From the course: Microsoft 365 Business Essential Training for SMBs

Groups

From the course: Microsoft 365 Business Essential Training for SMBs

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Groups

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- [Instructor] Groups are used to simplify the administration of users. When a non-administrative user is created, they're granted a basic user role. The user will then need to be granted other permissions, and this is most efficiently done using groups. When users are assigned to a group, they gain all the access and permissions of that group. Group members can then perform tasks, such as access shared resources or participate in group discussions. There are five different types of group within Microsoft 365 Business. Each group provides different functionality. Group types include Office 365 group, distribution list, shared mailbox, security group, and mail-enabled security group. Office 365 groups are used to create a shared space to communicate, collaborate, and schedule events with colleagues on a shared task, project, or resource. When members are added to a group, they're automatically granted permissions to the resources which are shared within that group. For example, a shared mailbox, calendar, files, and a SharePoint site. Users can create their own groups for their own projects, and they can invite colleagues to participate in the group. Distribution lists are used to send emails to multiple users. You can assign members to a list manually or dynamically. When sending an email, you can select the list as the recipient, and then all of the members of the list will receive the email. However, Microsoft now recommend using Office 365 groups in place of distribution lists. Within the Exchange admin center, you can create a special type of distribution list. These are called dynamic distribution groups and allow group membership to be assigned based on a query. If any user meets the conditions outlined in the query, then they will be dynamically added as members. A query is created defining conditions for membership, and this could be such as members of the marketing team or laptop users. The group membership is recalculated according to the query each time a message is sent. A shared mailbox allows several users to access emails and calendar items for a single common account. Replies show as coming from the shared account and not from an individual user. Microsoft recommends using an Office 365 group instead of a shared mailbox. A security group is the most commonly used group within Microsoft 365 Business. This group type is used to grant permissions to users. It's more efficient to allocate permissions to a security group than to allocate them to individual users. This can be the case when permissions need to be changed for many users or for when you have a high turnover of members within a group. Assigned users inherit the permissions allocated to the group. And groups can contain other objects, such as users, devices, and other security groups. Once you've created a security group, you can mail-enable the group, which then allows you to use it just like a distribution list. Mail-enabled security groups behave like both distribution lists and security groups, allowing you to grant access permissions and also to distribute messages amongst the group members. Administrators need to manage groups to ensure that the correct members and permissions are assigned. This can include adding or removing members, devices, or other groups which may need to be added or deleted from time to time. New groups may need to be created and permissions need to be reviewed on a regular basis. In order to create a new group, you can use the groups area within the Microsoft 365 business admin center. If you need to bulk create groups, then PowerShell will be more efficient. When adding a group, you'll first select the type of group. This can be Office 365 distribution list, mail-enabled security group, or security group. For all groups, you'll need to provide a unique name. With the exception of the security group, all of the groups will also need an email address. Finally, once a group has been created, you can then assign users or devices to the group. You'll select the group name in the admin center and then select edit, and then you can add members. For Office 365 groups, you can modify the privacy settings. These can be private or public. And anyone can join a public Office 365 group. You'll need to use Exchange Online to manage the settings to enable group membership approval, email options, and group delegation. If you need to configure some advanced settings for groups, you'll need to use Exchange Online to manage the settings to enable group membership approval, email options, and group delegation.

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