teams wide use?  There is a significant learning effort on the part of each individual.  You won't get major benefits until everyone uses it regularly - that can be difficulty, and rewarding.

   • Will you try to enforce my recommended hierarch for file locations?  It's all too easy to let all files collect in individual OneDrive locations and then become very difficult to locate.

4. Etc., but these are the big ones.