SHAREPOINT - CONNECT YOUR INTRANET TO MICROSOFT TEAMS

#SharePoint, #MicrosoftTeams, #Microsoft365, #VivaConnections

Audience: SharePoint or tenancy administrators

Author: Jonathan Stuckey

I run through the steps to enable the out-of-the-box SharePoint and Microsoft Teams integration. Get your stuff joined-up with no extra license fees involved - even if you are on Business Standard!

A unified Microsoft UX with SharePoint in Microsoft Teams

As Microsoft continues to turn the screws on pricing, there many things we can do that hold value without massive overhead. This is one.

Changes designed to prevent ease of use

Microsoft's gradual separation of SharePoint management features in to Viva and other tools, has had another impact - preventing businesses enabling "Viva Connections" (Microsoft Teams integration) of your intranet. The gloriously simple now click-here option has been relocated and permissions changed making it harder for users to apply.

Additionally, changes in wording on snippets like this emphasize focus in driving users to buy additional "Viva plans":

Users with a Microsoft 365 subscription (E, F, or A license) are limited to creating and using one experience. If you want to create or use two or more experiences (up to 50), then every user in your tenant must have a Microsoft Viva Suite or Viva Communications and Communities license. See Microsoft Viva plans and pricing for more info. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/viva/connections/set-up-admin-center

,,,and it makes it seem like you need another product to get anything useful - but this isn't really the case. This functionality exists for all business license types, but its just that little-bit harder to implement.

A unified user-experience is still available - I'll do a step-by-step how-to below.

Assumptions

You have your stuff in SharePoint and you have

1. something useful that you need to share with your team

2. can identify your operational content, separate to your working documents

3. have done something to create useful navigation (usually associated with intranets)

4. someone - anyone - who is marginally technical who can drive the "Powershell" bit.

I have also assumed you have a modicum of understanding that using a Hub allows for consistent navigation to all attached sites, but you may not know that designating your main site as a 'Home' in the system settings allows you to join-up the dots between SharePoint and Teams!

Connect your intranet

This whole activity falls into 3 bits, but it does require that you have the right level of access (roles) to make the following changes.

1. Mark your main SharePoint site as a Hub

2. Set your main SharePoint site as Home site, and enable it for connection

3. Publish and pin the Connections app in to Microsoft Teams

SharePoint Administration

You will need to do the following as a SharePoint Administrator (or Global Admin) on your tenancy:

• Open browser

• Navigate to your tenancy SharePoint Admin Centre

e.g. https://organisation-admin.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/online/AdminHome.aspx

- substitute your tenancy home-name for 'organisation'

• Click on Sites > Active Sites

[e.g.: https://organisation-admin.sharepoint.com/_layouts/15/online/AdminHome.aspx#/siteManagement/view/ALL%20SITES]

• Search for root site and select it e.g. https://organisation.sharepoint.com/ 

SharePoint admin: active site listing highlighting 'home'

• Confirm site is listed as a "Communications" site template

• Now click on Click on 'Hub' menu in the toolbar (above)

• Select 'Register as a Hub'

• Then select the site and click 'Edit' and confirm is a hub e.g.

SharePoint admin: Site properties panel for intranet Hub

Desktop PowerShell 

• From your desktop

• open Powershell as Administrator

  

• Run the following:

Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell -Force
Connect-SPOService -Url "https://organisation-admin.sharepoint.com/"
Set-SPOHomeSite -HomeSiteUrl "https://organisation.sharepoint.com/" -VivaConnectionsDefaultStart $true
Disconnect-SPOService

NOTE: I have assumed that the root-site on your tenancy is your main home for navigation purposes. Most small-medium businesses have adopted this as the case through lack of other guidance and ease-of-access in tenancy setup.

Microsoft Teams Admin

As a Teams Administrator (or Global Admin)

• Open browser

• Navigate to Microsoft Teams admin centre

url: https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/policies/app-setup

• Click on Teams Apps > Setup Policies

• Open 'Global (Org-wide default)' policy

• Scroll down to Pinned Apps

• Click + Add apps

• Search for 'Connections',

• Click Select,

• Click Add at the bottom of the panel

• On the Pinned apps panel

• Click on the = next to Connections

• Holding mouse-button down drag app to the top of the list

• Click Save and Confirm (on dialogue)

Wait 30-seconds - 5 minutes for sync to the user(s)...

A run through of the publishing steps for integration

Caution:

Joining up the UI between SharePoint and Microsoft Teams doe not magically fix the quality of your content, the ease of navigation or findability to make Search wonderful. This just makes it easier for your users to access things from their primary place-of-work - Teams.

Want to know more about SharePoint, usability and getting more from your environment? Give me a shout.

Resources

Whats This: publishing the intranet via Connections

Learn Microsoft | create-a-new-connections-experience

Disclaimer

No Generative AI was used in the creation of this article. All content was created by author, based on released information from Microsoft. Any errors or issues with the content in this article are entirely the authors responsibility.

About the author: Jonathan Stuckey