Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects (Creating the Team)

This blog is the first in a blog series on “Using Teams to manage custom PLM Training Projects”, and it shows you the steps to create a Team. The following blogs in the series introduce you to some of the apps available that we have found useful for managing our projects in Teams. Although I have referenced using Teams for managing custom PLM training projects, the information in these blogs can be applied to any type of project. Like many of us, you may be exploring how you can make Teams work for you and your projects.  I hope the blogs will give you some ideas. Shown below are the steps for how to create a Team. If you would like to view the other blogs in the series, you can access them via the links below. As each blog is released, they will be available here:  

• Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects (Creating the Team) 
• Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects (Adding the Tasks app) 
• Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects (Adding Excel and Lists apps) 
• Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects Part 4 (Adding the OneNote App)
• Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects Part 5 (Adding the Website App)  
• Using Teams to Manage Custom PLM Training Projects Part 6 (Adding the SharePoint App)

How To: Create a Team 

1. In Microsoft Teams on the left, click , the Teams icon. 
2. Click Join or create a team.
3. Click Create team, as shown in the image below. 
   
   
4. Select one of the following options available to set up your Team: From scratch, From a group or team, or Select from a template. 
5. Select your Team to be either Private (available to specified members) or Public.  
6. Enter your Team name and a Description then click Create. You can now add members, or you can click Skip to define the members of the Team later. 
7. An example of a Team set up using the From scratch option is shown in the image below. By default, a channel called General is created that everyone on the Team has access to. The General channel is created with two tabs displayed at the top of the channel: Posts and Files. The Posts tab is used as a news board of conversations for the specific Team. The Files tab is used for storing and sharing Team or project related files and folders.  

 
NOTE: When a Team is created, an associated SharePoint site for storage purposes gets created in the background as well as a Microsoft 365 group. The folder structure and files in a Team channel’s Files tab match those in the associated SharePoint site. Any files uploaded to the Team will display in the associated SharePoint site and any files uploaded to the SharePoint site will display in the associated Team. Similarly, if you delete files from either the SharePoint site or from the associated Team, both show the file as deleted.  

8. OPTIONAL step. You can view the associated SharePoint site at any time from the Teams interface by selecting Open in SharePoint as shown in the image below. 
 

The associated SharePoint site is shown in the image below.  You can return to the Teams channel by selecting Go to channel or by selecting the Teams icon (), as shown in the image below. 

9. OPTIONAL step. You can consider adding additional channels to the team. Since everyone in the Team has access to the General channel, you can use this channel to store all the files and information that is applicable to the entire team. If there is some information that you want only some team members to access, you can specify “Private” for the Privacy option when creating the new channel. You can also set up a shared channel for people you choose either from your organization or other organizations by specifying “Shared” for the Privacy option when creating the new channel. To initiate the creation of the new channel, click the 3dots menu, then select Add channel, as shown in the image below. 

10. You are now ready to add apps to a channel! For information on doing this, please read the next blog in the series, “Using Teams to manage custom PLM Training Projects (Part 2 – Adding the Tasks by Planner and To Do app)”. 
 

Have fun setting up your Teams in Teams! There are endless possibilities of how you can set up your Teams to work for you and your projects and hope you get something out of our blogs about how we have found Microsoft Teams useful for managing our projects to centrally store and share project documents, collaborate on projects, and effectively communicate project status. 

About the Author

Product Lead – Learning Content Development<br><br>Barb's primary responsibilities include the design, development, and project management of courseware for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) products such as Autodesk Vault, Autodesk Fusion Lifecycle, ENOVIA V6, and PTC Windchill. Her work also involves the development of custom training that is designed and configured to an organization’s specific environment, processes, and roles. Barb is a Professional Engineer and holds a degree in Aerospace Engineering. She is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and trained in Instructional Design.

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