In the new age of remote work by default, it’s amazing how much work can actually get done from home when work has to get done from home. With a laptop and an Internet connection, we’ve found a way to collaborate with our staff and connect with our communities. And, finally, I’ve seen staff using email reply-alls less to team communication (to be clear, it’s still there though) and a greater push to focused communication with Microsoft Teams.
It’s a platform that every Office 365 user has previously had the ability to use; however, so few have taken the time to get to know it and the collaboration power that it offers. There are shortcomings for sure but if you already pay for it, there’s so much value that it offers – particularly in today’s world of figuring out how to work from home.
One of the features we’ve had to explore and educate users on – is using Microsoft Teams with some people who are not part of our organization’s Active Directory and Office 365 user group. Fortunately, it’s a pretty simple process since Teams allows guest users as a built-in feature.
To ensure guest access is enabled, go to the Teams Admin Center using the link at the bottom-left of the menu tree in the main Office 365 Admin Center.
Inside the Teams Admin Center, go to Org-wide Settings > Guest access. There, you’ll see a radio button for “Allow guest access in Teams” to toggle. Chances are that this is already enabled by default. If not, toggle it on.
To test access, add a personal Gmail (or any other non-company) account as a “guest” to one of your teams.
The system will email you a link to join. If you don’t have a Microsoft account associated with the email you used for testing, it will prompt you to create an account. Then, accept the Review Permissions prompt and you can login to Teams using the web app.
Team Owners have additional controls within the Team under the “Manage teams” option that allows guests to have permission to create, update, and delete channels.
Additional sources for troubleshooting guest access are here: