Teams

Simply put, a team is a group of people who work together to get something done. For example, a project, or a group with similar roles (e.g., a management team, developers, teachers in a field of study). Mostly it can be divided between the type of work we perform or the projects we work on. 

If you create a team, you automatically become the owner, and can invite other members to the team. 

Did you remember to check if the team you want to create already exists? 

To find out if there is already a team that meets your needs, you can search among the teams you are a member of, or public teams that already exist. 

Creating a new team 

Follow the guide below to create a new team. 

• Click the gear in the lower left of the Teams menu to join or create a team. 
• Choose the right type of team (for administrative, select "Other" which is the template on the far right)  
• Write the name of your new team and a short description 
• "Sensitivity" can stand as "None" and does not need to be changed 
• Set Privacy to Private (Public team should ONLY be used when you want all employees, guests and students to have access to the team and all files/content that has been shared)  
• Then you set who the Owners and Members of the Team are. Tip: remember to always put at least two owners if one is not available. (You can also add members and owners after the team is created) 

Where can I find calls in Teams? 

You will find calls in the left menu in Teams. 

Call abroad? 

Option 1: Call the switchboard and be transferred to a foreign number 

Option 2: Ask the manager to send an inquiry to the IT service desk, to request permanent access.

Providing guest access to external users can often be helpful. A guest is someone who does not have an account at OsloMet and therefore has to go through a few more steps to become a member of a team belonging to the organization. The external user will then have access to the team they are invited to, documents in the channels and various other resources belonging to the team. In theory, you can invite anyone as a guest in our teams, so remember to consider the real need in terms of GDPR/privacy. 

Differences between members and guest 

In Teams, we have two types of team members in addition to owners. These are called members and guests, where guests are external (without OsloMet account) while members are internal (with OsloMet account). Guest users are almost full members of the team, but there are some features guests do not have access to. See link for a complete list of "guest rights". 

Inviting guests 

Tap the three dots belonging to your team and then add a member. Enter the full email address of the person you want to add. Click add. Now you have done what is needed by you as the owner. The rest of the process must be done by the person who is going to be a guest. 

Guest access to Teams at OsloMet for you as a guest 

When you are added as a guest in a team at OsloMet, you will receive an email inviting you to join the team. Here you click on «Open Microsoft Teams». If the email address has not previously been used to create a Microsoft account, you will be greeted by a message to do so. In this case, after creating the Microsoft account, you should now have access to the team at OsloMet.  

Once you become a member, you get the opportunity to download the Teams app or use the web version. You decide which version you want to use, but it is often an advantage to download the app. If you have already installed the app, you can click on "Launch it now" at the bottom of the page. 

Troubleshooting

Can't find email 

• Double check that you are logged in to the email address that the employee at OsloMet used to invite you. 

• Check any trash cans/spam or similar. 

• Contact the person who invited you and ask them to check that they have invited you correctly. 

Found email but can't get access 

Check that you are logged in to Teams with the same account that you were invited with. Try to start Teams again. It is not enough to just close the program. Tap the arrow pointing up at the bottom right of your screen, next to the clock. Right-click on the Teams symbol and click Quit. Restart Teams.  

If you already have a Team Account linked to the email you were added with: 

In the Teams app, you should be able to switch between organizations. To do this, click on your profile picture in the upper right corner. Here you should be able to press “OsloMet”. Then you have changed to your team profile at OsloMet and will have access to the team/teams. 

If you already have a Team Account linked to your email, but you are not able to switch to OsloMet: 

Sometimes your organization may have turned off the ability to switch between organizations in Teams. Contact the IT department in your organization and check if they have activated the opportunity to be a guest at other organizations. 

The Teams app on mobile 

Sometimes it works if you become a member of the team on a mobile phone. If you have not downloaded the Teams app on your mobile, do so. Then open the email with the invitation on your mobile and follow the same procedure as mentioned at the beginning. 

I have tried, but it still doesn’t work 

• Contact the person who invited you and ask if they can help you. 

• Contact your local IT department and ask if they can help you. 

• Join a team as a guest (microsoft.com) 

OsloMet has two main tools for digital interaction; Teams and Zoom. They have some overlapping functionality, but also unique possibilities that are important to be familiar with. 

Some of the differences between Teams and Zoom: 

Teams 

• Teams is used at OsloMet primarily in the collaboration between employees. 
• Teams can be used for collaboration in an organizational group with permanent members, as a department or head of study area or for collaboration in a professional group or a project. 

Zoom 

• Zoom can be used when conducting video conferences in larger groups 
• Zoom is used at OsloMet primarily for video conferencing between employees and students, such as lecturing. Read more about Zoom here. 
• Zoom has a practical option to divide a meeting into several subgroups that can run in parallel (break-out). This is, for example, useful in work meetings where parts of the meeting are set up for group work. 

As a manager/group owner, you can add and remove members in an organizational team. Login to grant/remove access to members (rapididentity.com).

Guide

1. In the main menu at the top, select Groups (or "Grupper" if your browser has Norwegian as the selected first language)
2. Here you will find the page "My groups". And then you have to find the group you want to adjust the members to, press the three dots on the left and select "Details".
3. Under group details, go to the tab called Static
4. In the tab for static members, you can add users by pressing the plus button, at the top of the image. Then a blank element is added to the list, which you fill in by entering a name or username and selecting the right person from a list. To remove members, press the "X" button to the right of the person you want to remove.
5. When all changes have been made, you must save them by pressing the "Save" button and selecting "Save and synchronise". It can take up to an hour for the changes to be transferred to Teams.

Members added in this way are not automatically removed if/if they leave. It is therefore a good idea to create a routine so that you periodically go through the list of static members and remove them.

Microsoft Teams make it possible for employees, groups and partners to work closely together regardless of where the individual is. Via Microsoft Teams you can: 

• send and receive instant messages 
• share files (Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Excel) 
• plan work tasks with deadlines and those responsible (Planner and Decisions) 
• show your presence and/or status information and participate in discussions 
• easily invite external partners 

Areas of use and functionality 

Microsoft Teams can be used in different ways and has several functionalities: 

• Teams: A team is a group of people who come together through work, projects or common interests. For example, a team may be associated with a topic or research project. You can create a team yourself and add members or join an existing team. 
• Channels: In a team, you can create channels where you can interact and work with your team members. A channel can be related to a specific topic, a project or a specific task. It is recommended not to create new teams for each task a group of people will work on together, but rather to create different channels for these tasks. You can also create "private" channels that only some team members can access. 
• Conversations and chat: Each channel has a channel conversation that is public and visible to everyone on the team. You can also create a chat between yourself and another person or create a larger group chat. 
• Custom storage area: When you create a team, a SharePoint area is automatically created under the Files tab. All files you either upload or create in your team will be stored in the team's SharePoint site. 
• Apps for all devices: In addition to via browser, Teams can be used via apps for Windows, Mac and Linux operating system. There is also a mobile app, which gives you access to your teams no matter where you are. 

Teams (desktop version) on PC/Mac 

If Teams is not downloaded to your machine, this can be done by following one of the links below: 

• Download Teams to PC 

• Download Teams for Mac from Managed Software Center 

The online version of Teams 

Teams can also be used as an online version. Log in to 365.oslomet.no and click on the Teams logo. A tip is to make a bookmark to make it easier to find. 

Teams on mobile 

Download the Teams app from an app store for use on your mobile phone and tablet. Connect the app to your user account at OsloMet. 

You can seamlessly combine Teams locally on your machine and online, and on different devices. 

To get the best possible benefit from the training, we recommend that everyone goes through "Get started with Teams basic course" in advance. 

• Get started Teams course in Norwegian (oslomet.instructure.com) 
• Get Started Teams Course in English (support.microsoft.com) 

The Department of ICT is now planning alternative training programs in the implementation of Teams. For questions, contact itservicedesk@oslomet.no. 

• Canvas has an open collection of videos and tutorials "Getting Started with Teams" (oslomet.instructure.com, in Norwegian) 
• OsloMet has its own team for peer guidance in Teams, click on the channel "Teams" (teams.microsoft.com) 
• Secure document storage (in P360) 
• Classification of information, Microsoft 365 Copilot (E-learning 3-5 min (go.nanolearning.com)) 
• Classification guidelines, Microsoft 365 Copilot 

Microsoft is developing Teams continuously and wants new functionalities. Want to learn more? Microsoft has a number of instructional videos and courses available on their website (support.microsoft.com).